Royal Roads has taken many actions to create a sustainable campus, the most intriguing to me being the policy on chemical free cleaning. When I first discovered cleaning products were harmful back in the day, it was because of my dog, Max.
We were told not to use chemicals on the floor because they would get on my dogs paws and then he would lick them and get sick. I didn’t really make the connection that obviously if they are harmful to dogs they are harmful to humans. Even when I first began to buy “greener” cleaning products it was because of the effect the cleaners had if they got into the environment, more specifically the water system. Again, not even thinking of how they could make me sick! I am a person with very sensitive skin and allergies so to hear the story from the head of housekeeping at Royal Roads it really made me think. It makes me just want to tell everyone “Stop using cleaning products... start using alternative like the microfiber clothes, or vinegar and lemon juice tea tree oil and baking soda!!” This website gives a guide to how to produce your own non-toxic cleaning products http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html.
Royal Roads spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on electricity and natural gas each year. To reduce this cost I think the best idea would to put in an enclosed compost facility to produce biogas. All compostable material could be put into this facility. Through fermentation it would release methane to provide heat and electricity to Royal Roads. An example given in one of my classes discusses the use of an anaerobic digester in India. This digester received 100kg of waste and could produce 10m cubed of biogas within 30 days. More information is written in this report.ààà( http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct102004/917.pdf)
It is a very successful small scale system and it only makes sense that it would also work on a larger scale. Most people really don’t enjoy composting. Reasons for this include..... it smells, you have to turn it, and maintain it, it attracts pests, there is no room for it, etc... So they would probably love someone to do it for them. If Royal Roads does not produce enough food waste on their own they could partner with a compost pick-up company that would charge a small fee to pick up their compostable waste. This could then be put in the digester and produce energy for Royal Roads. And if enough energy is produced it could even be sold to others. This would reduce the consumption of natural gas and electricity by the university and it would also reduce the cost to get rid of the compostable waste that they produce. The residual left over from the digester can also produce a profit as it can be used to grow mushrooms or it can be used as a fertilizer.
A witty joke I came across......
The government is finally doing something about energy conservation. They are asking motorists to remember to turn off their wind-screen wipers whenever they drive under a bridge.
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