We are proud of having made great progress in environmental sustainability across all campuses since 2007.

Waste Diversion

Goal: to reduce waste to landfill by 50 per cent from 2008 (our base year).

Accomplishments:

• conducted waste audits at Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound and Midland campuses
• developed waste reduction work plan
• implemented organic waste collection in kitchens and student labs at Barrie and Orillia campuses
• added a third “mixed paper” stream to hallway collection
• promoted the use of reusable travel mugs and reusable bags, thereby reducing the amount of disposable cups and plastic bags on campus
• implemented two-sided printing and photocopying policy
• promoting the use of electronic newsletters
• investigating the reuse and recycling opportunities for e-waste

Environmental Literacy

Goal: Ensure that all graduates of all programs have the knowledge to make sound environmental decisions in their personal and professional lives

Accomplishments

• integrated sustainability into curriculum and learning activities
• new courses developed that pertain to environmental sustainability
• Students in Georgian’s Advertising program are using the “greening” of Georgian as a case study to prepare media kits for use to promote Georgian’s efforts

Procurement/Purchasing Policy Review

Goal: Ensure that vendors and products are environmentally sensitive

Accomplishments:

• renegotiated Georgian’s contract with Grand and Toy to include only “green” office supplies
• switched to 30 per cent post-consumer paper stock

And there’s more…

• Chartwells, the College’s food service provider, has signed a contract to collect used cooking oil from the Barrie Campus cafeteria and The Last Class for conversion to bio-diesel
• SAC implemented a paperless Orientation package in the fall 2008 by providing the information to incoming students on data sticks
• Auto Show 2008 organizers implemented environmental sustainability in the planning and delivery of Georgian’s first “green” Auto Show in September 2008
• Earth Day 2008 was marked by a campus-wide clean-up activities in which thousands of pounds of waste was gathered up
• Energy Conservation Week and Waste Reduction Week were marked by “mini-expos” showcasing College sustainability initiatives.