Seneca Polytechnic
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications

Seneca is committed to stewarding, conserving and protecting the environment — both on each campus and in the broader communities. The College has established the Sustainable Seneca Committee to help promote and embed sustainability in the Seneca culture, in the way it conducts business, and the values and learnings it imparts on the students. The sustainable Seneca website is a channel to communicate all the efforts towards this goal.

The information from Aramark, Seneca's foodservice supplier-related with sustainable food systems is the following: Wiping out waste – it is Aramark's priority to reduce the amount of waste that they produce in the dining locations. They have a program in place to reduce food waste at all steps along the way – from the kitchen to post-consumer waste. Some examples of the programs include composting, Leanpath, trayless dining, reusable container and cup programs, fryer oil recycling, and proper waste separation. They also track other metrics such as organic waste diverted, CO2 emissions avoided, and gasoline conserved through this program. Sip Smarter – Last year Aramark launched a holistic strategy to address single-use plastics overall, starting with the most visible category of straws and stirrers, offering reusable products, encouraging consumers to join in, and looking ahead at design and innovation. They support the United Nations Environment Programme campaign #CleanSeas, to reduce single-use plastics by 2022, and partner with a handful of other companies that have decided to take similar measures. They have removed plastic straws and stir sticks from the operations and substituted them for sustainable alternatives including wooden stir sticks and paper straws. Furthermore, they have made these substitutes available upon request to reduce overall usage – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. MSc (Marine Stewardship Council) – Aramark is the only Foodservice company in Canada to receive MSC chain of custody – certifying 16 of their higher education accounts in Canada and showing their commitment to traceability and sustainable sourcing of seafood products. They are working to use their purchasing power to buy products that are sustainable and responsible sourced and produced, and MSc is the gold standard in seafood for wild products. They are currently working on another certification for farmed seafood that will widen the scope of their sustainable seafood program. Local Food Days/Who’s Your Farmer – Aramark believes in supporting the local producers and community and buying local wherever possible. They regularly hold local food days on campus to highlight the offerings that they have that utilize local products and educating customers on the purchasing practices and why buying local food is important to a sustainable food system. Responsible Sourcing - Aramark's ability to operate more sustainably is often linked directly to the ingredients they purchase for their menus. Sourcing locally, and selecting producers with higher standards for the welfare of the animals they raise are examples of ways they can guide their business down a path of greater environmental and social responsibility. To be more transparent and accountable to their customers, Aramark has developed public, time-bound commitments related to their purchasing. The website URL for food service area signage and/or brochures that include information about sustainable food systems www.liveitgood.ca Live it Good is the consumer-facing website for Aramark's Healthy for Life platform. This platform represents their Health, Wellness, and Environmental sustainability program including original content from their experts, and their values and pillars of the program.

Signage to bring awareness of the salt reduction pilot project that is in place during this winter 2019/2020

Seneca has a website page that provides information on the sustainable ways to get to the college which include numerous public transit routes and cycling maps, carpool matching programs, carpool permit policy, etc. Seneca College worked with Point A and held an information kiosk to raise awareness of sustainable commuting options among students at Seneca. The College piloted a ‘Commute Concierge’ service from May to November 2017. The pilot aimed to explore new ways of reaching students by providing commute information that would not only help to increase the number of students taking sustainable modes but also to improve commute satisfaction. Students were provided with a personalized commuter guide detailing their transportation options, including possible routes and the cost break down. Over 350 students were engaged at the outreach events across both the Seneca Newnham and Seneca@York campuses. The pilot was successful, with 66% of participants stating it increased their awareness of commuting options and 21% changing their commute as a result. https://pointa.ca/our-work/promoting-sustainable-commuting-among-students/

Senenews articles related to Sustainability - Seneca has a weekly news release sent to all the employee's email, and every time there's a new story related to sustainability they share it through this channel, which is also shared on Blackboard and the Sustainable Seneca website. Also, there's a specific section on the blackboard platform labeled under Sustainable Seneca - "Did you know" where information is showcased. Other channels used are the digital screens in each campus to promote the events that are related to Sustainable Seneca. https://my.senecacollege.ca/webapps/portal/execute/tabs/tabAction?tab_tab_group_id=_241_1;