The term "green campus" has become popular among universities as environmental problems become global threats and senior figures in higher-learning institutes have felt the urge to set an example to society in environmental protection.
However, Associate Professor Kitikorn Chamorndusit, acting vice president for Environment and Sustainable Development at Mahidol University, said he prefers to use other words such as "sustainable campus" or "eco-university".
Kitikorn: Building a 'sustainable campus'
"Many universities think that a 'green campus' must have a lot of trees. So they focus on planting trees. One university even painted its building green. But a 'green campus' is more than that. It is about the university operating under the concept of the United Nations's Sustainable Development Growth (SDG) plan," said Assc Prof Kitikorn, who has been appointed to look after Mahidol University's Eco-University Project.
The project by Mahidol University, known for academic excellence and its championing of ecological conservation and sustainability in its campus management, has received plaudits.
Last month, the University of Indonesia (UI) released a 2018 list of environmentally friendly campuses, known as the "UI Green Metric World University Ranking".
Mahidol University was listed 89th, with two other Thai universities in the top 100 -- Kasetsart University (90) and Chulalongkorn University (95). The world's most environmentally friendly campus is Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. 719 universities around the world, and 24 from Thailand, were included in the assessment.
Mahidol University initiated a campaign to make its campuses environmentally friendly and sustainable in 2009. Much of the campaign centred around the Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom province.
At that time, the campus, built on 2,000 rai of parched dry farm plots, had suffered complaints from students and lecturers regarding the unpleasant setting where vehicle emissions were also a significant problem.
Executives decided to launch a 16-year masterplan to turn the campus into an eco-friendly and sustainable space.
"Our achievement is based on our leadership. Since we started the campaign 10 years ago, all presidents of the university have followed this plan. Despite the area around the Mahidol Salaya Campus becoming a real estate development hotspot, our university presidents are adamant on keeping 70% of the campus as green space," Assc Prof Kitikorn, an expert on environmental management in industry, told the Bangkok Post.
masterplan: In 2009, Mahidol University introduced a plan to make the 2,000 rai Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom environmentally sustainable.
The university's board approved a budget of around 500 million baht to adjust the landscape and manage the environment. The first change was to transform one of four traffic lanes into a bicycle lane.
"Our university has the longest bicycle lane in the country [in terms of university campuses]," he said proudly. With the lane separated by a row of trees, the university introduced a free-bicycle programme by providing 500 bicycles for students, lecturers and staff to use on the campus.
The number of bicycle riders reached 9,000 last year, he said.
Executives of the university often use the provided electric trams at the campus or even use the bicycles.
Carrying cloth bags and refilling drinking water bottles are now the standard among staff and students.
ENCOURAGING GOOD HABITS
However, being the most environmentally friendly campus in Thailand takes more than just trees, a beautiful natural landscape and using cloth bags.
The university has set up three goals: to use resources wisely, reduce carbon emissions and engage with the local community.
Money for old rope: A rubbish recycling programme has generated almost 10 million baht in income since 2009.
The university has a number of other environmental initiatives, among them a rubbish recycling bank and single-use plastic bag reduction campaign.
The university has run the rubbish recycling bank since 2009. The bank acts as a trade channel between recycling companies, buying recyclable waste from students, university staff, lecturers and community residents.
Under the scheme, students, staff and faculty members, as well as the people around the university, can open an account to sell their rubbish. During the nine years it has been open, around 1.9 million kilogrammes of rubbish has been sold, bringing in income worth 10.1 million baht in total. The university has expanded the project into the community, including eight local schools.
"One of our goals is to engage with the community. It is our motto that wherever we are, we will become part of the community and grow together. I believe it is a role for universities to help nearby areas develop," he said.
But the "paradigm shift", according to Assc Prof Kitikorn, came with the one-time-use plastic bags reduction campaign launched in 2015. The project was unpopular to begin with, he said, but the university was keen to promote a change in behaviour.
It started by providing used plastic bags and a box to collect returned bags for the purpose. After three months, people started to become familiar with the process and began bringing their own cloth bags. Assc Prof Kitikorn says the campaign has resulted in 2 million less single-use plastic bags being used within four years.
RESOURCE-WISE
The university also focuses on resource consumption.
"Mahidol University has medical institutes and hospitals within its campuses," he said.
"These require set amounts of water and electricity to run at full capacity. But we can make savings in different ways. We can make sure that our water and electric resources are used wisely."
on your bike: One of four traffic lanes was repurposed for bicycle use only; the uni also gave 500 free bikes to students and personnel. Now, there are over 9,000 regular cyclists on campus.
The university saves money by reusing and recycling resources such as the tap water used in the campus.
The project also sees treated wastewater replacing tap water where possible.
This process has reduced the use of tap water by approximately 1,000 cubic meters per day, saving the university around 190,000 baht a week.
Waste from the 70% green space such as dry leaves, tree branches and grass is not thrown away either.
Campus gardeners turn this biowaste into fertilisers and sell it to the public, making revenue of 200,000 baht per year.
The university's biochemistry students and staff also refine cooking oil from the mess halls' kitchens into biodiesel, selling it for just 19 baht per litre.
The biodiesel is also used in various vehicles within the university.
NEXT FRONTIER
Currently, the university is launching a healthy living initiative and has declared war against high-sugar food and drinks.
"Mahidol University is known as a bastion of medical health. But we haven't focused on a healthy lifestyle until now. We will start by educating people on campus and in the community about the threat of sugar in food and tell them how to eat healthily," he said, adding that after sugar, the next health drive will focus on sodium content in food.
"Our next frontier is to engage more with the community around the campus," he said.
The university is prepared to work with the local administration on landscape development and traffic management.
"The Salaya area is getting more urbanised and communities need experts to help on infrastructure and sustainable development," he said.
"The university has the resources and knowledge to help and work with local administrations."
When asked about the challenge facing the university when attempting to engage with the community, Assc Prof Kitikorn said the only barrier is language.
"I think most academics tend to use jargon and words that are not easy to understand. But we are learning to adopt a less formal tone in order to better connect with the communities we are partners with," said Assc Prof Kitikorn.
