Western’s green report card

While Western may have gotten nearly straight As on the Globe and Mail’s 2011 Canadian University Report, the same can’t be said for the College Sustainability Report Card. The annual report, which compares North American schools based on categories such as food and recycling, green buildings and student involvement, found Western fell short of making the grade and awarded the University a floundering grade of a B- for the 2009-10 academic year.

Of the 19 Canadian schools reviewed, Western was surpassed by 11 schools and tied with another three. Surprisingly, notorious treehugger school—the University of Guelph—ended up lumped under the same B- heading as Western. At the top of the pack were the University of British Columbia, University of Calgary and University of Toronto. Even York, which often ranks the most poorly on national reports (see Globe and Mail Canadian University Report), managed to receive a B+ alongside McGill.

According to Analise Hoffman, this year’s EnviroWestern coordinator, there are several initiatives being undertaken by the student service to increase the school’s grade.

“During EnviroWeek we [had] a few booths set up to poll students on how O-Week can be made more sustainable, what they [thought] about privatization of water and what students [wanted] to see at Western by 2022,” Hoffman explained. She added EnviroWestern was in the process of teaming up with other clubs on campus to engage broader groups of students.

“I would like to see more student engagement and active participation in the sustainable programs on campus—like properly using the numerous recycling bins and especially the organic waste bins that I constantly see full of landfill-bound waste,” she said.

However, in the realm of Food and Recycling, Western received its highest grade—an A.

According to the report, Western’s dining services spend 31 per cent of their food budget on local and organic items, while all eggs on campus are cage-free. The University also recycles electronic items and manages to divert 70 per cent of generated waste from landfills each year.

And Western hasn’t accepted defeat in any of the other categories either. In fact, the school has already improved a full letter grade since the introduction of the report card two years ago. Beverley Ayeni, energy and environment manager for Western, noted Western is currently in the process of installing water faucet upgrades in residences, adopting Green Seal cleaning products, adding electric vehicles to their fleet and erecting five buildings constructed to a minimum of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver.

“There are a number of things we need to be aware of when approaching new sustainable technology,” she said. “If you think of the how quickly a smartphone or computer becomes obsolete, much of the green technology can be equally fleeting. As stewards of Western’s resources, we take our responsibility very seriously and make decisions that are lasting and will improve efficiencies for years to come.”

Ayeni pointed to the fact that many roofs on campus are not compatible with photovoltaic (solar) panels, due to snow and wind loads.

“No matter how we are rated there is always a benefit, because it generates good discussion. Western has some work to do, but we also have an impressive level of achievement in sustainable initiatives and the campus community should be proud,” Ayeni concluded.

For the full report, visit www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/university-of-western-ontario