Resources & Toolkits
The Sustainability Office provides programming, education and outreach on ways to reduce waste, promote circularity and resource recovery, reduce energy and water consumption, increase awareness of the benefits of sustainable food choices and more.
These resources help to empower our community to reduce our negative environmental impact — both institutionally and individually — and to foster a culture of good environmental stewardship to support health and social wellbeing in an environment that is healthy, vibrant, inclusive, accessible and community-focused.
In order to make sustainability resources and campus data easily available to our community, online versions of guidelines and reports produced by the Sustainability Office at TMU are available here in one place.
TMU Sustainability Guides and Resource Documents
The Campus Master Plan is a framework to guide the university's campus development to meet the demands of its ongoing and future growth. Its recommendations provide guidance for the built form, open space and movement systems across campus that are inclusive and promote health and wellbeing.
The (PDF file) Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan is a document that is prepared every five years. The plan reports on the university's energy consumption profile and outlines the conservation strategy for the short and long term. The current plan is the 2019 edition.
TMU's annual (PDF file) Solid Non‐Hazardous Waste Audit is available as a PDF prepared by the Waste Reduction Group. The audits help us identify ways to improve our diversion rate by developing and implementing plans to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The (google doc) Sustainable Building Guidelines (external link) can be viewed online as a Google Doc and downloaded as a PDF. The document provides guidance for design and process requirements and recommendations for all new construction, renovation projects sponsored by the university.
The Sustainability Handbook is a web page that outlines simple yet meaningful actions that support sustainable learning, working, living and leisure at Toronto Metropolitan University. The most powerful impact can be made through collective action — the handbook provides tips for a sustainable approach to day-to-day activities.
The Sustainability Progress Report is a website that provides a summary of sustainability projects, programs and initiatives across a number of areas including academics, operations and community engagement to capture the important work and ongoing efforts at our insitution to provide a benchmark for ongoing progress.
TMU's (google doc) Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines (external link) can be viewed online as a Google Doc and downloaded as a PDF. The purchasing guidelines are designed to reduce the environmental impact of university purchasing decisions and ensure they are aligned with university-wide sustainability goals and social responsibility.
These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Social Procurement Policy.
External Sustainability Tools and Resources
- Ecolabel Index (external link)
- (google sheet) Energy Star Simple Savings Summary Tool (external link)
- Environmental Working Group (EWG) Guide to Healthy Cleaning (external link)
- Green Restaurant Association Certification Standards (external link)
- National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (external link) (Canada)
- Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) (external link)
- United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) (external link)
Questions or concerns?
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact Sharmilla Raj, sustainability manager, at sustainability@torontomu.ca.