Sustainability on your campus

2017 sustainability champ
We can all be champions in sustainability

Greening UVic campus operations is an important step on our path to sustainability

The way we manage our campus sends a message to our students, staff, faculty and to the region in which we operate. Managing our campus sustainability helps green the supply chain for goods and services, reduces community greenhouse gas emissions, supports local farmers, creates a major transit hub and reduces the amount of waste going to our regional landfill. It also helps the physical campus become a living laboratory for innovative teaching and research programs, policies and practices.

Tracking and reporting our resource use is an important part in reducing our impact

Tracking resource use on campus, including water and electricity consumption, waste sent to landfill, and waste diverted, is of paramount importance for several reasons. Firstly, it allows us to measure our environmental footprint and assess our progress in reducing it, which aligns with our commitment to sustainability and responsible resource management. By monitoring these metrics annually, we can identify areas for improvement, implement efficiency measures, and reduce our impact on the environment. With a total campus area of 403 acres, and a floor space area of 421,582 square meters, our Gordon Head main campus has a lot of ground to cover!

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Total amount of waste generated: 2129.12 metric tons
Amount of landfill waste: 433.34 metric tons
Volume of water used: 453,231 cubic meters
Food waste diverted to compost: 892.3 metric tons
Amount of waste recycled: 1695.78 metric tons
Energy used from low-carbon sources: 218,327 GJ
 

Did you know?

  • 2129.12 metric tons of waste:
    • Equivalent to the weight of approximately 265 adult elephants.
  • 453,231 cubic meters of water:
    • Equivalent to filling about 181 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
  • 892.3 metric tons of food waste composted:
    • roughly equivalent to taking 260 cars off the road for a year in terms of carbon emissions
  • Amount of waste recycled: 1695.78 metric tons
    • Equivalent to the weight of more than 200 school buses.
  • Energy used from low-carbon sources: 218,327 GJ
    • This is comparable to powering about 5,130 homes for an entire year using clean energy.