Consumption awareness efforts and better energy efficiency at U of T have boosted the downtown campus’s environmental sustainability grade to a B on the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, a slight improvement from its B- rating the previous year. UTSC and UTM did not participate in the ranking.
The annual report card, produced by the U.S.-based Sustainability Institute, measures the sustainability commitment of Canadian and American post-secondary schools based on recycling, green infrastructures, student involvement, and investment in renewable energy, among other evaluation categories.
While energy conservation and student involvement in sustainability have progressed at U of T, recycling efforts and endowment transparency have declined compared to last year, according to the report. Overall, U of T is on par with other “B” schools, like Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and Cornell University.
Among Canadian schools, the highest grade was B+, going to York University, the University of Calgary, McGill University, and the University of British Columbia. Waterloo University received a D+, repeating its last-place finish. Most Canadian schools either improved or kept their grade from last year.
Seventeen U.S. universities earned the highest grade of an A-, thanks to highly efficient and environmentally sustainable infrastructures. They include Harvard University, Yale University, and University of Pennsylvania.
While there is better awareness of environmental issues at U of T, critics say sustainability is not a part of U of T’s future in president David Naylor’s Towards 2030 planning document. Cathy Riggall, VP Business Affairs, has said that although U of T has been successful in reducing resource use per student, it is using more on an absolute basis since the university is growing.
“U of T’s strengths in terms of sustainability are its students and their willingness to advocate for sustainability within the seven undergraduate colleges, and within their own faculties and programs,” said Melinda Jacobs, president of the Trinity Environment Club. “It is hard for sustainability efforts to permeate U of T’s substantial bureaucracy, but more student organizations like UTERN and Rewire are collaborating in an effort to solve this problem,” she added.
The University of Toronto Environmental Resource Network promotes environmental practices and projects in all three campuses. Rewire is a project under the U of T’s Sustainability Office that encourages students, staff and faculty to reduce their environmental impact by changing their behaviour and practices.
Both Jacobs and former TEC president Naomi Jehlicková said sustainable initiatives such as the Presidents’ Climate Change Initiative, a Kyoto-like agreement for universities, are more feasible to adopt and implement within colleges. While U of T President David Naylor opted not to sign the PCCI, Trinity College signed on in March.
But for third-year U of T student Tarkia Menzes, U of T has made significant progress in sustainability compared to University College London, the prestigious U.K. university where she’s currently on exchange. “Recycling is not enforced, awareness is not developed, and many departments haven’t even started [reducing paper use]. It doesn’t even have an environmental club,” said Menzes.
