Dalhousie is making strides to promote sustainable lifestyles and practices on campus as well as educate students, staff and faculty on being more environmentally conscious. The following are some of the ways Dalhousie is exercising sustainable activities.

General for all Departments:

• Conscious effort by staff to circulate information electronically.
• Electronically file important emails rather than printing them for hard files.
• Encouragement of staff to be extremely selective in the printing of any large documents.
• Re-use inter-office envelopes.
• Consideration afforded to any renovation projects to be as environmentally friendly as is possible.
• Have conveniently located trays to collect recyclable paper.
• Use recycled paper. Corporate Express offers 30% post consumer content, 30% recycled content.
• Print and copy on both sides and limit copying as much as possible. May require training for some to learn how to do double-sided copying. May require upgrading our printers to allow double-sided printing.
• Make scratch pads out of used paper.
• Re-use old folders.
• Print directly onto envelopes instead of using labels.
• Place all used paper/ paper products in recycling bin.
• Recycle all ink cartridges from printers and faxes. 
• Turn off computers and monitors in the evening, and turn off power bars.
• Purchase additional recycling bins for plastic/glass, food (green bin), and general garbage and place in convenient locations.
• Use re-usable knife, spoons, forks, cups, glasses, dishes for coffee/tea and lunch, not disposable.
• Use your own coffee/tea mugs when purchasing coffee or tea. Get 10% off from Aramark locations when you “lug-a-mug”.
• Re-use paper boxes as storage file boxes.
• Drink room-temperature water.
• Bring lunches in reusable containers to avoid purchasing lunches with excess packaging.
• Keep a sweater at work, and wear it instead of using a plug-in space heater.
• Take public bus transit or walk to work!

Specific to Athletics:

• Lights on Wickwire Stadium replaced as part of stadium renewal with significant energy reduction benefits.
• Lights in Sexton Gymnasium replaced with significant energy reduction benefits, including a monitor that turns off the gymnasium lights when no movement is detected for a fifteen minute period.
• New departmental printer in Dalplex is much more user friendly in printing two sided copies.
• Lobbying with Facilities Management to install recycling bins in the Sexton Gymnasium.
• Incorporation of recycling the former artificial turf on Wickwire Stadium into the overall plan for the renewal of that facility.

Specific to the Bookstore:

• As a retailer, the Bookstore has created a "green area" in the store where we sell recycled products including:
  • Green Bags to replace plastic (as seen around campus) for $0.99
  • Recycled notebooks
  • Recycled pens
  • Recycled paper
  • Travel mugs made from recycled materials
  • *We are investigating additional recycled products.
• Re-use packaging from incoming shipments for outgoing shipments (boxes, styrofoam peanuts, packing paper, etc.), when possible.
• Ask customers whether or not they want a plastic bags rather than simply giving one.
• Purchase used textbooks where possible.
• Re-use clothing security tags.
• Re-use plastic clothing hangers.
• The Student Union Building has energy efficient lighting.

Specific to Residences:

Risley Hall:

• Residence Council ran a “lights out” campaign and facilities helped them measure how much power was saved.
• Battery recycling.
• Recycled water in the showers.
• Residence Council is investigating to order re-useable mugs instead of house clothing order.
• Residence Council does bottle and can recycling.

Shirreff Hall:

• Residence Council has the recycling picked up every 2 weeks.
• Winter Term, the food and environ reps will be doing a campaign regarding food consumption/waste.

Howe Hall:

• World books-Book drive.

Gerard Hall:

• Bathrooms have motion sensors to turn them on.

Specific to Food Service/Aramark:

• We have been meeting with Sustain Dal (a student society) to help brain storm on these issues.
• We gave Aramark’s National Director for Sustainability a tour of campus this Fall and she was very impressed with the progress that was made at Dalhousie.
• Food Service Director meets with Torill Gillespie, the DSU Sustainability Officer, regularly on these issues.
• The Chef uses local vendors to help educate the residence population on where the produce is coming from.
• The Chef has had some one on one conversations with students concerning environmental practices and sustainability.
• Use the LCD screens in all 4 residences to educate and promote environmental & sustainability issues and practices.
• Encourage current suppliers to support the use of local farmers and to better identify where our foods are coming from.
• Use table tents to successfully educate and promote these issues in the dining halls.
• Planning for a student run survey on the importance of sustainable meal offerings. Aramark will then include a sustainable meal choice in the residence cycle. This initiative will take a little planning/education to make it successful as we need to make sure the vendors meet federal inspection guidelines and safe practices.
• Recycling/Composting - Aramark recycles glass/aluminum/plastic food containers, uses green bins for food waste and recycles cardboard.

Specific to Conference Services: