Environmental Officer Kathleen Ng, seen here among the drought-resistant grasses in Tomlinson Square, will move into McGill’s new Office of Sustainability when it opens in the early fall.
Owen Egan
As we approach the middle of the United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014), McGill is moving to become a thoroughly
green institution, and we will all have to step up to reach leadership status
in this arena, as an institution.
New Office of Sustainability Opens. In 2007, McGill added a
second full-time position in this area, the Director of Sustainability,
Dennis Fortune, and in the early fall, McGill's new Office of Sustainability
will open. The office aims to be a hub and catalyst for sustainability
initiatives across the University, including the Rethink McGill environmental
campaign. Students are active in developing the office's mandate and choosing
the best ways for McGill to benchmark its performance in sustainability.
Visit www.mcgill.ca/stewardship/greentour to take a
virtual tour of the gardens and trees on the downtown campus.
Sustainability Highlights
- McGill's new Life Sciences Complex, which includes a green roof, was
built to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
standards, a widely accepted third-party designation encompassing building
design, construction and operation.
- More than 2,000 McGill students, faculty and staff have signed up for
the Rethink Pledge, committing to at least five actions to reduce their
environmental impact on campus.
- In 2007-08, McGill added more than 300 new recycling bins.
- An increase in parking rates in January 2008 will bring in $200,000 a
year for new sustainability projects.
- Dining Services is now offering fair-trade coffee, cage-free eggs and
local seasonal produce, and is continuing its commitment to using reduced
and more sustainable packaging.
- Students and faculty from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning
have joined with a local organization, Santropol Roulant, to create an
impressive container garden on the downtown campus. Santropol Roulant uses
the vegetables grown there to provide food for its meals-on-wheels program.