Tag: Sustainability

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Join a carpool during National Carpool Week, Feb. 5 to 9

February 5 to 9 is National Carpool Week.

Are you interested in carpooling but unable to find a carpool partner?

The Smart Commute North Toronto, Vaughan (Smart Commute NTV) Program at York University can help you find a carpool partner.

Smart Commute NTV provides one-on-one support to help you find a carpool match through the Smart Commute Tool, which is the the program’s ride-matching website. The tool can help you to find a carpool partner from a specific campus or from other workplaces nearby. It takes into account individual schedules, locations and needs.

Carpooling can reduce commuting stress while saving time and money. Sign up by Feb. 7 to get started.

Do you already participate in a carpool? If so, visit the Smart Commute NTV website to log your trips. You can enter a contest to win a $500 VIA Rail Travel Voucher. Learn more about the contest here.

A reminder to unplug! Turn off computers and appliances before leaving for the holiday break

York community members are reminded to switch off and unplug before leaving for the holiday break. It is also a good time to remind others in your area about the importance of shutting down computers, lights, small office or kitchen appliances and other personal electronics before leaving the office.

This simple gesture can yield tremendous results, given that staff and faculty operate more than 8,000 computers, and together the Keele and Glendon campuses have more than 140,000 internal lights.

The ability to shut down certain electrical devices will vary depending on departmental requirements.

For information on reducing your own carbon footprint, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website. The Nature Conservatory of Canada has an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator on its website.

COP23 observers to present a debrief on climate change, Jan. 4

EARTHdayFEATURED
EARTHdayFEATURED

Every year since 2009, a delegation of observers composed of faculty, students and staff has attended the annual United Nations Climate Change Convention’s Conference of the Parties (COP), where countries negotiate on how to reduce climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions.

This year, the meetings were held in November in Bonn, Germany, at the COP23.

York University observers from COP23 and previous COPs will share their observations about the state of global negotiations during a special debrief event on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018, from 11:30am to 1pm, in Room 749, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, Kaneff Tower, Keele campus.

Mark Terry
Mark Terry

York University community members are invited to attend and hear about the Youth Climate Report project founded by York University PhD candidate and documentary filmmaker Mark Terry. There will also be a presentation that will cover an effort by a consortium of Ontario universities to develop a new field course for science students to attend the Climate Change negotiations.

A reminder to unplug! Turn off computers and appliances before leaving for the holiday break

York community members are reminded to switch off and unplug before leaving for the holiday break. It is also a good time to remind others in your area about the importance of shutting down computers, lights, small office or kitchen appliances and other personal electronics before leaving the office.

This simple gesture can yield tremendous results, given that staff and faculty operate more than 8,000 computers, and together the Keele and Glendon campuses have more than 140,000 internal lights.

The ability to shut down certain electrical devices will vary depending on departmental requirements.

For information on reducing your own carbon footprint, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website. The Nature Conservatory of Canada has an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator on its website.

York University launches first institutional Sustainability Strategy

York University’s Sustainability Strategy was released today. Led by a working group comprised of members of the President’s Sustainability Council and other key stakeholders, including faculty, staff and students, the strategy was developed over the past 12 months to guide the University in advancing sustainability in key areas over the near and long-term.

“Whether it is through teaching, research, engagement, or volunteerism, all members of the York University community are essential to our continued success as a leader in sustainability in higher education,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “The launch of this strategy underscores our steadfast commitment to sustainability as an embedded value, and it will support our efforts to communicate and implement a shared vision, inspire positive change and empower people, build capacity, harness innovation and creativity, and foster a culture of sustainability within and beyond the University.”

More than 1,000 community members participated in the process through workshops, presentations, open forums, and an in-person and online survey. This community feedback helped to shape and prioritize the goals of the strategy, which are divided into three key categories: People, Knowledge and Place.

People: York University is working to foster a culture of collaboration that harmonizes the efforts of our community to pursue widely understood sustainability objectives. The York community includes faculty, staff, students, labour and other organizations, alumni and neighbours. York’s holistic understanding of sustainability includes human well-being and social dimensions, and recognizes the social, economic and environmental roles of York University in and with our local neighbourhoods.

Knowledge: Our strengths in sustainability research inform our teaching. York aspires to develop pathways for all students to access sustainability curriculum, especially experiential education opportunities in sustainability. The Task Force on Sustainability Research at York defines sustainability research as research which “generates knowledge that integrates the social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of complex challenges at scales ranging from local to global. This interdisciplinary approach emphasizes creativity and collaboration in order to advance research, action and innovation in social, economic and environmental justice.”

Place: With the opening of the subway extension in December 2017, York is seizing the opportunity to reconfigure the Keele campus into a greener, better connected, pedestrian-oriented campus with a network of new and improved green spaces. New development is guided by green building targets, and York is building on successes with waste diversion, sustainable procurement and operations, and nascent initiatives to electrify its fleet. Carbon reduction is increasingly a goal, particularly in light of the Province of Ontario’s new Climate Change Strategy and carbon trading market.

“The year-long process of developing the strategy was a true community effort, with students, faculty and staff participating in the process from beginning to end.” said Professor Martin Bunch, who chaired the Sustainability Strategy Working Group. “We now have a long-term, strategic document that can help to guide us as we focus our efforts in ensuring that sustainability is a built-in consideration in all aspects of the University’s resources, programs and services.”

The strategy will be implemented through a variety of new and existing plans, including the Energy Management Plan, University Academic Plan, Strategic Research Plan and other University initiatives. Implementation will be coordinated by key staff and the President’s Sustainability Council.

To read the full Sustainability Strategy, visit http://sustainability.info.yorku.ca/strategy/.

Arbor Day: Plant a Tree on Tuesday to help enhance York U’s urban forest

As part of York University’s Campus Sustainability Month activities, the Grounds Department invites faculty, staff and students to this year’s Arbour Day tree planting, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 24 in the afternoon from 2pm to 3pm on the Keele Campus. Volunteers are needed, and are invited to meet at 2pm in the York University Arboretum just south of the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence. No previous experience is required, and all materials will be provided.

Above: Some of the participants from last year’s Arbour Day

Up to 100 local trees, including red maple, sugar maple, white pine and white cedar, will be planted. Those interested in attending are reminded to wear sturdy footwear and appropriate clothing for the weather. In the event of heavy rain, the tree planting will take place the following day (Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 2pm) at the same time and location.

With urban and rural forests increasingly under threat, it is more important than ever to maintain a healthy tree canopy. Trees provide immeasurable value to the natural and urban environments, and to the quality of life of both humans and wildlife alike. An acre of trees can store 2.6 tons of carbon, while trees also provide protection from the wind, sun and soil erosion. Trees are also valuable natural habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife.

Trees also provide tangible economic benefits to urban and suburban areas. According to the City of Toronto, for every five per cent of tree cover area added to a community, storm water run-off is reduced by approximately two per cent. In addition, by generating oxygen, recycling water, and eliminating pollutants from the air, a single tree can provide thousands of dollars of economic value to a local community during its lifespan.

York’s Arbour Day tree planting is organized by the Grounds Department in Campus Services & Business Operations and is funded in part by the York University Bookstore. The Bookstore collects 15 cents for each plastic shopping bag purchased during the year and then donates the proceeds for tree purchases. This initiative has been in place for the last several years and has resulted in hundreds of new trees being planted on the Keele and Glendon campuses at York University.

A reminder to unplug! Turn off computers and appliances before the long weekend

York community members are reminded to switch off and unplug before leaving for the Labour Day long weekend. It is also a good time to remind others in your area about the importance of shutting down computers, lights, small office or kitchen appliances and other personal electronics before leaving the office.

This simple gesture can yield tremendous results, given that staff and faculty operate more than 8,000 computers, and together the Keele and Glendon campuses have more than 140,000 internal lights.

The ability to shut down certain electrical devices will vary depending on departmental requirements.

For information on reducing your own carbon footprint, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website. The Nature Conservatory of Canada has an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator on its website.

A reminder to unplug! Turn off computers and appliances before the long weekend

York community members are reminded to switch off and unplug before leaving for the August long weekend. It is also a good time to remind others in your area about the importance of shutting down computers, lights, small office or kitchen appliances and other personal electronics before leaving the office.

This simple gesture can yield tremendous results, given that staff and faculty operate more than 8,000 computers, and together the Keele and Glendon campuses have more than 140,000 internal lights.

The ability to shut down certain electrical devices will vary depending on departmental requirements.

For information on reducing your own carbon footprint, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website. The Nature Conservatory of Canada has an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator on its website.

York U researcher part of international collaboration on climate change communication

Featured image for the Matthew Tegelberg story shows the professor and his co-author interviewing climate change activists
Featured image for the Matthew Tegelberg story shows the professor and his co-author interviewing climate change activists

Climate change is one of this century’s defining challenges. Scientific investigations on climate change and global warming are at the forefront of research agendas with increasing numbers of such inquiries undertaken each year.

Approaches investigating the transforming conditions of the Earth’s planetary environments have also grown in depth and variety. However, news media and reporting on these crucial scientific findings has not kept pace with this growth or followed an inclusive path in covering the various stakeholders involved.

Matthew Tegelberg, an assistant professor of social science in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and a researcher at York University and has been addressing this lack of public communication of climate science through his contributions to the MediaClimate website. Developed by an international network of scholars based in Finland and Norway, contributors to MediaClimate have included collaborators from more than 20 countries representing both the Global North and South. (The network’s website provides a roster of its members that showcases the global reach.) The international collaboration includes submissions from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda and the United States. The goal of the website’s contributors is to enhance understanding of climate change communication.

Above: From left, Stockholm University Professor Anna Roosvall with York University Professor Matthew Tegelberg

To date, MediaClimate has assembled 10 years’ worth of empirical data. The precept framing this span of data collection is the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) global meetings; the term refers to all the countries that signed on to the 1992 United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change. Statistics were gathered beginning during COP13 in Bali (2007), included the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report (2014) and continued until the COP21 assembly in Paris (2015).

Within this wider area of focus, one of Tegelberg’s particular interests has been in the limited representation of Indigenous peoples and their experiences of climate change globally. A forthcoming book titled Media and transnational climate justice: Indigenous activism and climate politics, co-authored with Professor Anna Roosvall from Stockholm University, critically examines this topic.

“Our book explores the roles and situations of Indigenous peoples who do not have full representation at UN climate summits despite being among those most exposed to injustices pertaining to climate change,” said Tegelberg. “We do so by combining interviews with Indigenous activists and participant observation at UN climate summits with extensive empirical research conducted on media coverage of climate change and indigenous peoples since 2009.”

Above: Matthew Tegelberg and Anna Roosvall interview Indigenous activists about climate change and its impact on their communities

Tegelberg and Roosvall’s careful scrutiny of how Indigenous peoples’ relationships to climate change and their calls for climate justice are broadcast to the outside world will appeal to scholars working in a range of fields including Indigenous studies, political science, communication studies, international relations and environmental studies.

Tegelberg hopes that the MediaClimate network’s collaborative approach to research will create opportunities for future collaborations.

The publications listed on the website, with the exception of the latest work by Tegelberg and Roosvall, are available from the York University Libraries system. When the book Media and transnational climate justice: Indigenous activism and climate politics becomes available, it will be added to the University Libraries’ holdings.

For more information, visit the MediaClimate website, or mtegel@yorku.ca.

By Peter Duerr, York University Libraries

Annual residence move out saves over 1,600 kg of stuff from landfill

A table piled high with clothing, coffee makers and other items
A FreeStuff table in the Tatham Hall residence
A FreeStuff table in the Tatham Hall residence

During the course of the academic year, students in residence can accumulate a lot of stuff, only to realize that everything won’t fit into their backpack, suitcase or car when it’s time to leave for the summer. This used to result in a lot of things being left behind in the residence rooms – clothing, books, housewares – only to end up in the lost and found, or worse, the garbage bin. But thanks to the FreeStuff initiative, all of these things are getting a second life.

FreeStuff at York began in 2012 with a simple concept: tables and bins are set up in each of the residence lobbies during the month of April, where students can leave any unwanted items and take anything that they like. At the end of the month, everything leftover is donated to local non-profits, including Regenesis@York, a student group that operates ‘pop-up’ free stores on campus during the year, and the Oasis Clothing Bank, an agency that uses the items to help fund addiction recovery programs in the GTA.

This year, more than 1,600 kg of stuff was donated, not including the items that were shared and taken home by students. To put this in perspective, that’s more than the weight of a Toyota Prius.  In fact, over the past six years, the program has collected nearly 15,000 kg of items that might otherwise have ended up in the garbage or recycling.

“Since its first year of implementation, FreeStuff has been a great success here at York,” said Tim Haagsma, manager of grounds, fleet and waste with Campus Services and Business Operations. “The volume of items collected and kept out of the waste stream is impressive, and best of all, everything leftover benefits students and a local charity.”

The FreeStuff initiative is a partnership between Housing Services, Waste Management, Residence Life and the President’s Sustainability Council. For more information on FreeStuff and other sustainability initiatives, visit the Sustainability and Campus Services and Business Operations websites.