Sustainability report card
Volunteers applaud, as thanks to all those who participated in the audit and event are projected at the gala that launched Blueprints for Change.
rob maguire
Though Concordia has a fairly good environmental report card, there’s always room for improvement. Sustainable Concordia’s got just the ticket to greener pastures.
After releasing its first Campus Sustainability Assessment in 2003, the organization has been working with a number of university departments to implement a long list of recommendations. The 2003 assessment was over 400 pages, a document environmental coordinator Chantal Beaudoin admitted was a little overwhelming.
This year’s assessment — it will be revised every three years — consists of a beautifully designed short executive statement printed on found craft paper and a CD that holds the massive report.
The CD is a way to make the means fit the ends. According to the audit, paper consumption has dramatically declined since the first audit, from 70,277,075 sheets in 2002-03 to only 13,968,540 sheets in 2005-06. About 65 per cent of the university’s waste goes into landfill sites; 35 per cent is recycled. Of that waste, 15 per cent is white paper, 2.7 per cent is cardboard, and only 1.2 per cent is newspaper.
“It’s not about measuring and monitoring progress,” Sustainability Assessment coordinator Jenn Davis said, it’s about encouraging the university to undertake more sustainable initiatives.
She credited Concordia for its use of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified architects and engineers to ensure all new renovations and buildings are as environmentally sustainable as possible. She also singled out Facilities Management for seriously implementing more sustainable practices, like using recycled carpeting and installing new bike racks.
Davis pointed to the Loyola athletic field as an example of Concordia’s dedication to the environment. Covered in astroturf made in Quebec of 100-per-cent recycled rubber, the field has extended the season’s playing time by 180 days, and doesn’t require the use of fertilizers, pesticides or paint. The field was created in conjunction with the City of Montreal and members of the community can now access it.
Beaudoin, who worked on the waste management chapter of the assessment, has spent the past couple of years revamping Concordia’s recycling program. The school now contributes to a composting program that produces 24 metric tonnes a year, with the eventual goal of operating a 100-tonne system.
The assessment was a massive project involving about 100 students and more than 50 university employees. Like the audit published in 2003, it used a framework developed by Lindsay Cole, a researcher teaching in Concordia’s Centre for Continuing Education, that comprises 169 indicators — ecological, social and economic.
Twenty universities now use this framework, but Concordia was the first. With growing institutional support and a large pool of volunteers, the parameters set by the Sustainability Assessment are becoming reality.
“There’s something really exciting about working with people to make changes,” Davis said.
The report looks toward the future, recommending that the Board of Governors and the CSU adopt environmental policies. A policy for the university already exists in draft stage. The report suggests that the CSU, the Concordia Foundation and the Pension Plan all consider the concept of socially responsible investing.
The report would like to see “sustainability literacy” cultivated in all Concordia students and a stronger research profile in the concept. The writers of the report envision the campus as a laboratory where learning involves the infrastructure as well as the lecture hall.
They have many other recommendations and observations, and the report makes interesting reading. You can read the audit and the recomendations at sustainability.concordia.ca.
With files from Barbara Black