Our Commitment:
Living out our faith through environmental stewardship is an important part of the community at Redeemer. The dedication of staff, leadership of faculty, and research of students have each played an essential role in promoting sustainable development on campus.
For years we have been working on numerous initiatives to save electricity, reduce water consumption, increase the amount of recyclable material and make our ecological footprint smaller and smaller. Listed below are highlights from our progress, as well as plans that will commence within the year.
Dorm Upgrades
Fair Trade Coffee
Green Cleaning Products
Local Food
Lug a Mug Campaign
Recycling System
Future Initiatives
Dorm Upgrades
The dorms at Redeemer are equipped with energy efficient utilities to reduce our impact on the environment and save in costs. All dorm furnaces have been replaced with high efficiency units and incandescent light bulbs have been replaced with compact fluorescents. Faucet aerators and new shower heads have been installed that use half of the water as the previous units. Thermostats are remotely controlled to monitor energy use.
Fair Trade Coffee [Back to top]
Redeemer University College offers Mountainview Estates Fair Trade coffee for residence use and/or group meetings. Students, staff and faculty may purchase this product at The Market, or order it through Redeemer’s Dining Services.
Green Cleaning Products [Back to top]
93% of cleaning products used by our Custodial Department are environmentally friendly.
Local Food [Back to top]
Sodexo is committed to local purchasing, when seasonally available. The rich farmland of Ontario provides an abundance of fresh produce for many months out of the year. The food purchased will take full advantage of the bountiful produce, cheeses, local bakeries and dairies that surround our Ancaster campus.
Purchasing locally grown produce promotes decreased uses of pesticides and chemicals, and reduces our dependence on oil. As the average North American meal travels over 2400km from farm to plate, buying local reduces energy used to packaging, shipping, distribution and retailing.
Since local food does not have to travel very far, it is harvested and eaten at the peak of freshness. Supporting local farms and cottage industries enhances local economies by sustaining our community farm and food businesses for future generations.
Lug a Mug [Back to top]
In an effort to be good stewards, the Green Team and Campus Services asks that students 'lug a mug' to the Food Court! When you ‘lug a mug’ you will receive $0.10 off your purchase of a soup or hot beverage. For your own health and safety, please ensure that your mug is clean upon presentation. Remember that we are all more environmentally friendly when we reduce the amount of waste in the garbage we produce from day to day.
Recycling System [Back to top]
Redeemer has placed recycling bins for different materials throughout the school to make recycling even easier! Please look for the garbage & recycling containers designated for the following throughout the academic building: Waste, Bottles & Cans, and Paper. The cafeteria has garbage & recycling containers designated for the following: Waste, Plastic, Paper, and Glass.
Future Initiatives [Back to top]
In the next two years, an estimated $2.2 million will go directly towards sustainable initiatives on campus. This money will come directly from the $2.9 million that Redeemer received from the federal government’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
With the funds, a number of projects will be completed in the Academic Building. All original bathrooms fixtures will be replaced with water-saving units including toilets, faucets, urinals, and athletic room showerheads. Original hallway and office windows and skylights will be replaced with new energy efficient units. Solar panels will be installed on the roof reducing the institution’s dependence on the electrical grid and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 150 tonnes a year. Other projects include replacing HVAC units and installing basic entry vestibules on main entrances to minimize heat and cooling losses during entry and exit.