News

York University staff and students recently had an opportunity to see the United Way in action. They were participants in the United Way’s annual Day of Caring event which took place on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the community gardens at Chalkfarm near Jane and Wilson. The event brought together a team of motivated people from […]

NOW Magazine "We've pulled out our red pen to score the eco records of T.O.'s institutions of higher learning. Do they actually practise what their environmental programs preach?" York Rates a B Read full article

The "urban heat island effect" is the name for the phenomenon of densely populated urban areas having significantly higher temperatures than surrounding areas, reported DiscoveryChannel.ca Aug. 28. Concrete, which holds heat, is seen as a large contributor. Cities can combat the problem with green spaces – and increasingly green roofs. In Canada's biggest city, officials […]

This year, Toronto rooftop gardens are more popular than ever, wrote the food columnist for The Toronto Sun July 5. As noted recently by VanityFair.com (May 2006), green roofs are listed as one of the safeguards for a sustainable environment. Among other projects in the city:York University. In 2001, the University installed a 1,875 sq.-metre […]

A proposal to house the province's $400-million archives collection at York University is being given a boost by planned subway development, reported the Toronto Star March 14. According to the paper, sources say one of the selling points for the York University site is that it would increase the ridership on the planned $1.5-billion extension […]

A Toronto-based company has found a way to take wood waste and transform it into contemporary furniture, reported the National Post June 1. Urban Tree Salvage, founded by woodworker and environmentalist Sean Gorham, takes wood waste from municipal waste sites and cleans it up for use in simple wood furniture and for lumber used by […]

James McKellar, a real property professor at York’s Schulich School of Business, and his architect wife Clelia Iori were on the winning design team that captured top prize in the Archetype Sustainable House Competition June 21.  Full Story

For York's Facilities Services, the prospect of 8,000 delegates descending upon York for the eight-day 2006 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences next month posed a challenge. For one thing, the event coincides with the date set to achieve 50- per-cent waste reduction on campus and so many visitors could generate an awful lot […]

As the Ontario government is praised for the renewable energy policy it announced on March 21, York's Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) is celebrating the key role its students and alumni played in pushing the province towards the policy, which supports community-based models of renewable energy production.  Full Story

The subway to York University has moved one step closer to reality with the release of the Spadina Subway Extension Environmental Assessment (EA) report to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for review and approval.  Full Story