The following appeared in the Friday, April 16, 2010 edition of Y-File:

Simple steps mean a lot when it comes to climate change.

During the month of March, students in eight undergraduate residences on Keele campus and two on the Glendon campus took many simple steps as part of a collective effort to reduce their personal energy consumption.

The students were competing in York University’s second annual Res Race to Zero challenge, which saw students in the 10 residences work together to reduce their personal carbon footprint, and in turn, that of their residence. Led by 9 residence environmental ambassadors, the 2,500 students competed against each other and tried, in true competitive spirit, to bring home a personal best with respect to energy saved.

Right: Residence Environmental
Ambassadors leading the Res Race to
Zero challenge are, clockwise from
the bottom, Farrahnaz Bulsara,
Madeline Neff, Adellah Chimbindi,
Jason Vuu, Yulia Lobacheva, James
Marzotto and Ives Spritzer

“I’m sure the students must have been living in the dark or studying by candlelight,” joked Helen Psathas, York’s senior manager of environmental design & sustainability.

After crunching the numbers, Psathas revealed that the energy saved by month’s end amounted to 31,029 kilowatt hours (kWh), or enough energy to power the 13-floor Vanier Residence for one month. The measurement of energy consumption during the challenge for each residence building included the average kilowatt usage per person by residence as compared with last year's Res Race to Zero student competitors. The final tally equals a decrease across the University of 5.40 per cent or a reduction of 8.89 kWh per person over March 2009.

On Friday, April 9, Psathas and York Vice-President Students Rob Tiffin visited Winters Residence to award the first prize to not one, but two residences. The students of Winters Residence and Bethune Residence on the Keele campus achieved the most significant reductions in energy consumption.

"It is really delightful to be here today," said Psathas. "Two years ago, we started Res Race to Zero and the real story is about the collective efforts of York students. Last year's winner Calumet Residence had very good results and we were sure the students were living in the dark, so you can imagine my delight when the results surpassed last year's totals. All of the undergrad residences did very well."

"Let me just add my personal congratulations to Bethune and Winters," said Tiffin. "A survey done [recently] by the Rockefeller Institute that looked at green initiatives across North America and York received a B+, which was the highest mark.

"Four years ago, York established a Sustainability Council and that has grown into the President's Advisory Committee on Sustainability, so sustainability very much on the minds of all of us at York University. Congratulations to you all, well done!" said Tiffin.

On hand to receive the awards were Bethune Residence environmental ambassador Lani Etzkorn and Winters Residence green don Coni Davila. The $2,000 award will be split between the two winning residences. Students living in Bethune Residence achieved a reduction of 17.82 kWh per person over statistics from one year ago, while students living in Winters Residence achieved a reduction of 14.70 kWh per person over the same period one year ago.

Above: Res Race to Zero challenge winners receive their plaques
from York VP Students Rob Tiffin. From left, Lani Etzkorn,Bethune 
Residence environmental ambassador; Rob Tiffin; and Coni Davila,
Winters Residence green don.

The decision was made to share the prize due to unforeseen circumstances – a three-day power outage in Bethune. Winning residences are considering options such as low-flow showerheads, which will be funded by the $2,000 prize.

For the first time, residences on York's Glendon campus participated in the challenge and demonstrated their energy reduction efforts from Week 1 to Week 4. Hilliard Residence, which has 215 rooms, saw a weekly consumption per person drop by 1.31 kWh and the 189-room Wood Residence by 2.25 kWh per person. This data will serve as a benchmark for next year's competition.

Res Race to Zero complements York's Energy Management Program, a five-year plan to reduce energy consumption by 25 per cent. For more information and to view the competition’s statistics, visit Yorkwise, the event sponsor, or the Res Race to Zero Web site.

The following appeared in the Thursday, April 22, 2010 edition of Y-File:

It's Earth Day and York University is launching Zero Waste, a new campaign to reduce the amount of trash produced by the University that goes into landfill. Comprised of two initiatives, Zero Waste is designed to help the University recycle more of its waste and stop harmful cleaning chemicals from entering the environment.

Above: A concept of what York's waste disposal trucks will look like once Zero Waste is fully implemented

Each year in North America, more than 6.2 billion pounds of cleaning chemicals and 36 billion plastic garbage can liners are consumed. Many of these are manufactured using petroleum products and have an enduring negative impact on the biosphere.

Zero Waste is York’s effort to reduce its institutional footprint. The campaign builds on two successful pilots that were launched in the York Research Tower last August, in which building occupants managed their own recycling and trash disposal, and "green" cleaning products were introduced. (See YFile, Aug. 13, 2009.)

Starting Monday, June 7, custodial staff will no longer service office waste and recycling bins. Instead York community members will tote their own trash and recycling to communal tri-bins (three-sectioned recycling bins) located in common areas. Each kitchenette will also be equipped with a small green bin for organics.

Currently, recycled materials at York’s Keele campus account for 59 per cent of the institution’s total waste, and the goal for Zero Waste is to reach 65 per cent by 2013. “This equals more than 200 metric tonnes of diverted waste over a year, which is comparable to stopping 10 large transport trucks fully loaded with waste from heading off to the landfill,” says Bob Smith, director of custodial, grounds and Glendon Facilities Services for Campus Services & Business Operations (CSBO).

Zero Waste relies on University community members taking responsibility for the recyclables and waste that they generate during the day. To make the campaign work, the tri-bin and green cleaning initiative launched in the research tower will expand to all of the 90 buildings on the Keele campus. That means giving up individual office garbage collection in favour of communal tri-bins; using kitchenette organic collection bins (which will be inspected daily and serviced as required) for lunch leftovers; and the roll-out across the University of green cleaning products.

With the start of Zero Waste, those black desk-side waste bins in offices and work areas will no longer be outfitted with a plastic liner. Everyone will be encouraged to take their unused drinks, soggy tea bags and leftover sandwiches to the common kitchens. Organic waste will go into kitchen collectors or to outside digesters. This initiative alone will save more than 30,000 plastic bags from going into the landfill, says Smith.

Zero Waste has numerous benefits for both the University and the environment. The program not only saves money, it also frees custodial staff from emptying thousands of individual desk-side garbage and recycling containers. The time saved will then be redirected to dusting and cleaning work surfaces, carpets, kitchenettes and bathrooms – a win-win for air quality, health and the environment.

“Every time you use a tri-bin properly you save the University money,” says Smith. “If we all participate in the Zero Waste initiative, our custodial employees will spend more time cleaning, which will lead to improved air quality in your work environment.”

Under the green cleaning program, custodial staff will use Green Seal products such as vacuums with HEPA filtration technology and GEL Cell batteries, which have a longer life and reduced off gassing for better air quality. They will also use the same environmentally responsible cleaning products that are used to keep the research tower spotless. These products are much less corrosive, with fewer airborne (volatile) contaminants, compared to traditional formulations such as bleach. The enzymes they contain continue to destroy unwanted germs for a longer period of time, which translates into a cleaner environment and reduced product usage.

You can help the program reach its goal by doing the following:

- Dispose of your organics into the NEW organic bin located in all kitchenettes.
- Do not put organics in your office waste bin.
- Keep in mind that your office garbage will no longer be collected, and empty your office recycling and waste bins into centrally located tri-bins.

You can also help the University be successful by making sure that all of your waste is placed in the appropriate tri-bin section:

- newspaper and office paper (not including used paper coffee cups or plates) will go into one section of the tri-bin;
- cans, bottles and other minor plastics, including plastic forks, plastic bags and bottles that have been emptied of any liquid, will go into another section of the tri-bin;
- wrappers and packaging that are soiled with food waste or not recyclable should go into the waste section of the tri-bin;
- all organic waste goes into a separate kitchennette bin or digester.

A waste-less lunch that makes use of reusable containers and a coffee mug will go a long way to reducing trips to the tri-bins and kitchenettes. Everyone is also encouraged to take advantage of York's other recycling options.

By printing on both sides of the paper and reusing office paper for note taking, York community members have also been doing their part to reduce their use of some of the 4.5 billion pounds of paper products created from 30 million trees.