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Earth Hour has Come and Gone

Well Earth Hour is over and there has been no shortage of opinions on the effectiveness of the event in various media sources. The point was awareness and stemming from that, hopefully, an understanding of ways individuals and groups can make a difference. In the Excalibur it was stated that York would not participate in the event, citing security concerns. These concerns are legitimate, but perhaps the University could look more deeply into unnecessary lighting on campus and dimming the lighting in certain areas. Other, Ontario universities participated to varying degrees. In light of the recent carbon offsetting inititative at York, which has involved administrative recognition of the need for university practices to reduce their ecological footprint, it is not unrealistic to think the university could explore options to reduce its energy consumption. In the Toronto Star on Saturday, there was a feature page on what HBC has been doing to reduce its carbon footprint. In addition to participating in Earth Hour, the company has made extensive strides into other environmentally sustainable intiatives. They are continuing to retrofit stores and distribution centres with T8 lighting (highly efficient) and Building Automation Systems (BAS). BAS are store level central tracking systems that monitor daily consumption and minimize energy use by controlling lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation. Through these and other initiatives, HBC has reduced its emission intensity by 20.5%, which is an emission reduction of 146,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Before thinking that this might be corporate greenwashing, HBC's efforts have been commended by National Resources Canada and BC Hydro, which has designated HBC as one of only nine companies to be a Power Smart Certified Energy Efficiency Leader. Check out www.hbc.com/globalmind to see these intiatives and others underway at HBC to become a socially responsible corporate citizen. Some of these efforts would be worth looking into for an institution like York that desires to become practically engaged in sustainability efforts. Earth hour may be over, but its legacy should involve fundamental and practical changes that are realistic through the increased awareness brought about by these events.


Earth Hour Events

Dear friends, colleagues, faculty, staff, ENGO's and York University students,

The Environmental Outreach Team of York University will be hosting two Earth Hour events: Thursday March 27th, 2008 and Saturday March 29th, 2008 in the Health, Nursing and Environmental Studies Building, rm. 140 and the lounge as well. The event will feature guest speakers, music, short film clips, a discussion and a sustainability sampler tour (tour of the cogeneration plant on campus and more). I have enclosed the report of the events, which outlines specifics of the events. These event details will be finalized on Monday March 24, 2008.

Please circulate widely to all your contacts, staff, faculty, friends and departments at York and beyond.

It is important that York University receive a clear signal that campus groups are committed to sustainability projects at York University.

For further information on this exciting event, please contact Leslie Luxemburger, the coordinator of the Environmental Outreach Team at: envreach@yorku.ca; also visit our website for continual updates on the event: www.yorku.ca/envreach/attachments.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Leslie Luxemburger, BES
Coordinator, Environmental Outreach Team
York University
Faculty of Environmental Studies
Health, Nursing and Environmental Studies Bldg. Rm. 277
envreach@yorku.ca
(416) 729-0926
www.yorku.ca/envreach/attachments/


Yesterday was World Water Day

What with Earth Hour and Earth Day coming up and International Women's day come and gone, I totally forgot about World Water Day. But, last year, 2007, York University students, led by Korice Moir, who was helped by Roberta Hawkins (see the gender and water poster), and Paul Marmer, the 3 Master's students, who went to Mongolia for 3 months in 2006, as part of our Sustainable Water in Mongolia project, organized a great event with fellow Faculty of Environmental Studies students. Here are a few pictures. We had a hike around the campus (see our former Campus Planner, and IRIS exec. member, Andrew Wilson, in the central picture at the bottom) and learned about lost rivers, and the First Nations land claim that still remains to be settled. There were also posters and displays in Vari Hall and students taste-tested the difference between tap and bottled water (top photo).

[photopress:world_water_day4.jpg,thumb,alignright] [photopress:world_water_day1.jpg,thumb,alignright] [photopress:world_water_day3.jpg,thumb,alignright]


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