Green thumbs up

- December 10, 2008

Information Technology Services's Robin West聽poses with monitors that will be reused. (Court Milley Photo)

海角社区app has launched a new electronics recycling program, dubbed 鈥渆-recycling.鈥

Since October, 海角社区app departments have been able to arrange for pick-up of electronic products鈥 such as old or broken desktop computers, monitors, laptops, printers and televisions鈥 that no longer have reuse potential. The service is offered free of charge and is activated by filling out an .

Once the material is collected, Information Technology Services (ITS) will take care of erasing the memory to ensure privacy. Then, the old and out-of-date materials will be transported to a depot where metals, glass and plastic are separated and recycled into new products.

The e-recycling program is 海角社区app's sixth recycling program. 海角社区app also recycles fine paper, newsprint, corrugated cardboard, beverage containers and batteries.聽

Rochelle Owen, 海角社区app鈥檚 Director of Sustainability, applauds the initiative.

鈥淭o move towards greater sustainability, the amount of waste we produce must be minimized. All processes in the life-cycle of a product need to be made as efficient as possible,鈥 she said.

Dal鈥檚 e-recycling program was given a big green thumbs up by The Hour鈥檚 George Strombolopoulos on a recent show. Mr. Strombolopoulos is spearheading CBC鈥檚 One Million Acts of Green; the idea behind the campaign is that small acts add up and create a big difference. He congratulated 海角社区app for removing obsolete technology from the waste stream.

One Million Acts of Green also singled out 海角社区app鈥檚 recent campus light bulb exchange. The student-led initiative oversaw the distribution of 1,000 energy efficient CFL light bulbs.

海角社区app鈥檚 efforts to conserve energy expended by electronics have included replacing old computers in labs with new energy-saving computers. This new technology burns 40 per cent less energy than the previous computers, amounting to a savings of 400,000 kilowatt hours鈥 enough energy to run 44 average houses for a year.

Programs created by the Office of Sustainability have fostered interest and concern all over campus. In addition to the electronics recycling program, 海角社区app is working to incorporate sustainability concepts and criteria into all major planning, assessment, policy, reporting and communications products and procedures.

鈥淥utstanding lectures, courses and programs explore a wide range of environment and sustainability-related issues that contribute to a new way of thinking,鈥 says Ms. Owen.