In today’s eco-conscious world, with a recycling bin in every driveway and a compact fluorescent light bulb in every socket, it’s easy to make environmentally friendly choices, even for an institution like Camosun College.
But, despite school-wide initiatives like composting and a five-year plan to reduce campus energy consumption, creating an eco-friendly campus isn’t for the faint of heart.
“Every green initiative has been this long process,” explains Richard Kao, sustainability director for the Camosun College Student Society. “When we want to do something good it takes a long time, because Camosun just doesn’t have the budget for it.”
The college’s bottom line, according to Kao, is the root of the eco-friendly issue. “The school, unfortunately, doesn’t really care about anything other than the profit,” says Kao.
Peter Lockie, Camosun’s vice-president administration and chief financial officer, says that despite budget issues the school is working to make change.
“Money is always a problem, but I’m an optimist at the moment on this subject,” says Lockie, also head of Camosun’s environmental sustainability council. “The reason is we are getting a structure together that wasn’t there before.”
Lockie adds that making change is dependent on student involvement. “The importance of students is huge,” he says. “I can’t underestimate that.”
Students also agree that the environmental fate of the campus is largely in the hands of the little guys.
“A lot of it has to come from the student body, and a lot of initiatives and fundraising has to be done by students,” says Jill Carruthers, a third-year environmental technology student, who adds that it’s tough getting students to care about environmental issues on campus. “When you throw your banana peel in the garbage, you don’t see the end result. Getting the big picture in everyone’s mind, I think that’s where you’re going to have a problem.”
Nadia Lebel, also in third-year environmental technology, agrees it’s hard to motivate students. “People don’t know the impacts of their actions,” says Lebel.
Lebel also points out that even once initiatives are started it can be difficult to keep them going, using the now-overgrown native plant garden at Camosun as an example.
All hope is not lost, though. Student perseverance has made an impact on campus practices, like the compost program that was proposed, implemented, and funded by student initiatives.
Kao is hopeful for the future of student projects and says that if students have ideas they can come to him.
“The next project,” says Kao, “will be the community garden that one of the students had in mind.”
Having served as a custodian in previous years at Camosun, the thought of Camosun only worrying about the bottom line when it comes to recycling or sustainability in general is laughable. I spent years pretty much begging students to use the recycling bins that have been provided with very little success. Did the author of this piece even think to ask the people that have spent years trying to figure out what the best method to teach/encourage students to use the methods that are in place?
Yes sustainability costs money and sadly Camosun has precious little of it, but this is not a new subject and those that care about it have been doing what they can with what they have. From personal experience, it is light years ahead of what it was years ago. I’m sure that I’m not the only staff member that is offended by a statement that says Camosun doesn’t care about anything but profits when I/we have done nothing but care about sustainability and providing methods for students to help with it.
Sincerely,
Mark Wright.