Selkirk College Environmental Sustainability Committee
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This page is part of the Selkirk College pages in the Places section as well as the People section of the Knowledge Base
Contents |
Our Background
On September 24, 2007 Marilyn Luscombe, President of Selkirk College announced the formation of the Selkirk College Environmental Sustainability Committee:
“Conservation of the natural environment and responsible use of natural resources are strongly valued at Selkirk College, and endorsed by our Board of Governors. I am pleased to announce the formation of a new committee, the Selkirk College Environmental Sustainability Committee, which has been struck to guide us as we work towards living these values.”
Our Mandate
The committee will be responsible for the bureaucratic underpinnings required to organize something as large as a cross-campus sustainability initiative; formulating environmental policy, developing a detailed environmental plan with specific goals and indicators so that we can measure our progress.
Just as importantly we will provide a clearing house where students, staff and faculty can share information and ideas, and carry out projects aimed at reducing our impact on the environment.
Our College
Selkirk College inherits its diversity not only from the environment but also from the unique array of communities it inhabits. British Columbia’s Selkirk College has eight campuses across the West Kootenays dedicated to developing empowered, effective citizens through rewarding educational and life experiences that are built on our Region's distinct identity. Selkirk College can be found in Nelson, Trail, Grand Forks, Nakusp and Kaslo; its main campus is in Castlegar. Each rural community is as breathtaking as it is distinctive with an unmatched appreciation for their environment. Nelson, British Columbia sits hidden away in the Selkirk Mountains on the shore of Kootenay Lake’s west arm. This picturesque community flourishes with the spirit most communities lack. Its abundance of rich one-of-a-kind business has stopped many from ever leaving Nelson. Artists, entrepreneurs, and students alike live in harmony in this open-minded community. The Selkirk College campus in Nelson was once a hospital but was recycled for education. Nelson is most prized for its many summer and winter festivals, skiing, fishing, hiking, and many other outdoor sports.
Trail has a wealthy history, which aided in this important economic center airing the name of the City of Silver. Trail’s mining history did not just dominate the days of pioneers but carries into today fueling the township. This resilience stopped Trail from falling silent like most mining towns. Interest in Trail was first struck publicly in the 1890’s with the discovery of the rich mines in the valley tops above the town and today Cominco refineries dominate becoming the world's largest zinc and lead smelting complex. Above Trial, Red Mountain ski resort is famous for being the first Canadian mountain to host the World Cup Races in the year 1968. Also this area is the home of World Champion skier Nancy Green. The Selkirk Campus in Trail is the administrative headquarters for Distance Education, focusing on bring education to people on their own terms. Beyond recreation and education Trail has done much in the environmental field. Decades ago Cominco turned away from popular industrial practices and began taking its environment into account. Trail has recovered from the acid rain impact the refining process once had on the surrounding environment. These acid rain causing chemicals are now shipped up the hill to the fertilizer factory. Also large amounts of waste were once deposited in the Columbia River; today, they process that waste and extract large amounts of silver from it. These changes have had a huge positive impact on the local environment. These new processes prove that environmental sustainability can be profitable, as Cominco has seen much revenue from these changes. These are just some of the reasons Trail continues to find value in its environment with much less negative impact.
Such small communities as Grand Forks, Kaslo and Nakusp are also towns that have Selkirk College campuses. These rural towns are now able to provide reputable college education to their citizens with a Selkirk campus right at their doorstep. Selkirk College applies personalized education to rural values.
Castlegar is a fitting place for Selkirk College’s central campus. Castlegar is a geographic crossroads community that is easily accessible to all other Selkirk College campuses. This campus rests in the bottom of the valley surrounded by the Selkirk mountain range: Kokanee, Sentinel, Monashee, Bonnington, Granite, and the Lardeau Mountains. This range is not a part of the Rocky Mountains but is from an older geological epoch. Consequently the wings of the College are named after these giant mountains illustrating how Selkirk College is influenced by its beautiful surroundings. And it is not hard to be taken in by such a beautiful place. Here is where the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers converge providing water for the campus that is clean, pure and unnecessary to treat, not to mention damming of the river has utilized green power. This community is also a fitting place for such an environment driven College. In the 1960’s discussion and community forums ended in a regional vote in favor of funding British Columbia's first regional college. Selkirk College brings education to the individual and this area has always been a catalyst for change. The Castlegar campus sits near what once was the home of the Doukhobors, a group of religious pacifists. These Russian immigrants endured devastating punishment and exile in their homeland because of their beliefs in antiviolence. They are remembered with the recent renovation of the old Doukhobor homestead into the Mir Centre for Peace (Mir is a Russian word describing the complex meaning of peace, community and world). This Centre is powered by geothermal heat that was just installed in 2007. The use of this renewable heat source is testament to the passion for the preservation of our ecosystem that already exists here at Selkirk. The Mir Centre has also inspired a Peace Studies program for Selkirk students. The faculty and students care about their environment greatly; for example one of the student union’s major campaign platforms is sustainability which encourages student awareness through fighting bottled water sale and use, and establishes green building standards and increased energy efficiency. Students have spearheaded the Students for Environmental Sustainability Committee and are currently working on improving recycling and encouraging carpooling. Faculty also have a Sustainability Committee and the administrative staff will be making Sustainability a priority for the coming year, as announced in their last meeting.
Our Mission
It is important for us as environmentalists to always search for more ways we can help in the battle against climate change but it is also important to recognize and update programs already in place. We need to promote recycling and reduction of energy consumption as these simple concepts are still so important in creating positive change in our global community. Selkirk College is the only college to be established as a result of a community referendum so the ties with our community run deep. It is the vision of all the faculty and students on the Environmental Sustainability Committee, for Selkirk to be the community leader for sustainability. The Castlegar campus has a comprehensive Renewable Resource Studies program that includes three study focuses: Integrated Environmental Planning, Recreation, Fish & Wildlife, and Forest Technology. The RRS program has many motivated students that want to make careers out of helping the environment so needless to say, we have enough willing people to create a ‘top notch’ sustainability program that the global community can and will benefit from. To date the Student's Union here at Selkirk has taken care of all the “Students for Sustainability” campaigns. Climate Change and Sustainability are ideas that have taken over our news, politics, and communities now more than ever. For this reason, it was apparent that the Student's Union might not be able to effectively display the importance of these issues having so many other topics to attend to. With this in mind, 15 faculty members and 25 student representatives created the “Environmental Sustainability Committee” so with 40 “eco-soldiers” on hand we are ready to create change. We did not realize how many people are so passionate about their environment. So with all these people ready and willing to help with this initiative we decided to take over all the “Students for Sustainability” campaigns from the Student's Union and set up our own office at our main Campus in Castlegar.
The first item on our agenda is to update our recycling program at the Castlegar Campus. We would like recycling stations set up in several locations around the campus, stations that can receive papers, plastics, and glass. Along with this we would have facilities set up for all other recyclables like cardboard, batteries, solvents, and electronics. With funding we would be able to do this on a smaller scale at the rest of the Selkirk campuses; we would set up a pick-up service once a week from the smaller campuses and process them in Castlegar. An extensive composting program is another goal, but being that Castlegar is located the heart of bear country, our composting program would be a little more of a challenge. We would need a “composting building” so that the bears could not get at the waste, it would be a simple construction with a door and some roof venting. The construction and use of this compost would allow us to take in some revenue by selling bags of compost; this would be important in maintaining the composting system financially.
Another idea given to the Committee is to have a bio-diesel production system on campus using the used cooking oil from the college and restaurants in Castlegar; this, of course, could be another source of revenue for the Environmental Sustainability Committee. Of course these ideas need some initial capital to get off the ground but we would like to create a sustainability program at Selkirk that is itself sustainable.
I suppose our idea is to take a holistic approach to Environmental Sustainability to enhance the feeling of community involvement for everyone. People feel a part of something when they are at a hockey game cheering on their local team; there is a true sense of community. Wouldn’t it be great if we could create that same feeling by doing something that is so important to the continuation of community spirit? That is to say, it is in the best interest of the citizens of any community to support sustainability initiatives like recycling and composting. If we can create for people a feeling of involvement in Castlegar and surrounding communities by giving them a chance to help preserve our environment then they would benefit in many different aspects of the community.
Our Successes
-Creation of Environmental Sustainability Committee, Staff and Students
-Students Union funded the purchase of 100 recycling bins for our student residence in Castlegar
-Attended British Columbia Sustainable Campuses Conference in Kamloops, we learned a lot about Campus Sustainability and made many contacts
-Added our School Info on this Wiki Page!
-Energy Use Awareness Alerts on automatic door openers and light switches
-Waste Awareness signs on Bottled Water sale sites and disposable coffee cups
Contacts
For questions or comments about our sustainability efforts contact me: fraserhayes@gmail.com
To learn more about Selkirk College visit: http://selkirk.ca/
