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With the publication of the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, more than 1,100 school survey responses from over 300 institutions are now available online. In total, these surveys offer more than 10,000 pages of data collected from colleges and universities during the summer of 2009. To access surveys from other schools, go to the surveys section of the website. To see grades, or to access additional surveys submitted by this school, please click the "Back to Report Card" link at the beginning or end of the survey.
Name: SustainDal
Position (in student organization): Project Coordinator
Date survey submitted: July 21, 2009
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
1) Please describe the student-run campus environmental/sustainability organization in which you have a leadership role.
Name of organization: SustainDal
Number of active members: 20 active participants (leading and implementing projects), 500 members on our mailing list that participate in meetings, events and services on an intermittent basis
Website: http://sustaindal.dsu.dal.ca/index.html
Date of last meeting: April 9, 2009 (we carry out a few activities in the summer, but do not meet regularly outside the academic year)
Frequency of meetings: bi-weekly for general members, executive meet on the alternate weeks
Key issues addressed and programs implemented since August 2008/Progress made on each issue/program since August 2008:
SustainDal a student-run group that works with students, faculty, staff, administration and the community to make our campus more sustainable by moving towards environmentally sound practices that are economically beneficial, and socially just. We focus on institutionalizing change through university operations, curriculum, and culture.
- BetterSide Notebooks [contact: Catherine MacNeil & Beth Cowan]
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- Students collect one-sided paper from print centres and bind it into notebooks for sale to students for $1. They're great for jotting down notes, ideas, sketches, and just about anything else and are a great way to re-use paper that would otherwise just be recycled. They are available for sale at Muggy Mondays, Tuppy Tuesdays (see below) Bottled Water Committee [contact: Gill Pritchard]
- This committee works to educate students about the environmental costs of bottled water. Formed in 2008, the committee has already completed a campus wide water fountain assessment. The final report will be made available on this website. The committee has met with Facilities Management to discuss how water quality can be improved, and short term recommendations are already being implemented! Future projects include continuing the improvement of water fountains, making campus events bottled water free, and doing an audit of Dalhousie offices and water cooler usage.
- Articles:
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- Keeping the student community informed of SustainDal and our events and campaigns using the mailing list, website, Facebook, campus media, etc. If you know of any community events or anything you'd like advertised, send me an email with details!
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- This committee aims to educate the campus community about a wide range of issues including energy consumption, waste management, transportation, etc. Organizes information sessions, actions, info tables, movie screenings and more.
- This committee works with food service providers and the student union to encourage our food service providers to provide more healthy local, organic, fair-trade, vegetarian foods on campus. We hosted a local-ingredient pancake breakfast during frosh week of 2008 and in March 2009, we completed a survey about student interest in more local, organic foods on campus and interest in a student-run food service. The survey showed considerable support for these two ideas. This coming year we will be focusing on increasing the amount of vegetarian food options and introducing china dishes into the student union building cafeteria.
- Every Monday in the Student Union Building you can find SustainDal members in the lobby of the student union building giving away FREE fair trade organic coffee and tea to anyone with a reusable mug. We also use fair trade organic sugar and honey as well as dry linguini for stir sticks. The goal is to reward environmentally conscious behavior and show students simple choices everyone can make to reduce solid waste at Dalhousie. Muggy Mondays also provides an opportunity to distribute educational materials and Better-side Notebooks and chat with students and staff about campus sustainability issues.
Muggy Mondays has been going strong for two years with the help of awesome volunteers and generous donations from local roaster Java Blend, a local coffee roaster.
- Articles:
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- This committee urges departments and faculties to switch to recycled, post consumer-content or Forest Stewardship Council certified paper, and to reduce departmental paper use by 20-30%. The higher cost of eco paper can be offset be savings from reduced paper use. This program began in 2006 but has only recently been revitalized. In 2006, a number of ready-to-use resources were created including sample letters to administrators, power point presentation etc. The over arching goal is to have all of Dalhousie University buying eco paper from the purchasing consortium of which we, along with all Maritime universities, belong. Once Dalhousie, the largest Maritime University has lent its purchasing power to eco paper, the idea is that other universities will be able to leverage our success to get their universities to switch to eco paper and pressure the purchasing consortium to provide more eco paper choices at more competitive prices.
- Raises awareness and educates students living in residence about energy consumption and waste in residences. Last year this committee carried out the first ever lights-out campaign in 5 residences where residences competed to see who could reduce their energy consumption the most over a 1 hour period, with one winning 2 bikes for communal use. Since August 2008, this committee carried out the first ever Eco-Olympics with residences competing to reduce their energy, water and waste use in a more comprehensive version of the lights-out campaign. The university was a partner in the competition.
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- Every Tuesday at lunch, this group serves vegan soups and locally baked bread to students who bring their own Tupperware container (by donation). Tuppy Tuesdays kicked off in early 2009 and was instantly successful, serving as many as 75 people each week and selling out of food in 45 minutes. The food is made fresh that morning at the nearby Dalhousie Women's Centre and walked over to the Marion McCain building. This year the group is hoping to expand operations and is looking for a permanent facility for the preparation and “sale” of the food. Our long term goal is to establish a student run food service similar to the People’s Potato at Concordia University in Montreal.
- Articles:
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SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES AND COMPETITIONS
2) Does your group organize any sustainability challenges/competitions for your campus and/or with other colleges?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please list details for each competition.
#1 - Name of competition: Eco-Olympics
Year initiated: 2009
Frequency of competition: annual
Participants: students living in 5 Dalhousie residences
Incentives: bikes (including helmets and locks), small foosball table
Goal of competition: to educate students about the importance of energy, water and waste conservation while living in residence, particularly 1st year students who may be unfamiliar with low eco footprint lifestyles.
Percent of energy/water/waste reduced: approximately 10-30%, contact for more info.
Lasting effects of competition: To educate every new cohort of Dalhousie students about green lifestyle practices that can be implemented during their stay in student residences (despite the challenges that living in residence presents to green living), throughout their student career and afterwards. We also aim to show students that living sustainably is an important part of the Dalhousie lifestyle and community, and that student societies along with the University support this lifestyle.
Website: N/A
SUSTAINABILITY IN STUDENT GOVERNMENT
3) Does your student government include a specific position or committee dedicated to campus sustainability issues?
[ ] No
[ x ] Yes. Please describe: The DSU Sustainability Office (DSUSO). The Sustainability Office is a student-run space that exists to promote and facilitate campus sustainability at Dalhousie. The office has two to three staff whose role is to communicate student concerns or ideas surrounding campus sustainability to the Administrative Office of Sustainability and the DSU, to create and implement projects, run the annual Green Week (3rd week in March) and work with the student union executive to create longer term initiatives and structures. They are also there to take an active role in supporting and promoting your campus sustainability endeavors as well as our own. They have a wealth of information regarding campus sustainability projects and events that have happened or are happening on campus and plenty of ways and ideas on how students can get involved. The office is guided by a board of operations and a multi stakeholder student caucus. The office is located on the third floor of the SUB in room 320 and is open at various times throughout the week.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
4) Please describe any additional campus sustainability activities or projects that you or your group has initiated at your school: Other than the events listed above, SustainDal hosts a variety of events in partnership with the ENGO community in Halifax including the Council of Canadians, Sierra Club, Ecology Action Centre, Clean Nova Scotia etc. Past events include an environmental debate between municipal politicians, a lecture by author Chris Turner, anti uranium info sessions, and lunch and learns on a variety of topics.
SustainDal works with DSUSO to host Green Week every March. The week featured lectures, movie screenings, food events, panel discussions, political debates, a farmers market, workshops etc. For more info go to the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56154262485
5) Please list and briefly describe any other student-run organizations related to campus sustainability at your school, and provide URLs if available (e.g., student groups; student government committees; student-run food co-ops, gardens/farms, bike co-ops) and provide contact information of the student leaders, if possible:
Environmental Law Students Society http://www.elss.dallss.com/
Environmental Programs Student Society http://environmentalprogrammesstudentsociety.dsu.dal.ca/
School of Resources and Environmental Studies Student Society
Society for Corporate, Environment and Social Responsibility http://societyforcorporateenvironmentalandsocialresponsibility.dsu.dal.ca/
Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group http://nspirg.org/
Questions 6 is for informational purposes only; your response will NOT be included in the Report Card evaluation process.
6) Please list any regional or national networks with which your group is affiliated (e.g., Energy Action Coalition/Campus Climate Challenge, Sierra
Student Coalition, a state PIRG, a state student sustainability coalition):
- Sierra Youth Coalition Sustainable Campuses Project
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Name: Rochelle Owen
Position (in student organization): for Dalhousie Student Union
Date survey submitted: July 22
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
1) Please describe the student-run campus environmental/sustainability organization in which you have a leadership role.
Name of organization: Dalhousie Student Sustainability Office
Number of active members: 10-15
Website: http://www.dsu.ca/services/sustainability-office
Date of last meeting: -
Frequency of meetings: monthly
Key issues addressed and programs implemented since August 2008:
· Organized Green Week activities:
· Working on student union Sustainability policy
· Participate in One Million Acts of Green with other student groups
Progress made on each issue/program since August 2008: See details on green week in the past events write up - http://office.sustainability.dal.ca/news/Archive_of_Past_Events/
SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES AND COMPETITIONS
2) Does your group organize any sustainability challenges/competitions for your campus and/or with other colleges?
[ ] No
[ X] Yes. Please list details for each competition. Participate in One Million Acts of green, see campus survey for details
#1 - Name of competition:
Year initiated:
Frequency of competition:
Participants:
Incentives:
Goal of competition:
Percent of energy/water/waste reduced:
Lasting effects of competition:
Website:
#2 - Name of competition:
Year initiated:
Frequency of competition:
Participants:
Incentives:
Goal of competition:
Percent of energy/water/waste reduced:
Lasting effects of competition:
Website:
SUSTAINABILITY IN STUDENT GOVERNMENT
3) Does your student government include a specific position or committee dedicated to campus sustainability issues?
[ ] No
[ X] Yes. Please describe: Student Union Sustainability Office staff. Also have members on President’s Advisory Council
OTHER ACTIVITIES
4) Please describe any additional campus sustainability activities or projects that you or your group has initiated at your school:
Liaise with other sustainability organizations to bring issues to President’s Advisory Council
Provide funding to support to students to attend events like the Sierra Club Atlantic Sustainability Campus Conference this year at Mun
Provide funding for student organizations to work on projects such as researching water fountain infrastructure on campus.
5) Please list and briefly describe any other student-run organizations related to campus sustainability at your school, and provide URLs if available (e.g., student groups; student government committees; student-run food co-ops, gardens/farms, bike co-ops) and provide contact information of the student leaders, if possible:
Questions 6 is for informational purposes only; your response will NOT be included in the Report Card evaluation process.
6) Please list any regional or national networks with which your group is affiliated (e.g., Energy Action Coalition/Campus Climate Challenge, Sierra Student Coalition, a state PIRG, a state student sustainability coalition):
- Nova Scotia PIRG is situated on campus in the Student Union BLd - http://www.nspirg.org/ They run a community garden on campus so does the Dalhousie Women’s Centre.
- Student involved in groups such as Sierra Club Sustainable Campus conferences.
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While this school has completed an additional student survey for the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, they have requested that their full response not be published. Please contact them directly if you have specific questions about their sustainability programs.
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