Admittedly, starting off with a title that includes the word "policy" is a really good way to lose readers. But wait wait wait wait.... don't go yet. I promise there is some really interesting stuff ahead. Stick with me for a bit.
Ever since I started working at the University of Ottawa I have been chasing the holy grail of campus sustainability... a sustainability policy. No really, it is one of the most coveted things any sustainability coordinator desires. And now, uOttawa has adopted a new environmental management and sustainability policy.
If really thing about it, a sustainability policy can...
- lend legitimacy to sustainability issues
- create procedures for the community to follow
- obligate groups to create sustainability plans
Let's talk about legitimacy for a second. Now I don't want to give you the wrong impression and say that people don't take sustainability seriously, but often when times are lean people tend to rank environmental and sustainability issues lower than other priorities. Take for example environmental sentiment around the 2008 Canadian Federal election. Prior to the election, the environment was the number one issue on the minds of Canadians as everyone's understanding of the impending climate change crisis grew. But later that year, when the global economic crisis took shape, the environmental crisis was quickly pushed aside for considerations about the economy.
A sustainability policy gives campus actors the ability to keep focused on the issues. Since sustainability is a long game, the constant shifting of priorities and focus can derail plans and programs that have been in the works for years.
Equally, a sustainability policy can help in the creation of procedures and plans. In the absence of a full policy, informal policies can exist, but they tend to be tenuous and easily overturned if they aren't protected. The University's LEED Silver design directive for new construction is a prime example. This isn't a formalized policy and so the University is not obligated to follow it. The same goes for the Bottled Water Ban; it is an agreement between uOttawa and the SFUO, but no formal policy exists.
This new policy can help change that by creating the ability to design and implement strong procedures. Things like green cleaning around the campus or more sustainability in the curriculum suddenly become more plausible. In fact, the way this new policy works, new procedures and sustainability plans are inevitable.
For the longest time, sustainability at uOttawa has been limited to operational sustainability, things like energy, water, and recycling. Major progress on issues like sustainable food systems were only accomplished because of the dedicated and hard work of groups like Food Services. In the past decade, Food Services has banned bottled water, created a zero waste dining hall, switched products to become a Fair Trade Campus, purchased more local food... I mean I could go on but I think you get the idea.
My point is that Food Services didn't have to do any of these things. They were not obligated or compelled. They did it because they saw the potential to include sustainability in their mission. Not many other groups have had the opportunity to walk this line mostly due to the perception that sustainability follows under the responsibility of the Office of Campus Sustainability. But if an organization is truly going to more forward and embrace sustainability as a core principle, it can not be up to just one group to do it all. After all, it takes a village to raise a campus.
Now with this new sustainability policy in play, all the faculties and services on campus will be required to create sustainability plans. This will help not only give these groups focus, but also help move sustainability into new directions. Many hands make for light work, and with the combined efforts of all the groups on campus, imagine all the good that could be done.
Policies might seem like a very boring way to deal with sustainability. You probably think most of the fun stuff is in planting gardens, setting up recycling stations, installing bike racks, and so on. And for the most part you would be right. But there are a lot of things a policy can do that makes all of these other activities possible and then some.
Here's to the future!
