© 2010 Pearson Education Canada

23Sustainable Solutions

PowerPoint® Slides prepared by Thomas Pliske, Heidi Marcum, and Nicole Lantz

This lecture will help you understand:

• Approaches to promote sustainability on college and university campuses

• The concept of sustainable development

• How protecting the environment can be compatible with economic welfare

• Approaches to designing sustainable solutions

• The need for action and the tremendous human potential to solve problems

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Housekeeping Items• The media analyses are due (ideally with the two main

supporting articles attached).• A huge watershed moment occurred last week: the Pope

announced that it is OK to use condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. That is a tectonic shift in church policy!

• When I was discussing of influencing society, I neglected to mention showing that alternative ways of living can be more satisfying is one way. Can you think of examples? I hope to touch on that briefly today.

• I had hoped to show a clip of a video about Greenpeace as an example of one strategy for social change – direct action. However, I forgot to bring it from Vancouver.

• A reminder that the final is on Monday the 13th at in Building 355, Room 203, and we will review next class.

Housekeeping Items• I have a self-evaluation form for you to fill out.• I have a few LCA marks I forgot to record and I will

those people to bring their LCAs on Wednesday.• Here are some interesting links: www.good.is www.ted.com/talks/

dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html www.ted.com/talks/

eben_bayer_are_mushrooms_the_new_plastic.html www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/

tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check_html

Central Case: The campus sustainability movement

• Talloires Declaration is a commitment on the part of college and university presidents to pursue and foster sustainability

• As of August 14, 2010: signed by 421 university and college presidents worldwide, including at least 29 Canadian universities and colleges

• Campuses are microcosms of society with their own environmental impacts

• UBC outlines nine sets of social, economic, and environmental goals for sustainability with specific targets and timelines

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Sustainability on campus

• Governments, corporations, and organizations must encourage and pursue sustainable practices

• Colleges and universities are centres of lavish resource consumption, so these institutions must also be involved

• Reducing the size of this footprint is challenging

• UBC Alma Mater Society Lighter Footprint Strategy

(http://www.ams.ubc.ca/campus-life/ams-sustainability/ and http://www.ams.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2AMS_Lighter_Footprint_Strategy_Mar_10_2008.pdf

• UBC's sustainability policy: http://www.sustain.ubc.ca/

• VIU: http://www.viu.ca/sustainability/index.asp

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Why strive for campus sustainability?

• Reducing the ecological footprint of a campus can really make a difference

• It makes students aware of the need to address environmental problems (buildings and practices as “living pedagogy”)

• Students who engage in sustainability efforts learn and grow as a result

• Students are often the ones who initiate change because they

- Are freer to express themselves

- Less attached to traditional ways of doing things

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Campus efforts may begin with an audit

• Campus efforts may begin with a quantitative assessment of the institution’s operations

- Provide baseline information on the institution’s activities

- Includes energy use, pollutant emissions, waste management, transportation issues

• Audits should lead to specific recommendations

• Once changes are made, progress must be monitored

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Recycling and waste reduction are common campus efforts• Waste management initiatives are easy to start and

maintain

• Concordia University: diverting 68% of its waste

• McGill University: started Gorilla Composting

• University of Calgary: U-Bike program

• UBC: EcoTrek Project (energy and water upgrades)

• UBC: Renew Project (building renewal)

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Green building design is a key to sustainable campuses

• Dozens of campuses now boast “green” buildings constructed from sustainable, energy efficient building materials

• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards

• The movement of “green buildings” continues to grow

• anyone know which buildings are the 'greenest' on our campus?

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Oberlin College in Ohio, U.S.• Recycled or reused

materials

• Carpeting leased and returned for recycling when it wears out

• Energy-efficient lighting, heating, and appliances

• Ventilation system

• Powered largely by solar energy

• 150 sensors monitor conditions

• Recycles wastewater

FIGURE 23.2

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Vancouver Island University

• Holistic approach to design

• Undergraduate certificate in green buildings (let's hope it remains!)

Kwantlen Polytechnic University/ UBC• programs in sustainable agriculture

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Naturescaping at University of Victoria

FIGURE 23.3

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Efficient water use is important

• Water efficiency is a key element of sustainable campuses

• Rainwater can be redirected for irrigation

• Green roof filters rainwater

• Constructed wetlands purify stormwater

• Waterless urinals or sensor flush system

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Energy conservation is achievable

• Energy efficiency includes

- turning down thermostats

- sleep-mode settings for computers

- shutting off unused lights

• Saves energy, money, and greenhouse gas emissions

• University of Toronto’s ReWire Project

- Environmental education initiatives

- Toolkits

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Students can promote renewable energy

• Student initiatives can also influence the types of energy we use in our society

- Solar Decathlon (competition building solar-powered homes)

• Solar and wind power plays roles on many campuses

- Geothermal energy for space heating (e.g. Carleton University)

- Hydroelectric power plant (e.g. Trent University)

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Carbon neutrality is a new goal

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion is a top priority

• Climate Change Statement of Action

• Common Energy is a network of students, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders

• Go Beyond (B.C. Campus Climate Network)

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Dining services let students eat sustainably

• Food services can promote sustainable practices

- Buying organic food

- Composting food scraps

- Purchasing in bulk with less packaging

- Buying locally grown or produced food

• Community gardens (e.g. McGill’s Campus Crops)

• Some campuses have gardens where students can grow food used in dining halls

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Institutional purchasing matters

• Campuses can support green initiatives by purchasing

- Recycled paper

- Certified sustainable wood

- Energy efficient appliances

- Goods with less packaging

- Using other eco-labeled products

• Green computing from cradle to grave (e.g., University of Guelph)

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Transportation alternatives are many

• Many campuses struggle with traffic congestion, parking shortages, commuting delays, and pollution

• Solutions include:

- Expanding bus and shuttle systems

- Encourage bicycling, walking and carpooling

- Introducing alternative vehicles to university fleets

• Allégo program (Concordia University)

• U-Pass program (UBC)

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Campuses are restoring native plants, habitats, and landscapes

• Universities have been making an effort to:

- Remove invasive species

- Restore native plants and communities

- Improve habitat for wildlife

- Enhance soil and water quality

- Reduce pesticide use

• Prairie Habitat Garden (e.g., University of Saskatchewan College of Education)

• Evergreen’s Learning Grounds program

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Sustainability efforts include curricular changes

• Courses and programs on environment and sustainability issues

• Ecological restoration (Trent University and Fleming College)

• Environmental health (McMaster University)

• Environmental policy, water quality, and land use on small islands (Prince Edward Island University)

• Interdisciplinary courses that integrate sustainability (UBC)

• Greening the campus (University of Waterloo)

• Environmental research (University of Toronto)

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Organizations are available to assist campus efforts• Many campus sustainability initiatives are supported by

organizations

- Sierra Youth Coalition Campus Sustainability Project

- University Leaders for a Sustainable Future

- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

- National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program

• These organizations act as information clearinghouses for campus sustainability efforts

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Social Change Strategies and ProcessesTo achieve a sustainable society will require more than

good science. We can have all the scientific knowledge in the world, but if decision-makers and consumers fail to take it seriously then the necessary changes will not happen.

As I see it, there are four major strategies for achieve social change at a society-wide level: 1) lobbying decision-makers in the public and private sectors (this can include boycotts); 2) coming up with workable alternative policies or strategies (policy development, instigating change within different professions); 3) influencing opinion-makers (schools and universities, the media, celebrities, and religious leaders), and 4) direct action.

In some ways, influencing opinion-makers has become less important with the rise of social and DIY media (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, web sites, viral messaging, etc.).23-25

Social Change Strategies and ProcessesDirect action can take two forms: lifestyle direct action

(growing one's own food, living without a car, living a low-energy lifestyle; even developing an innovative new product or approach to business) and political direct action (i.e., civil disobedience).

Can you think of effective examples of each of the four strategies? Each strategy requires different talents and personalities. Not everyone is comfortable doing all four. Not all of you will be involved in social change work, but what kinds of work can potentially you envision yourself potentially doing?

Today I want to show a quite hopeful video about the evolution of Greenpeace, an organization that started in Vancouver. While it engages in all of the above-mentioned strategies, it is probably best known for its civil disobedience actions.

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Social Change Strategies and ProcessesIn addition to strategies for promoting system change,

there are also strategies for influencing individual or corporate behaviour. These include incentives and disincentives, outright laws and regulations, education, and citizenship (participating in public discussions of community or societal values where participants afterwards feel obligated to 'walk the talk'). This one can also involve peer pressure and changes in socially accepted norms, as has happened with the decline in the popularity and acceptance of smoking. Can you think of any other behaviours that may (and perhaps should) suffer the same fate in the future?

Can you think of examples of each strategy? Which ones do you think are most effective?

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Sustainability and sustainable development

• Sustainability efforts on campus parallel efforts in the world at large

• What do people mean to sustain?

- to sustain human institutions and ecological systems in a healthy and functional state

- to sustain ecological systems in a healthy and functional state

• The contributions of biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services to human welfare are tremendous

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Sustainable development aims to achieve a triple bottom line

• Triple bottom line = the goal of modern sustainable development, including finding ways to promote

- social justice

- economic well-being

- environmental quality

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The intersection of three goals

FIGURE 23.9

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Environmental protection can enhance economic opportunity• Reducing consumption and waste saves

money

• Provides new types of employment

- Logging of old-growth forest vs. protection for the northern spotted owl

- Cost local loggers their jobs

- Jobs at risk when companies cut and then leave

FIGURE 23.10

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Economic value of sustainable ecosystems exceeds value of those that have been converted

FIGURE 23.11

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What accounts for the perceived economy-versus-environment divide?• Economic development has diminished biodiversity,

decreased habitat, and degraded ecological systems

• Many people believe “command-and-control” environmental policy is the only way

• Historically, we exploited abundant resources

• Philosophers have said that the perceived dichotomy between humans and nature is the root of all our environmental problems

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Humans are not separate from the environment

• It is easy to feel disconnected from nature

• A few centuries or even decades ago, most of the world could name and describe in detail the species that lived near them

• Modern life has made it difficult to keep maintain ties with the natural environment

• Once we learn to consider where things come from, it is easier to see how people are part of the environment

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A banana split has ties to the environment

FIGURE 23.12

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Strategies for Sustainability

• Refine our ideas about economic growth• Reduce unnecessary consumption • Limit population growth• Encourage green technologies• Mimic natural systems by promoting closed loop industrial

processes • Think in the long term • Enhance local self-sufficiency, and embrace some aspects of

globalization • Be politically active • Vote with a view to our long-term interests and those of the

planet• Promote research and education

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We can refine our ideas about economic growth and quality of life

• Economic growth is merely a tool to attain the real goal of maximizing human happiness

• We cannot attain long-term happiness by endlessly expanding our economy

• We need to incorporate external costs into market prices of goods and services

• Green taxes and phasing out harmful substances could encourage sustainability

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We can consume less• Economic growth is driven by consumption

• We believe that more is better

• Consumption of limited resources cannot continue

FIGURE 23.13

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True progress is not economic growth, but happiness

• We can reduce consumption while enhancing our quality of life by:

- Improving technology and efficiency in industry

- Developing a sustainable manufacturing system

- Modify our behavior, attitudes, and lifestyles to minimize consumption

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• Continued human population growth is not sustainable

• Technology has expanded the Earth’s carrying capacity

- Sooner or later, growth will end, but how?

- War, plagues, famine, voluntary means?

• The demographic transition may help developing countries, as it helped developed countries

Population growth must eventually cease

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Technology can help us toward sustainability

• Technology has spurred population increase

- Agricultural revolution, advances in medicine and health

• Technology magnifies our impact on Earth (either positive or negative)

- The IPAT equation

• Short-sighted uses of technology have created a mess

- But wiser use of green technology can help us get out

• Developed countries have exported technologies to developing countries

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Industry can mimic natural systems

• Environmental systems operate in cycles

- Feedback loops and circular material flows

- Output is recycled into input

• Human systems are linear

- Raw materials are processed, which generates waste

• Virtually all products can be recycled, given the right technology

- The ultimate vision is to generate virtually no waste

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We can think in the long term• The best long-term solution is not always the best short-

term solution

• Unfortunately environmental problems can be resolved only by long-term periods

- Costs of addressing problems are short term

- Benefits are long term

• Businesses may act according to either short or long term

- A business committed to long-term operations has an incentive to sustain environmental quality

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We can promote local self-sufficiency and embrace some aspects of globalization

• When people feel closely tied to an area, they value it and try to protect it

• Globalization has positive and negative impacts

- Positive: increased communication leads to greater respect of differences among cultures and diffusion of ideas

- Negative: homogenization of the world’s cultures

• People have reacted against homogenization and the growing power of multinational corporations

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Citizens exert political influence• Democracies offer a compelling route for pursuing

sustainability: the power of the vote

- We can guide our political leaders to enact policies for sustainability

• A person can exercise power by:

- Voting

- Attending public hearings

- Donating to advocacy groups

- Writing letters and making phone calls to office-holders

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Consumers vote with their wallets

• We wield influence in the choices we make as consumers

• Consumers can buy eco-labeled products

• Promote “green” purchasing at work and school

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– Dr. Seuss

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Promoting research and education is vital

• Nothing will succeed if the public is not aware of their importance

• Individual actions have little impact, unless many others do the same thing

• Individuals can influence others by educating them and serving as role models

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Precious time

• The sheer number of environmental problems can be overwhelming

• The natural systems we depend on are changing rapidly

• Human impacts are intensifying

- Overfishing, deforestation, land clearing, resource extraction

• We need to find solutions before we do irreparable damage

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We must pass through the environmental bottleneck

• Until we implement a sustainable solution, we will be squeezing ourselves through a progressively tighter space, like being squeezed through the neck of a bottle

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Conclusion

• In any society, there will be those who raise alarms and those who ignore them

• We are amassing a detailed knowledge of our dynamic planet

• The challenge today is to support science so that we may judge false alarms from real problems and distinguish legitimate concerns from thoughtless denial

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing

that ever has.”

– Margaret Mead

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QUESTION: Review

What does “sustainable development” mean?

a) Finding ways to promote social justice

b) Economic well-being

c) Environmental quality at the same time

d) All of the above

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QUESTION: Review

Which of the following is NOT a major approach to sustainability?

a) Reduce unnecessary consumption

b) Limit population growth

c) Discourage research and education

d) Think in the long term

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QUESTION: Review

Which is NOT an intense human impact on our natural systems?

 

a) Resource extraction

b) Wetland draining

c) Overfishing

d) Planting excess trees

e) Land clearing

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a) Income correlates directly with perceived happiness

b) Perceived happiness does not correlate with income

c) Very happy people make higher average incomes

d) The pursuit of income makes people very happy

What major conclusion can be drawn from this graph on people reporting themselves as being “very happy”?

FIGURE 23.15

QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data

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