Over the Edge -November 7th 2012 SUSTAINABILITY - MORE THAN JUST SKIN DEEP AT UNBC HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR With environmental studies becoming more and more popular on campuses across Canada, we begin to wonder if campuses themselves are also becom- ing more environmentally friendly. Be- ing green sounds good and is a great selling point, but are schools walk- ing the talk? Is UNBC really Canada's "Green University?" What is going on in the world of sustainability on cam- pus? UNBC officially became Canada’s Green University in 2007. Since then, green initiatives at our university have grown exponentially every year. In an effort to better communicate the broad range of these sustainability- oriented projects, we will be writing a regular column dedicated to sustain- ability initiatives on campus. You might be asking yourself, what is UNBC doing to save Energy? Well, at UNBC we are committed to reducing our energy consumption by at least 2% each year. A number of energy in- itiatives have been completed over the past year including lighting upgrades, heating and ventilation upgrades, and studies looking at potential renewable energies for the Prince George cam- pus. In total 660,000 kWh of electri- city will be saved per year from these upgrades, equivalent to powering 60 homes for an entire year! In addition, our BioEnergy Plant has been operat- ing for over a year now using wood waste from local sawmills to heat the Prince George campus and reducing our total use of natural gas by 70%. That's equivalent to taking over 750 cars off the road for a year. Not bad, right? With the purpose of expanding our compost system, we are working on an assessment of the total volume of organic waste generated at UNBC. PGPIRG has been collecting compost from the main campus buildings for many years now. Nevertheless, we don’t have a compost program at the student residences yet. On October 9th, a compost volume assessment started at the student residences. This study will help us understand how much organic waste would be pro- duced if res had a compost program in place. With the information gath- ered by PGPIRG over the years about organic waste generated at the main campus buildings, and with the new information from the student resi- dences, we'll reach a more complete understanding of the overall level of organic waste that will be generated at UNBC. We can then decide on which type of compost system would be suit- able to expand our compost program. Another awesome initiative is the swanky, carbon neutral electric car. The City of Prince George initiated a part- nership to purchase the electric car for use by UNBC, the Northern Health Au- thority, the Regional District of Fraser Fort George, and the city. Each part- ner will have use of the electric car for three months of the calendar year, for the next four years (UNBC from Sept to Dec). Each public service organiza- tion and local government has carbon neutrality goals and through this part- nership is acting on carbon commit- ments while providing an ideal way to pilot the use of electric vehicles in the North. The partnership is a very visible attestation to our green commitments and our ability to work with others in our community. At UNBC the car will be used during the week by Distribu- tion Services for deliveries on campus, to BMO, and the airport. During the weekend the car will be available for use by the Residence Assistants for errands off campus. There will also be the option of using the car to pick-up and drop off special guests to the uni- versity. Nothing beats a carbon-free ride to the green university! Finally, let's talk about the Green Fund. This fund works as a one-time seed grant that students, faculty or staff can apply for to fund projects that will improve the environmental perform- ance of the university. Since the Green Fund started two and a half years ago, a whopping eleven projects have been funded. One of the major projects on campus to receive funding in 2012 was a proposal from the Students for a Green University (SGU) to build a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse on cam- pus. This will allow students to chal- lenge our northern climate and grow vegetables for an extended period of time. SGU is now working on the final details of the project and is hoping to start construction in the Spring of 2013. Another project to receive fund- ing was lead by Ph.D student Geoff de Ruiter. “The main objective of my study was to examine the wind energ potential at all four UNBC campuses. The second objective was then com- pare wind energy options to other forms of renewable energy on the Prince George campus," says de Ruiter. He compared factors such as energy savings and generation, and carbon emissions and found "our best option for wind energy was at the Ft St John campus,’ and added that "even better options are available at high resource commercial wind locations.” These student lead projects not only help UNBC become more environ- mentally sustainable, but also allow participating students to develop new skills and gain valuable experience for their careers. So if you have iden- tified something that can be done to make UNBC a greener community, talk to Alvaro Palazuelos at the Green University Centre to draft your Green Fund proposal! The next Green Fund submission date will be on January 16th, 2013 so start thinking about your Green project! That's all there is room for in this issue... WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 & 14 10:00AM- 3:00PM UNBC WINTERGARDEN Items that can be swapped are: Clothing / Accessories DVDs/CDs Books/textbooks Household items Small appliances Craft Supplies Please bring clean, resusable, portable items. a; = s- British Columbia LEGISLATIVE INTERNSHIP Program PROGRAM DIRECTOR Karen L. Aitken Legislative Assembly of B.C. BCLIP@leg.bc.ca ACADEMIC DIRECTOR Dr. Patrick J. Smith Simon Fraser University psmith@sfu.ca ACADEMIC ADVISOR Dr. Tracy Summerville University of Northern B.C. summervi@unbc.ca The BCLIP is an educational six- month opportunity for Canadian university graduates to work in British Columbia’s parliamentary system. Your academic training will be enhanced by exposure to public policy-making and_ the legislative process by working in the executive and _ legislative branches of the provincial government at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria. B.C. residents are eligible to apply if they have received their first Bachelor’s Degree from a Canadian university within two years of the start date of the 2014 program. Apply online at www.leg.bc.ca/bclip Deadline January 31, 2013 Term: January 6 to June 27, 2014 Remuneration: $21,997 for six months ATIVE ASsp, ask My w ig %. RITISH COLUN™ Location: Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C.