In the past few months, Lethbridge College’s efforts to increase and promote sustainability on campus have been spearheaded by its Green Leadership Office (GLO), the collective noun for Leona Rousseau and Dave McRae. The two instructors (Rousseau, Interior Design; McRae, Environmental Science) were seconded to carry out a campus sustainability audit and to report their findings by the end of June. With a month to go, they sat down with Wider Horizons to discuss their findings.
WH: If you had to give your report card today, would you give Lethbridge College a passing or failing grade on sustainability?
Leona Rousseau: I’d say it’s a light shade of green, turning slowly to a rich, darker shade with time.
Dave McRae: There’s a lot of effort being made, but it’s all unco-ordinated. Still, I see good things happening. The college administration should be applauded for taking these first steps in the process.
WH: Can you list a few success stories you’ve discovered?
DM: At our convocation ceremonies in April, staff used decorative plants instead of flowers, and bamboo plates at the receptions. People seem to be more conscious. A lot of people are doing a lot of little things people don’t know about. It’s not an obscure concept. I’ve even had discussions with Facilities Management about building hawk nests as part of an integrated pest-control system, using the birds to control gophers. And in our Carpentry program, scrap wood, once hauled away, is now being used for other purposes.
LR: College administration has made a concerted effort to promote sustainability. Faculty are trying to get more sustainability content into their curriculum. They’re coming up with new ideas and options. If there’s been a problem, it’s that finding the information we need to do a proper audit has been a bit of a scavenger hunt, such as recycling info and hazardous waste info.
DM: It’s been a bit of a hunt, but at least everyone has been accommodating and on board.
WH: Your mandate was to end June 30. What’s the next step for Lethbridge College to take?
LR: We need a one- to three-year strategic plan to be able to implement the findings from the audit. We’ve implemented much in the original proposal. Now we need a plan that’s in line with the campus development plan and provincial guidelines. And, there’s a cost factor. We require a priority list of items such as alternate energy and changes to the curricula. It’s a three- to five-year process to get to mid-green.
WH: Are you finding students are caring more about the environment?
DM: They seem to be. We have the Eco-Collective club on campus, although it’s only a few students. Recycling facilities for our student residences are often inadequate. Students need more information on what they can do to recycle.
LR: Students elsewhere are pushing the sustainability agenda. It seems there are three types of people: those who just don’t care; those who will recycle if it’s convenient and those who will walk half a mile out of their way to recycle an empty bottle. Young people seem to be endowed with an attitude of care for the planet’s well-being. Many campuses, for instance, want to ban bottled water.
WH: Besides its audit responsibility, the GLO has been the catalyst for some on-campus events to raise awareness.
LR: Well, it’s hard to say we’re only going to do number one and two and not number three. When a good opportunity comes along, you hate to turn it down.
WH: What do you think needs to happen now?
LR: The audit is just the foundation for real change. We have to carry on. Lethbridge College signed the Pan- Canadian Protocol for Sustainability (developed by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges), so it needs to make a consistent effort. We need to explain the financial value of sustainability. Companies will do it because it makes financial sense. It has to be environmentally, socially and economically responsible.
