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| On "Tuppy Thursdays," the student society SustainDal offers local, organic vegan food on campus; students can bring a container and cutlery with them to the McCain building at lunchtime to be served freshly made food, by donation. (Bruce Bottomley Photo) |
It鈥檚 true what they say about grades 鈥� you put in the work, you get the results.
AV俱乐部 showed significant improvement in its second year participating in the College Sustainability Report Card, going from a middling 鈥淐+鈥� grade last year to a solid 鈥淏.鈥� The survey graded聽more than聽300 North American universities, making it the largest independent evaluation of campus sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
Rochelle Owen, director of AV俱乐部鈥檚 Office of Sustainability, says the improved score reflects the work that Dal has put into becoming a more sustainable campus.聽
鈥淚鈥檇 say that collectively we鈥檝e made progress in different categories and are starting to make significant improvements,鈥� she says, citing transportation 鈥� which went from a C to a B 鈥� as one major area of focus. 鈥淭his year we did our sustainable transportation planning. We just launched our new bike centre in October. We鈥檝e held focus groups on issues such as carpooling and we鈥檙e starting to pilot other programs as well. All of that effort makes a difference in the score.鈥�
Another area of improvement in AV俱乐部鈥檚 grade was student involvement, with the report citing such efforts as the DSU鈥檚 sustainability office, the student group SustainDal and the student staff employed by the university鈥檚 sustainability office.
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| Buildings under construction on campus, such as the new academic building on Coburg Road, will have many green features. |
What鈥檚 holding us back? Among Dal鈥檚 lowest grades was the 鈥淐limate Change & Energy鈥� category. 鈥淒al has done some energy work in the past, but the university is really ramping up with major planning on both fronts so we鈥檙e hoping to improve significantly in that category next year,鈥� says Ms. Owen, citing major renovations to the Life Sciences Centre and a project to dramatically change the campus鈥� lighting infrastructure as notable initiatives.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e huge issues to confront when you think about their impact, both ecologically and economically,鈥� she continues. 鈥淗ow we interact with our buildings connects with everything from air quality, to health, to our budget. That file is key for us in the years to come.鈥�
While achieving a good grade isn鈥檛 an end in and of itself, obviously, Ms. Owen says that she鈥檚 pleased that Dal鈥檚 efforts are being recognized and hopes the higher score only encourages the university to aim higher when it comes to campus sustainability. To that end, her office is launching a 鈥淩eThink鈥� campaign 鈥� a sustainability awareness competition that begins on Friday, October 23 with a public event in the Student Union Building at noon.
AV俱乐部 was one of 17 Canadian universities to take part in the report card this year; of those, nine 鈥� including Dal 鈥� posted improved marks over last year. No Canadian school earned a grade higher than a B+.
You can read AV俱乐部鈥檚 evaluation at: . To read the entire report card, visit: