Carleton staff are being recognized this year for efforts to make their workplaces more sustainable.
Michelle Santoianni of the Institute of Environmental Science and Jason Goveas from the Paul Menton Centre were the first Carleton recipients of a Green Workplace Certification.
Certifications are given out after an individual fills out a survey assessing the sustainability measures taken in their workplace, according to Santoianni.
Santoianni was the recipient of a gold rating certification and Goveas was the recipient of a silver rating. They’re both “Eco Reps” on campus, which is an initiative that encourages faculty to be more conscious of the environment, according to the Eco Rep program coordinator Philip Mansfield.
“A lot of the questions on the survey I could answer positively because of the currency of our new office,” Santoianni said. “Our office is in the newest addition to the Herzberg Building, and due to the design and construction, it is more sustainable. Our lights are now operated by sensors, and you realize that little things like that really help.”
Goveas thinks that more people would have qualified for a certification if they had registered and tried it out.
“Sustainable measures in the workplace are actually a lot more common now, such as ensuring that all computer systems are turned off at the end of the day,” he said.
Goveas said he acknowledges there are some habits that are difficult to escape, but not impossible to change.
“I think Carleton is an environmentally friendly campus and is working hard to do what it can, but I see on a daily basis that there’s still an awful amount of waste present,” Goveas said. “Single-use containers like coffee cups are very popular, but we can reduce [their] usage.”
“I think these achievements mean that we are going beyond the blue bin and we are taking sustainability seriously. A lot of it is also driven by increased awareness—students are growing up learning more about the environment now,” Goveas said.
Mansfield said the Eco Rep program at Carleton was started about a year ago.
“We wanted the faculty to think about their day-to-day actions around the workplace. We already have programs in place that are targeted towards students, such as Project Green in the residences, but this one is office-oriented,” Mansfield said.
Mansfield said his goals for the program include extending the reach of the “Eco Reps,” who act as a channel of communication to faculty. He added he wants every building and workplace at Carleton to go through the workplace certification program.
“I think sustainability is absolutely being taken seriously at Carleton. Two years ago we launched the Sustainability Strategic Plan that outlined our key markers and goals,” Mansfield said. “We constantly review what we are doing and look at more opportunities to improve.”
