Sustainability
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.
