Thompson Rivers University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

The BC Higher Education Carbon Neutral Working Group

TRU staff members presented at the following three conferences in the last year: - The International Sustainable Campus Network conference (Stockholm, Sweden - June 11-13, 2018). The presentation was a poster presentation on TRU's zero waste strategies. - Livable Cities Forum (Victoria, BC - Sept 2017). The presentation was a case-study plus discussion on “Exploring Post-Secondary Leadership in Climate Action (http://www.livablecitiesforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Livable-Cities-Program-2017_final_bleeds.pdf). - AASHE annual conference (Pittsburgh, Pa - Oct 2-5, 2018). There were three presentations: Introducing the Campus Community to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (60-minute presentation); A Sustainable Parking Framework and Strategies to Encourage More Sustainable Transportation (30-minute presentation); and Thompson Rivers University - The Solar Compass: A Case Study on Ground Mounted Solar Modules (Poster Session).

Up until 2017, the Director of the TRU Sustainability Office, Jim Gudjonson, sat as the Chair of the BC Higher Education Carbon Neutral Working Group. It is comprised of sustainability and facilities departments from 17 institutions across B.C.. The committee discusses all aspects of planning and reporting as per the provincial authority’s carbon reporting (CAS). The core goals of the committee are identifying and quantifying GHG emissions, and discussing goals and initiatives to reduce GHG emissions.

The TRU Sustainability Office has an ongoing relationship with the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) to mentor them and help them develop their strategic sustainability plan. NVIT is ‘BC’s Indigenous Public Post-Secondary Institute’ - http://www.nvit.ca/). Jim Gudjonson, TRU Sustainability Office Director, goes there and meets with their CFO, VP of Finance and Administration regarding energy issues, and helped get NVIT enrolled in the BC Hydro Energy Program.

Jim Gudjonson, Director of TRU’s Sustainability Office, sits on the national working group/committee “Bioenergy Support Network for Sustainable Communities (BIOCOMM). The group, made up of advanced education institutions from across Canada, currently has a federal proposal in for 'Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities (CERRC) Capacity Building Stream'. If accepted, the project proposal would create education and outreach materials for remote communities that aim to use renewable energy. TRU shares information and collaborates on issues to do with waste reduction with other provincial universities and colleges. Staff from TRU went to the recent all-day Post-Secondary Recycling Forum at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver on April 27th, 2018. This group shares information re waste on an ongoing basis. Jim Gudjonson also shares and collaborates with BC Interior universities and colleges. Jim has gone to visit many of their campuses, and TRU has installed a solar system on its campus based on his visit to Okanagan College’s system. TRU learns a lot from collaborating and information sharing with the other institutions. As an example of this information sharing, the following email thread is from a recent discussion about textbook reusing: Hi All Sorry for delay Here is what we do thx - Jim Jim Gudjonson They get sent to the warehouse and put on a pallet. Once we have one or two pallets, Textbooks for Change is contacted and they send a freight company to pick them up. The books get sent to Ontario where they are consolidated with other shipments and then sent to universities in Africa for distribution to students in need. See the link below for Textbooks for Change’s information: https://textbooksforchange.com/ Thanks, Randy Matter Bookstore/Print Services Manager Thompson Rivers University Email: rmatter@tru.ca Bookstore Website: www.thebookstore.tru.ca From: Rob St. Onge [mailto:rstonge@okanagan.bc.ca] Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:28 AM To: Bilodeau, Leanne Cc: Graham Kershaw ; James Gudjonson Subject: RE: Textbook Recycling Fantastic – Thanks! I’ll drop them a line and see what I can learn. Rob Rob St. Onge From: Bilodeau, Leanne Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:14 AM To: Rob St. Onge ; James Gudjonson Cc: Graham Kershaw Subject: RE: Textbook Recycling Hi Rob, UBCO partners with Better World Books and provides deposit box outside the campus bookstore. I understand Better World Books undertakes the following re-use steps: a. Resell the books - a portion of the proceeds are used to support their education or literacy partner (e.g., UBCO bookstore) b. Texbooks that are unable to be sold are donated c. Textbooks unable to be donated are recycled To date the company indicates that over 26 million books have been donated; over $28 million funds have been raised for literacy & libraries; and almost 315 million books are being reused or have been recycled. Hope this helps, Leanne Bilodeau Associate Director Sustainability Operations | Campus Planning and Development The University of British Columbia | Okanagan Campus ADM 006H, 1138 Alumni Avenue | Kelowna BC | V1V1V7 | Canada leanne.bilodeau@ubc.ca www.sustain.ok.ubc.ca From: Rob St. Onge Sent: August 29, 2018 11:54 AM To: Bilodeau, Leanne ; James Gudjonson Cc: Graham Kershaw Subject: Textbook Recycling Hi Leanne/James, We have a couple professors who are looking to purge their bookshelves of old textbooks and apparently, we can no long just put them into standard paper recycling. Wondering if you have a sustainable method for dealing with these? Thanks. Rob Rob St. Onge, CEM, LEED Green Associate Manager of Buildings and Sustainability Services Okanagan College