Camosun College recently placed 10th in the Associate’s Colleges category in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)’s 2016 Sustainable Campus Index.
The college uses AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). In January of 2016 Camosun College got a STARS silver rating for its sustainability achievements.
Camosun College acting manager of environmental sustainability Jonathan Siqueira says that this award is a way to gauge Camosun’s sustainability progress, which is also what STARS does. Although STARS is a voluntary program, Siqueira sees being involved in it as a way for the college to be even more active with sustainability.
“We’re not required to do this,” he says. “It’s in the interest of sustainability and getting some markers for where we’re at and where we need to improve. I think it’s great.”
Siqueira says that the recognition is a great start and considers it a victory for the college.
“I think in many ways sustainability is new to all of us; there are still lots of challenges to overcome in terms of being better at it,” he says. “With that said, I personally believe that being sustainable takes time. It’s not something you rush into.”
Camosun College Student Society sustainability director Shauna Nedelec says that it’s impressive that Camosun got this award, taking into consideration the size of the college.
“Given that we’re so small, it’s quite the achievement, considering we don’t have as much resources as some of the bigger schools in Canada,” she says. “I was quite surprised we were 10th, but, then again, British Columbia is one of the greenest places in Canada, if not the greenest province. So I think it’s quite an accurate rating.”
Nedelec hopes that this will bring on some friendly competition between colleges and universities and that it will help people become more aware of sustainability and how they can help.
“It’s all about how driven each individual student is,” she says. “I know I found it hard to get students to do stuff for Camosun, and a lot of the people that I know at the Lansdowne campus are taking maybe one or two classes, and they come and go. It’s one thing to have ideas, but to be able to put them into motion is what really counts.”
Nedelec says that she would also would like to see the Camosun board of governors do more in terms of sustainability for the college. She adds that she has a few ideas of her own that she’d like to see put into action.
“I know [Camosun president] Sherri Bell is quite into sustainability for a business and education model,” she says. “I was thinking about talking about a policy for sustainability and the way resources are pooled—things like equipment and materials—and have it more regulated so we aren’t wasting what we don’t need to. It’s amazing how many little things could add up to make something more sustainable.”