Sustaining positive change

On the third floor of a slim Victorian house on Mackay Street, up a narrow winding staircase, lies the office of Canada’s first university foundation for sustainable initiatives.

The Sustainability Action Fund (SAF) supports sustainability projects initiated and run by students, finances sustainable infrastructure such as composting, and encourages a culture of sustainability at Concordia. 

Established in 2007 after undergraduate students voted in a referendum to support a fee levy of 25 cents per credit, it is the first such initiative undertaken by a university in Canada. Its founders then visited other universities in Quebec to encourage fellow students to set up such funds at their own institutions — and they did. 

“Concordia has been seen as a leader in sustainability,” says Jeffrey Riley, the SAF’s chief executive officer.

The fee levy adds up to about $150,000 a year. Less the salary for the CEO and a bookkeeper, roughly $100,000 a year is allocated to its goals. About 80 projects are proposed each year, of which about two-thirds are approved.

Each project is subject to a public consultation, held two or three times a year. All students, as well as the general public, are encouraged to come listen to the project pitches. Audience feedback is then used by the SAF board of directors in its deliberations, which also considers such factors as the proportion of the student body to be affected or to benefit from each of the projects.

“This is student money, and we want their opinion,” Riley says of the consultation process. 

The most recent such review took place in February. Riley says the initiatives that stood out include one that would transform waste into energy by way of a methane digester, and a produce dehydrator for Concordia’s vegan soup kitchen, the People’s Potato, which would allow the volunteers to preserve fresh produce when it is plentiful.

“It’s great working around sustainability, being at the cutting edge of ideas — it’s fantastic,” Riley beams.

A fund’s roots
According to its website, the Sustainability Action Fund started with the 1% Campaign at the Less Talk, More Action Youth Summit held in March 2007, at which David Suzuki and former American vice-president Al Gore spoke. The environmental heavy-hitters spurred the crowd of more than 2,000 students to vote in support of the fee levy that would create the SAF and help transform Concordia into one of the country’s greenest campuses.

In less than five years, the SAF has supported many projects that have set the university firmly on the path to reach that goal. 

The SAF’s greatest achievement, Riley says, has been the implementation of the campus-wide industrial composting project, a first in Quebec. Another successful project it supported was the Concordia Student Union’s orientation week activities in fall 2011, at which all disposable cups and plates were banned.

“It really sends a strong message to new students that these are the values we hold at the university,” noted Riley.

The SAF has also sponsored the renowned Concordia student-run greenhouse, which embraces education, research and community-building, and educational events such as the sustainable business conference. Called Business Beyond Tomorrow, the March 18 conference kicks off What Sustains You? 2012, a week of activities at Concordia that puts sustainability in the spotlight.

Related links:
•    Sustainability Action Fund
•    Sustainable Concordia
•    Concordia Greenhouse Project
•    What Sustains You? 2012 (Facebook)