UTSC Green Guide

Guide to sustainability on campus

The UTSC Green Guide: Resource Booklet

!  Sustainability is built on the balance of three pillars: society, economy and the environment. The importance of sustainability is to allow us to meet the needs of the present without negatively impacting the ability for future generations to meet their needs.

!  This booklet provides the UTSC campus community with information and suggestive actions to make sustainable choices in their everyday activities both on and off campus.

!  This guide provides simple tips and available resources to make small changes in your daily habits to create an environmentally-conscious lifestyle.

!  These simple actions and small changes can collectively add up to reduce your environmental footprint.

!  The UTSC Green Guide Version 1.1 is a working document that currently focuses on five key areas Food, Transportation, Waste, Residence and Office.

!  If you have tips, ideas and actions to share with us, email sustain@utsc.utoronto.ca so we can create an updated guide book annually.

Let us know!

Table of Contents

!  Food 4

!  Transportation 6

! Waste 8

!  Residence & Housing 11

! Office 14

! Get Involved 15

Together we can make a difference!

FOOD !  EAT Healthy

!  Be health conscious on the food choices you make as it can significantly lower your impact on the environment.

!  Having a balanced meal is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. Check out Canada’s Food Guide on food groups and daily servings.

!  Sustainability and healthy food inventory at UTSC

!  EAT Organic

!  Choose Organic products and food. Proper organic labelling certifies that foods do not contain synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, and is not genetically modified.

!  Fair Trade: Follows principles of fairness and decency in business (pay fair wages, follow ethical labour conditions, given support to their communities, and follow principles that protect and nurture the environment).

!  Seek out other certified sustainable products: Many third party certifications identify products or companies that meet ethical, ecological or environmental standards.

!  Healthy organic meals delivered to your home: http://www.greenzebrakitchen.com/howitworks.html

Save on hot beverage purchases when you bring a mug

Bring a reusable mug or water bottle and refill it throughout the day to reduce disposable paper cups and plastic bottles.!

Food Outlets! Products Offered!

Market Place (H-Wing)! Fair Trade Coffee & Tea, Fair Trade Chocolates!

La prep! 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Treats!(Student!Center)! Peruvian Sunrise Fair Trade

Student!Centre!has!compos1ng!bins!for!food!waste!!

Learn!gardening!1ps!at!the!Sustainability!Organic!Vegetable!Garden!in!the!valley!

UTSC!to!be!a!Fair!Trade!designated!campus!by!!Fall!2015!!

!  BUY Local

!  Buy Fresh produce, honey, jams and jellies, baked goods, kettle corn and local and cured meats, pies and much more.

!  UTSC Farmers Market: Outdoor Markets in outer parking lot 4(Every Wednesday June-October), Indoor Markets in SW Meeting Place (First Wednesday of the Month from November -April)

!  Pickering Town Center Farmer’s Market

!  Evergreen Brick Works Farmers Market

!  Find a Farmer’s Market in your area: http://farmersmarketsontario.com/RegionMap.cfm

!  EAT More Alternatives to Meat

!  Less meat: Substitute your meal with healthy and delicious alternatives to meat such as beans and legumes, tofu, nuts, etc. or vegetarian/vegan options which can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Try one vegetarian meal a week that includes all four food groups in the Canada Food Guide.

!  Urban Food Revolution: Student driven vegetarian eatery. Once a semester students come together to create a 3-course healthy and delicious vegetarian meal sold on campus. Students create menus, shop for groceries, prep and cook and serve the meals.

!  Go Local Food Challenge: with Foodland Ontario, UTSC Market Place offers signature meals made from mostly locally sourced.

Even!beGer:!Bring!your!own!Food!Container!and!Cutlery!!

Did You Know? Eco Containers: Save both the environment and your money with the EcoContainer. Buy for $5 and save$0.50 on your next 10 meal purchases in the Market Place

“Did you Know: Livestock production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions making the agricultural sector the third largest contributor to Greenhouse emissions by sectors.” [2]

Take your own reusable shopping bags to the store

FOOD

Sustainability,!History!&!Culture!courses!at!UTSC!along!with!Food!Discussion!Cafés!

Borrow!water!coolers/jugs!from!Sustainability!Office!and!SCSU!

TRANSPORTATION

!  Help save the environment while saving on gas and money. In Canada, the transportation sector is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

!  Alternative Modes of Transit: 

!  Walking:

!  Most environmentally friendly mode of transportation as well as keeping you physically active. Walk to near by shops and restaurants or take a stroll in the valley.

!  Cycling:

!  UTSC BikeShare: Free bike-lending program for all UTSC staff, students and faculty. Sign out at Residence Front Desk.

!  Instructor-Led Bike Rides: Bring your own bike or borrow from BikeShare and participate in an Athletics Instructor-led bike ride during the Summer and Fall semesters.

!  Public Transit:

!  Toronto Transit Committee (TTC)

!  To/From York Mills Subway, take bus 95/95B/95E/95F

!  To/From Scarborough Town Centre, take bus 38/38A

!  To/From Kennedy Subway, take bus 116 (From Kennedy Subway, during rush hour only, take bus 116E)

!  Go Bus

!  407 East Bus Line 51/51C (East/West)

!  Durham Region Transit (DRT)

!  900 Pulse

!  923 Bus

!  Pick up your TTC tokens and discounted Monthly Metro Pass at SCSU for staff and students

Get a PRESTO card when traveling with the GO or Durham Region Transit (DRT)!

Free City of Toronto maps with highlighted walking and cycling trails at the Sustainability Office!

Use TTC Trip Planner to help plan your bus routes!

NEW 198 UofT Scarborough Rocket bus between Kennedy Station and UTSC!

NEW Bike Repair Stand, tools and pump @ Student Centre! Coming to Residence by Fall 2015!!

TRANSPORTATION !  Carpooling:

!  Share your ride to and from campus with your friends, or other staff, students or faculty!

!  UTSC Carpool Zone with Smart Commute Scarborough: Register for free to be paired with a carpool partner in your area that also comes to UTSC. https://utsc.carpoolzone.smartcommute.ca/en/my/

!  ecoPark Program: !  Obtain a ecoPark sticker if vehicle meets certain CO2

emission standards; and together with a valid parking permit, the ecoPark decal allows you to park in preferred North parking lot spaces.

!  Register: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~sustain/ecoPARK.htm

!  Zipcar at UTSC: !  Need a car for a quick errand or for a day trip, use a Zipcar

on campus

!  Two vehicles in Lot P3 for participants in the Zipcar program

!  Join Now: http://www.zipcar.com/universities

!  On the Move: !  Join the UTSC Sneaker Squad for a walk or a run; provided

by UTSC Athletics

!  Photo Nature Walks with Shutterbugs and Mental Wellness Peer Group in October. Take a relaxing walk to learn about plants in the Highland Creek Area and don’t forget to bring your camera!

WASTE

Let’s clean up waste on campus! Follow this chart to easily identify what goes in each waste stream:

Green Waste All food waste All napkins & paper towel Compostable items (NO Containers, NO Styrofoam)

E-Waste Battery Bin: All alkaline batteries (eg. AA,AAA) Semester E-Waste Drives: cellphones, computer, printers, laptops, cables, ink cartridges, batteries, & other small electronic devices (cameras, music players)

Recycle Materials- Fibers Cardboard (pizza trays, boxes) Paper (magazines, newspaper, white & coloured paper)

Recycle Material- Containers All clean plastics labelled #1 - #9 Clean plastic food packaging (emptied & rinsed containers, drink lids) & Plastic Utensils Glass bottles & pop cans

Litter All NON- recyclable plastics, metals & Glass All Styrofoam Food wrappers ( Chip bags, candy wrappers, foil) All other waste that is not collected in other waste streams

Compost!Bin!in!Student!Center!dining!area!!

DPES!Faculty!&!Grads!in!SY!have!their!own!food!compost!bin!

WASTE

!  Reduce

!  Save paper by printing on the other side of used paper. Tired of paying for printing? Make good use of the paper after you are done using it by using the other side as scrap paper for brainstorms, notes, math problems, and more! Also, make sure to check the “Double Sided Print” option when printing on campus, in the residence halls, or in your apartment. This can save a lot of paper, ink and money!

!  Paperless deposits and bills – pay online instead. Do you have a job? Do you get paper paychecks? Save paper by requesting for your paycheck to be deposited straight into your bank account! Also request your monthly bank statements by e-mail instead of through snail mail. If you pay monthly cable or utility bills, switch to online payments, saving you the cost of postage and time from going to a post office box.

!  Use up all the paper in notebooks. At the end of the quarter, tear out the remaining pieces of binder paper that are left in unfinished spiral bound notebooks, and use them to take notes for your classes the next quarter, or as scrap paper. After you finish those sheets, start taking notes on a laptop to save paper!

!  Take all you care to eat…just eat what you take! When at all-you-can-eat restaurants, it’s always better to take what you know you can eat, and then go back for seconds. Food waste can be significantly reduced by keeping our eyes from being bigger than our stomachs. Same goes for purchasing food at home; it’s easy to prepare too much food and throw away the leftovers. Use meal-planning tools to create the right food portions for you, and only restock your fridge/pantry when it’s running low.

UTSC ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus in November, 2011.

WASTE

!  Reuse

!  Bring your own bottle or mug. Refrain from buying water bottles, and invest in a Brita filter. Make use of reusable water bottles that you can refill with your own filtered water. Also, make sure to use a reusable mug for tea and coffee—some coffee shops on campus give you a discount for doing so.

!  BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag)! Reusable bags help reduce plastic and paper needed to make grocery and sundry bags. The EPA estimates that only approximately 11% of all plastic bags and wraps get recycled, so keep a canvas or reusable tote bag in your backpack or purse when you’re out and about to avoid getting another plastic bag.

!  Use creatively. Use empty cans or jars for pen/ pencil holders, and use old shoe boxes for storage.

!  Recycle

!  Sort your trash. Take a look at the simple chart below. As a general rule of thumb: all take-out containers are either recyclable (look for recycling symbols 1-6) or compostable (paper-based products or plastic that says “PLA”). Waxy paper cups (like Coca Cola cups) go in the compost bin and should be separated from their straws and lids, which go in the recycling bins. Condiment packets (like ketchup, mayonnaise, etc.) or chip bags go in the trash, along with film plastics.

!  Donate. Donate your clothing and/or furniture when you do not need it instead of throwing it away. The Residence Office on-campus collects donate goods (clothing and food) to the Canadian Diabetes Association. Organizations like Salvation Army and Scarborough Center for Healthy Communities will come and pick up your items for free.

The UTSC Facilities Management Department has an annual Food Drive during December all across campus; while the UTSC Campus Safety & Security Department has a Toy Drive

Womyn!&!Trans!Center!has!reusable!mugs!instead!of!Styrofoam!cups!

Residence & Student Housing !  ENERGY

!  Heating and AC

!  Using your air conditioner and heater less and properly is the #1 way to save energy:

!  Keeping it OFF. You don’t need to use your thermostat just because you have it. Instead:

!  When you’re hot: Use an area fan instead, which uses much less electricity. Close the blinds on hot days to keep the room cool.

!  When you’re cold: Put on socks, another sweater, or an extra blanket on your bed. Being dressed warmly will eliminate your need for external heating.

!  Shut the blinds: Keeping the blinds closed on warm days keeps the radiation out.

!  *Check out the Toronto Hydro Energy Efficiency Tips booklet, for more ways to save in your home: http://www.cabbagetownhcd.ca/stuff/TorontoHydroEnergySavingTips.pdf

!  Energy-Saving SETTINGS. Keep the temperature setting as close to the actual temperature as possible; that way the heating and cooling are used as little as possible but still have your comfort.

!  When you’re hot: Set air conditioning as high as is comfortable, 72°F at minimum; 90°F when out of the room.

!  When you’re cold: Set heat as low as is comfortable, no higher than 68°F; 55°F when sleeping and out of the room.

!  Don't forget you can also turn heat down at night and layer up with blankets and sweaters.

!  *Check out the Toronto Hydro Energy Efficiency Tips booklet, for more ways to save in your home: http://www.cabbagetownhcd.ca/stuff/TorontoHydroEnergySavingTips.pdf

!  Lights

!  Turn OFF when you leave the room, even for a few brief minutes. Be sure all room and bathroom lights, etc. are off when you leave; put a note on the door if you forget often.

!  Replace all incandescent bulbs (typical light bulb you picture as the “idea” icon) with CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs); these bulbs use 50–80% less energy! Or better yet, go for LED light bulbs, which use almost 90% less energy! LEDs don’t have the same “warm-up” delay that CFLs do and don’t require special disposal. Remember: CFLs contain mercury and CANNOT go in the trash.

!  Use natural lightening during the day

Residence & Student Housing

!  Electronics

!  Turn OFF. A habit that should eventually become second nature, all electronics should be kept off when not in use, even for short amounts of time. Depending on access, you can also turn off personal appliances.

!  UNPLUG everything. This reduces the amount of “vampire electricity,” the energy appliances suck even when off. Power bars make this more convenient; one switch eliminates all power.

!  Computers, televisions, and DVRs use the most electricity when off but still plugged in.

!  *No doubling up power bars (do not plug one power bar into another)

!  CHANGE computer settings. Computer settings are easy to adjust. Some computer electricity-saving options:

!  Enable the standby (or “sleep”) mode. The typical computer uses 50-150 watts of power, but only 1-6 when in standby/sleep.

!  Don’t use a screen saver—these use just as much energy as active use.

!  Check your power settings—choose “Energy Saver” modes.

!  Turn OFF. Leaving your computer for 30 minutes or more? Shut it down for significant savings.

!  Try an energy-saving software, which automatically adjusts your settings to conserve without affecting your use. Try a free program like Granola Software.

!  Laundry

!  Use COLD water settings. ENERGY STAR estimates that almost 90% of energy used by washing machines goes to heating water. Change the settings to “Bright colors” to get your clothes washing in cold water. And to increase effectiveness, buy laundry detergent suited for cold water washing.

!  Use GREEN products.

!  SKIP the dryer. Try air drying! Clothes dryers require a significant amount of energy to heat up, and they shorten the life of your clothes. By investing in an inexpensive clothing rack for your room or apartment—you’ll save energy and money!

Drop!baGeries!in!BaGery!Bin!at!!Sustainability!Office,!SW213B!

Residence & Student Housing

!  WATER

!  Turn it OFF. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and shaving (this saves about 4 gallons of water per minute!). When washing your hands, don’t let water run as you lather with soap.

!  Take SHORTER SHOWERS. Always opt for a shower over a bath. Bring a waterproof shower timer in with you to measure the length of your shower, and then challenge yourself to shorten your shower!

!  Wash FULL loads of dishes or laundry. Doing one large load rather than two small ones reduces overall water use.

!  REUSE. Capture water after rinsing produce to use for watering house plants

!  REPORT leaky faucets, toilets, faucet, toilet, shower, or any appliance or fixture that isn’t functioning.

!  Check out this water footprint calculator to estimate how much water you use!

!  CLEANING

!  Make your own cleaning products. Five basic ingredients serve as the buildings blocks for many safe, home cleaning needs: baking soda, borax, soap, washing soda, and white vinegar or lemon juice. Check out some of these resources to make your own cleaning products for laundry, dishes, glass cleaning and more:

!  David Suzuki’s Green Cleaning Recipes

!  Ecocycle’s Eco-Friendly Cleaning Recipes

!  The Daily Green: The Easiest Green Cleaning Recipes You Can Make at Home

!  Apartment Therapy: 20 DIY Green Cleaning Recipes.

OFFICE

Tips to making your office space more sustainable:

!  TURN OFF:

!  Turn off the lights, computer and other appliances when you leave your office or classroom. Set your computer to stand-by or sleep mode when you’re not using it. You can set your computer and computer monitor to automatically go to stand-by or sleep mode by a timer (5 minutes recommended).

!  Use Power bar to plug electronics into. Unplug electronics to reduce the amount of energy. Electrons that are plugged in but not in use still use vampire energy.

!  Set printer and copier machines defaults to 'double-sided' printing. Have a scrap paper bin to store one-sided paper; reuse for notes etc.

!  Buy office supplies in bulk to minimize packaging, reduce shipping costs and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

!  Elect a Green Champion for your Department and join the Green Offices program.

!  Green Courses Program: Register your course

!  New Staff participate in an orientation session that includes learning about what sustainability is and programs and initiatives led by the Sustainability Office on campus.

Purchase ENERGY STAR appliances!

For meetings and events, use reusable, compostable or recyclable consumables (plates, cups and cutlery) to reduce on disposable and plastic items.!

Buy 100% Post-consumer waste (PCW) paper and notebooks. Reduce the amount trees being cut down for virgin paper use. !

GET INVOLVED

!  Have an idea to make UTSC more sustainable? Have a sustainability related project or initiative you want help getting started? Contact the Sustainability Office.

!  Sustainability Peer Educator Ambassadors & Eco Team: Join Today!

!  Sustainability Office BikeShare Program

!  Green Champions: Any UTSC Staff, Faculty and students that are sustainability and environmental leaders on and/ or off campus. Let us know your story.

!  Green Courses: Professors and Teaching Assistants can register their course to be recognized if they take steps to reduce paper use in the classroom.

!  Contact:

!  Sustainability Office, SW213B

!  Tel. 416-208-2679

!  email: sustain@utsc.utoronto.ca

!  Website: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/sustain

!  Facebook Page: UTSC Sustainability

!  Twitter: @utsc_sustain

!  Instagram: UTSC_Sustainability_Office

Created by The UTSC Sustainability Office Credit to UCLA Sustainability and UCLA Green Guide