Ontario universities' shrinking environmental footprint

When the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) released its annual Going Greener report at the University of Toronto’s downtown campus recently, the message it carried was clear: the environmental footprint of Ontario Universities is shrinking.

Now in its fourth year, the report surveys all 22 Ontario university campuses and highlights the new and innovative environmentally friendly initiatives that have been undertaken by these campuses in 2012.

“I was very pleased when I heard the COU wanted to launch their fourth “Going Greener Report” here at St. George campus” said Ron Swail, assistant vice-president of Facilities and Services, and emcee of the event.

The report offers inspiring statistics from all areas of sustainability. In sustainable transportation, the vast majority of Ontario’s universities have introduced protected bike racks, discount transit passes, and an increased fleet of hybrid and electrical vehicles.

Changes to campus infrastructure are making a difference as well. A substantial 86% of universities in the province have adopted green standards for new buildings or retrofits, and 77% have green-roof systems in place as well as centralised control systems to monitor energy use.

Sustainability in campus food services, energy and water conservation and waste reduction have also seen an improvement across all 22 campuses.

And U of T is leading the way in many of these areas. 

“The University of Toronto has been massively successful in water and energy conservation and a leader in sustainability institutionally," Swail noted in his address. "We have saved $20 million in water and electricity over the past 8 years by undertaking over 100 green projects across its campuses."

According to Going Greener, two-thirds of Ontario universities now have staff specifically dedicated to environmental sustainability, and 15 out of the 22 campuses have introduced new environment-related academic courses in the past year.

With half a million students and staff on Ontario university campuses, “universities are still getting greener” said Bonnie Patterson, president and chief executive officer of the COU.

"Ontario universities groom students to be stewards of the environment” concluded Patterson, and in turn those “students remain a dynamic force in pushing innovative green initiatives on campus.”

According to Swail, “the report captures the breadth and depth of the numerous positive sustainability initiatives that are taking place across all of the Ontario universities. It demonstrates our commitment to sustainability as a sector as outlined in the “Ontario Universities: Committed to a Greener World” sustainability pledge signed by the executive heads in 2009. I am proud to have been a contributor on behalf of U of T to the 2012 Going Greener Report.”