Media Release - For Immediate Release
May 27 2010
Saint Mary's Looks to Alumni to Extend Culture of Sustainability
Saint Mary's students are active participants in a wide range of sustainability projects that range from from water conservation to environmental education. |
Saint Mary's has saved enough paper to print phonebooks for all the great cities in the world.
By simply changing the default setting on printers to “double-sided,” the university saved more than 200,000 sheets of paper last year.
It’s just one of the many changes Saint Mary’s is making to reduce its carbon footprint.
“Saint Mary’s is right there making changes because we know how important [sustainability] is,” said Shelley Price-Finn, Manager, Custodial and Administration (BComm ‘97, MBA ’08). “Faculty, staff, and students alike -- all of us are taking great strides to make progress in this area.”
Across campus, everyone seems to be thinking green. Sustainability initiatives include programs such as green cleaning, recycling, waste management, an energy retrofit, water conservation, natural gas conversion, and several projects associated with new Atrium building, to name just a few.
NOTE: The Spring issue of Maroon and White details various environmental projects undertaken by alumni, staff and faculty. Maroon and White.
The Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) Centre, for example, reduced the amount of paper it uses by 43 per cent by creating paperless student handbooks, paperless orientation packages, and issuing paperless weekly events updates.
On a larger scale, the university recently helped improve the air quality of south-end Halifax by converting its three oil-burning furnaces to natural gas. The conversion from Bunker A oil reduced the heating plant emissions by 2,000 tonnes of CO2 (32 per cent), 47 tonnes of SO2 (99.9 per cent), 11.1 tonnes of NOx (79 per cent) and 2.8 tonnes of particulate (90 per cent).
And several campaigns on campus encourage faculty, staff and students to do their part to make sustainability a priority.
The “Get Caught Recycling” campaign has volunteers from the Saint Mary’s University Environmental Society (SMUES) staking out recycling bins on campus to reward people who take the time to separate their waste properly.
Likewise, the Pledge Re-generation Campaign encourages students, staff and faculty – as well as alumni and the public – to sign a pledge sheet online. By adding their names, people commit turning off lights; turning off computers; drinking tap water versus bottled water; using alternative transportation; and of course, recycling.
Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) gives Saint Mary’s kudos for its wide range of sustainability initiatives – particularly its education and awareness programs
“Saint Mary’s University is a great example of why Halifax Regional Municipality is known as a world leader in solid waste management,” said Kathy Johnston, Solid Waste Resources Education Officer for HRM.
She noted the “I know where to shove it" campaign launched last year in the student residences. The campaign was such a success it won a MOBIUS Environmental Award from RRFB Nova Scotia. The annual award recognizes innovative organizations and individuals who have made Nova Scotia a leader in waste reduction.
“Through SMU’s dedication, enthusiasm, and commitment to source separation, SMU is now home to a successful source separation program that diverts waste away from our landfills and contributes to a healthier planet,” said Johnston.
The university is also launching a Champions program. Under the program, each department identifies one key contact person who is briefed about environmental initiatives on campus, and in turn, become an advocate for environmental awareness within their department.
“Basically it’s infiltrating departments to try to get as many people as we possibly can across campus engaged in sustainability,” said Price-Finn.
She hopes others – particularly SMU alumni -- can learn from the university’s success and extend the “culture of sustainability” beyond SMU’s city block in Halifax.
“We need the alumni support to connect the dots. It’s a network, said Price-Finn. “We really need to make impact everywhere. That means that we’re networking with our outreach communities and we’re networking with our alumni -- who then make a difference. They can look to us to see what we’re doing and try to make impacts in their own areas as well.”
For more information about sustainability initiatives at Saint Mary’s, please visit the university’s sustainability website at: www.smu.ca/sustainability.
-30-
For More Information:
Steve Proctor
External Affairs
Saint Mary's University
(902) 420.5513
E-mail: steve.proctor@smu.ca
www.smu.ca
This page last modified Monday, 10-Jan-2011 15:35:34 AST