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US Environmental Education, Campus Ecology Guru Prof. David Orr to Launch York U. Speaker Series on Achieving Campus Sustainability
Oberlin College Prof. David Orr, best known as an environmental educator and for his pioneering work on environmental literacy and campus ecology, will deliver the series' first lecture: Sustainability on the Campus, Fri., March 24, 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.,York University Senate Chamber (9th Floor North Ross).
Orr, who is Chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College in Ohio, will discuss how universities and colleges should strive toward ëzero-discharge', ecologically friendly campuses. Orr, whose current work is focussed on ecological design, spearheaded the new $7 million Environmental Studies Center project at Oberlin College. The Center is an environmentally friendly building whose features include: zero waste-water discharge (drinking water in, drinking water out through an elaborate organic system that purifies and recycles up to 9,000 litres of wastewater a day); solar power-generated electricity; non-toxic, odour-free paints and varnishes; wood from sustainable forests; and recycled/recyclable building materials.
"We intended a building that caused no ugliness, human or ecological, somewhere else or at some later time," writes Orr, who envisages his building will set a new standard in ecologically friendly design for other university and college campuses.
Said York Faculty of Environmental Studies Dean Peter Victor, who also serves as Task Force chair, "David Orr is a highly regarded and recognized leader on campus sustainability, and we are indeed fortunate to have him participate in what I trust will be a very successful and informative series. Through York's Faculty of Environmental Studies and York's Centre for Applied Sustainability, we are undertaking our own leadership role on sustainability by establishing academic programs to produce expertise in environmental management, sustainable economic development, and related fields to ensure that we are producing environmentally literate graduates and responsible citizens. As a campus, we are setting an example of environmental responsibility by establishing practical on-campus projects to conserve resources, recycle, and reduce waste."
Author of Earth in Mind (1994) and Ecological Literacy (1992) and more than 100 published articles, Orr has also co-edited The Campus and Environmental Responsibility (1992), and The Global Predicament (1979). He was awarded a National Conservation Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation in 1993.
In addition to the speaker series, the President's Task Force on Sustainability is mandated with measuring and reporting York's progress toward sustainability, covering areas such as: energy generation and use; hazardous and non-hazardous material use, reuse, recycling and disposal; emissions to air, land and water; land use relating to sustainability; storm water management; and transportation. As a further example of York's commitment to environmental sustainability on campus, York is building a new Computer Science Building, slated for opening in the fall of 2001, which follows the philosophy of people/earth-friendly, sustainable design featuring plenty of natural light and fresh air inside to maximize energy efficiency and to reduce health complaints and absenteeism of students, faculty and staff.
For more information, please contact:
Dianne Zecchino
Ken Turriff |
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