At AMS Assembly on Thursday night, John Manning, the AMS Earth Centre Committee Chair, presented a proposal for the creation of an Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. The person hired for the 12-month paid position would “work with service staff, managers, and directors to develop a reporting protocol whereby consumption, waste, and recycling data from services are regularly and accurately recorded and reported,” among other duties.
The establishment of yet another AMS paid position is not the only solution to increasing environmentally friendly practices on campus. The service managers themselves could be mandated to ensure the environmental sustainability of their respective services rather than placing the responsibility upon a single individual. Another possible alternative would be to contract someone for a one-time assessment of the sustainability of the services rather than a year-long, full-time position.
Manning and Social Issues Commissioner Jennifer Holub argued that although there are three groups within the Social Issues Commission concerned with the environment whose goal is to “promote awareness of issues that affect our environment, and promote a lifestyle that is sustainable and responsible,” their resources are limited and insufficient to tackle issues on campus. Rather than putting money into a new position, this money might be better spent infused into these three groups, given their existing expertise, to provide them with the means to advocate for sustainability. However, to ensure that any recommendations or changes suggested by these groups are implemented by the services, consequences should be in place for non-compliance.
The proposal has since been tabled until the next Assembly. Until then, Manning and Holub need to provide more information about environmental sustainability on campus and show that a new coordinator position is truly the best way to move forward.
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