September is an exciting time at the College with new classes, new faces, and new goals.

Our Sustainability Office is also in a period of change and new beginnings. We are happy to welcome a brand–new team member (blog post coming soon) and also have a big announcement that we are really excited for so stay tuned for that in the first few weeks of September.

Whether you’re new to the College or returning, here’s your “Intro to Sustainability” for keeping it green on campus this semester.

Events

Our team will have a booth at the Notre Dame Campus SA Block party on September 4, and one at the EDC campus on September 5. Come by to play games for prizes, meet the sustainability crew, and make a smoothie with our bike blender! Also, mark your calendars for September 20 for the 4^thannual Fall Farmers Market at NDC, where local goods will be a-plenty.

Waste and Recycling

You may have noticed there are no garbage or recycling bins in classrooms on campus. This is because we want you to Hall It! The Hall It! program gets students to use the trio bins in the hallways because it keeps classrooms cleaner, means staff can worry less about maintaining classroom garbage, and the hallway bins have helpful signage making it easier for you to put waste in the correct stream.

Transportation

There are many benefits to commuting sustainably, from reducing emissions to saving money – operating a car costs on average $8,000 a year! All information on bike racks, bike lockers, our carpool network, and discounted bus passes can be found at www.rrc.ca/parking.

Water

Ditch the plastic water bottles this year and fill your reusable water bottle at one of our water bottle filling stations around campus.

Compost

Fun fact: the compost pile on our main campus gets around 300 pounds of fresh produce and coffee grounds a day. Our compost program is pretty important!

At Notre Dame, pre-consumer organic waste is collected at kitchens and composted on-site by our Grounds crew. The finished compost is used as fertilizer. At PGI, pre-consumer organic waste is collected from kitchens and culinary labs. Post-consumer organic waste is also collected, so if you don’t finish your lunch, you can compost it. After it is collected, it is composted at a commercial composting facility.

Food Services

Chances are you will be purchasing something to eat or drink on campus occasionally. Fear not! You don’t have to sacrifice your sustainable ways to do this! Food Services sources 28% of their food locally, and there are several Fair Trade options available including coffee, tea, and chocolate. And don’t forget your reusable mug when you go to fill up on coffee – prevent a disposable coffee cup going to the landfill and save yourself 10 cents!

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