What You Can Do

When you leave your home for more than a few days, take some of these energy efficiency steps:

• Turn down the thermostat.
• Turn off the computer.
• Turn off or unplug power bars.
• Close blinds and turn off lights or put a light on a timer.

By being clever about how we approach energy use when we’re away from the office, we can be both fiscally and environmentally responsible. Powering down during vacations and over weekends could save thousands of dollars with very little effort.

If you’ll be away from the office, lab, or classroom for an extended absence (including weekends):

• Turn off lights (in classrooms, shops and labs, lunch and supply rooms, and individual offices).
• Switch off power bars and unplug computers.
• Unplug non-essential appliances such as cell-phone chargers, desktop printers and scanners, portable heaters, photocopiers.
• Think creatively: you know the intricacies of your area or department, so you’re best able to determine what you can do to save energy.
• In doubt, ask your manager or the Energy Team (e.g. we do not want to shutdown network switches as this would cause troubleshooting alerts on the ITS monitoring system).

BCIT offers a slight discount to people who bring their own coffee cup or thermos. You can get a reusable mug at The Stand and Geared Up stores and campus cafeterias.

Most documents and many text books are easy to access, distribute, and read online. Going paperless saves trees and enables fast and efficient communication and learning

BCIT supports high-recycled content papers and tree-free papers, such as “sugar sheet” made from the bi-product of cane sugar plants.

BCIT has a comprehensive recycling, composting, and waste management program that diverts over 70% of our waste from landfill by:

• recycling office supplies and equipment – paper, ink cartridges, batteries and computers
• recycling consumer products – cans, bottles and plastics
• reusing and recycling industrial waste – wood, metal, gyproc and used oils
• composting organic materials

Central Stores is responsible for the disposal of hazardous and dangerous waste products which includes the recycling / reclaiming of some items. For guidance in proper disposal of various hazardous waste and to make a Hazardous Waste Request, please visit their website.

• Never throw anything down sinks or storm drains – it will eventually end up in our creeks and rivers!
• Don’t toss out anything that’s reusable or recyclable.