What a year it has been for the Sustainability Committee of the Environmental Law Society! Celebrating our annual green Obiter Dicta issue, we thought we would update you on our initiatives over the 2013-2014 school year.
In September, the Sustainability Committee established our foundation: five sub-groups that would direct our goals for the year. We created a Campus Connections group, Osgoode Bistro group, Osgoode Campus group, Events group, and the Sustainable Awareness group.
Campus Connections Group
As students, we seem to operate in an isolated Osgoode bubble from time to time. Though we clearly care about the larger environmental impact of our school on the community, we often forget that we are part of York University – an institution with thousands of other students who care about the environment. Many of these individuals are part of other clubs on our Keele campus with greater resources and manpower to effect change. It was our goal at the start of the school year to learn about the other groups on our campus and see how we could partner with them to achieve common goals.
The group evolved over the year to focus on an initiative supervised by Liane Langstaff and the Osgoode Society for Corporate Governance (1L Student – Thomas Felix) regarding sustainable and responsible investing. Please see her article entitled, “CSR Research Pilot Program: Fostering Sustainability through Collaboration,” included in this Obiter Dicta green issue. We are excited that the Campus Connections group has taken such focused direction with the eventual desire that York University will be held increasingly accountable for the investment decisions they choose to make.
Osgoode Bistro Group
Our student group is very lucky that Aramark (the food services company) has been so willing to work with us to make appropriate changes to dining at Osgoode. Our relationship with Aramark began in Winter 2013 and has continued to grow from there. Initially, the Bistro, along with Peter Lee (of Campus Operations) agreed to implement composting. The 2013-2014 school year promised an even stronger partnership. An initial meeting with Lisa Xie (led by Katie Brack of the Committee), provided us with important information about the sourcing and pricing of food, as well as the Bistro’s willingness to incorporate our suggestions. Also, Osgoode’s commitment to the Bistro became evident through the re-introduction of the Food Services Advisory Group. Two students, along with faculty and staff of Osgoode, as well as the Aramark’s Food Services team would meet to discuss sustainability issues, food complaints and suggestions, and other initiatives that could be introduced at the Bistro. Jamie Prsala, a member of the Sustainability Committee and attendee of the January 2014 Food Advisory Services Group meeting has written about his experience in this Obiter Dicta green issue. Please refer to “Sustainability Through Collaboration: Food Services Advisory Group,” to learn more.
To highlight a few of the progress items:
(1) Fair Trade Coffee: We are excited that the Bistro has agreed to re-introduce Las Nubes coffee along with regularly brewed Starbucks offerings. This coffee stems from the Pacific slope of the Talamanca Mountains in southern Costa Rica, and has been made possible by the Faculty of Environmental Studies of York University. The coffee has been certified sustainable by the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture, reflective of biodiversity protection, shade-grown coffee, water and soil conservation, and fair labour and fair trade practices. Thank you to Zach D’Onofrio for the suggestion! Visit http://www.lasnubes.org/coffee/ for more information.
(2) Re-introduction of Reusable Mugs/Cups: In 2013-2014, students were able to utilize reusable mugs for coffee and reusable cups for water if they had forgotten their own at home. When many of the items went missing, Aramark decided to remove this amenity from the Bistro. With the encouragement of the Sustainability Committee, Aramark has re-introduced the mugs and cups. Peter Lee will be developing return stations throughout Osgoode, so that students are less likely to accidentally take the items from the school, and reusability can be maintained.
(3) Vegan Mondays: Aramark’s York University wide-initiative has been recently brought to Osgoode. In the spirit of “Meatless Mondays,” students are encouraged to try locally grown, healthy, and vegan options available on Mondays at the Bistro.
Osgoode Campus Group
In Fall 2013, Ronald Neal and Gun Koleoglu led a “Lighting Efficiency” signature campaign, receiving one hundred signatures in support of a more efficient campus. Students have noticed that even after the Ignat Kaneff building has closed for the day, lights remain on in almost every room. The signature campaign was sent to Dean Sossin in October as a symbol of student support to supplement a meeting with an engineering and energy services company retrofitting buildings on York campus.
A second initiative of the group has revolved around the establishment of an e-waste bin in the Osgoode building. The bin will provide students with a location to drop their used batteries and printer cartridges to allow for sustainable disposal. The group hopes to complete this initiative by the end of the school year, so that come next Fall, a location for easy disposal will be up and running.
Tori Chai established a double-sided printing poster that has now been adopted by the Osgoode library. The poster instructs students about how to double-side print on the upstairs printer – make sure to check out the instructions if you do not already know how. Unfortunately, at this time, double sided printing is only available on the upstairs printer. Sarah Virani has also been working to create an educational coffee disposal poster campaign on campus. Unbeknownst to many coffee drinkers, each part of a coffee cup must be disposed of in different receptacles. The cup itself usually has a wax coating on the inside and must be thrown out in the garbage. The paper sleeve is recyclable in the paper bin, while the lid is to be placed in the plastic bin. As a result of student confusion, we are working to create a sticker that will be placed on all garbage bins throughout the school including directions for proper disposal.
Events Group
Lug-A-Mug in February 2013 was such a success that the Osgoode Sustainability Committee worked to bring back the event in the Fall. To encourage students to bring reusable coffee mugs to campus, we provided some incentive. During Lug-A-Mug week, students who made an effort to utilize a reusable container (for water or coffee) won a free coffee from the Bistro. Lug-A-Mug will become an annual event at the school, but we remind students, faculty, and staff that every day is an occasion to lug-a-mug! You also receive a $0.15 discount on your coffee purchase at the Bistro if you do..
February 2014 marked the first Fork Drive, an initiative led by Hongyi Geng, Jamie Prsala and Tori Chai. Osgoode’s Sustainability Committee teamed up with Aramark to return metal forks, spoons, and knives to the Bistro. In past years, Aramark provided metal cutlery to students, faculty, and staff, but this was unfortunately stopped when borrowed items went unreturned. Based on encouragement from the Sustainability Committee, Aramark agreed to re-introduce a minimal supply of metal forks, spoons, and knives (that they would continue to wash for our use). However, we needed assistance to supplement Aramark’s limited provisions. We requested that the Osgoode community search their homes over Reading Week for extra utensils. Perhaps an exchange student was expecting to move out and did not plan to bring their metal cutlery home. Maybe a Professor recently moved and purchased a new set of utensils. The Fork Drive attempted to make our eatery just a little bit more sustainable, reducing the approximately 2150 plastic forks, spoons, and knives used monthly at the Bistro.
Sustainable Awareness Group
To promote a more educated Osgoode campus, the Sustainability Committee created both a facebook and twitter page. If you have not already, please make sure to join Osgoode Sustainability Committee on Facebook or @OHLSsustainable on Twitter to keep up-to-date.
A special thank you to Aramark (Lisa Xie in particular), Peter Lee, and the entire Osgoode community for the continued support of the Osgoode Sustainability Committee. We will see you next year!