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Ryerson is calling on its community members to become champions of sustainability.

Sustainability Matters is the latest program developed by Ryerson’s Campus Facilities and Sustainability department to involve everyone across campus in environmentally friendly initiatives. Students, faculty and staff who want to start a project can post it on the Sustainability Matters website, which launched this week, to encourage volunteers and staff at campus facilities to help.

“The webpage is a tool to find out what’s happening across campus,” said Tonga Pham, director of Campus Facilities and Sustainability. “Campus facilities will help facilitate and launch projects and ideally get champions engaged.”

Pham invites faculty to use the website to communicate about their green research or to recruit volunteers. The Campus Facilities and Sustainability office was established to focus on the university’s green initiatives and further develop a program where people can work together to initiate sustainable ideas and projects.

“Collaboration is crucial for sustainability to be successful,” Pham said. “The program is about the environmental, economic and social aspects that make up sustainability.”

Echoing that philosophy, Ryerson has partnered with the Digital Media Zone company Greengage to track its sustainability actions. Greengage is a platform and mobile app that enables large organizations to communicate and record corporate sustainability initiatives. Ryerson is the first university to use the eco-engagement tool.

Under the “get involved” tab on the website, people can share an initiative or idea, promote a volunteer opportunity or find a volunteer position. In the future there will be a process in place for the campus facilities department to help launch new projects. For now, Pham wants to get community members across campus connected and engaged in sustainability practices.

“We’re trying to hit so many people, especially considering the size of our university, the website seemed like the easiest way to engage people,” she said. “We’re a research-based educational institutional – a small town almost, in a very dense area – so we have a responsibility to ensure our projects and facility use is green. Sustainable practices have become part of who we are.”

Here is a list of initiatives that Ryerson has implemented:

-          Academic opportunities such as the undergraduate degree in environment and urban sustainability, a post-graduate certificate in sustainability management and the opening of the Centre for Urban Energy.

-          Small corrections made across campus including replacing 300 computers with new, more energy-efficient models and reducing mailing frequency in Financial Services by shifting to electronic, paperless mailings as well as online training modules for staff.

-          The annual Farmers’ Market on Gould Street and Ryerson’s Homegrown Community Garden are two agriculture projects that have become popular on campus.

-          New, energy-efficient lighting has been installed in the lower ground floor of the Library and on the sidewalk at the School of Image Arts. Exterior lighting in the quad has been retrofitted to reduce energy use.

-          Ryerson has established a Bicycle Club for cyclists on campus. This is in addition to the bike room and parking racks provided at numerous locations on the university grounds.