Sustainability

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Goal: 20% from our 2017 Baseline by 2027
Updated March 2023

RBG has committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 20% of our 2017 emissions over ten years. This target was selected as part of Sustainable Hamilton Burlington’s “Sustainable Business Initiative” in 2018 (now known as Sustainability Leadership). As part of our GHG emissions calculation we take into consideration the energy used to heat and power our facilities, the fuel used to operate our vehicles, tools and equipment, as well as employee business travel. Using Sustainability Leadership’s carbon accounting tool, we convert our data into tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) on an annual basis.

While we have been making efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we are not currently on track to meet our reduction target, with our aging and inefficient propagation and display greenhouses being among our largest emission sources. Check back in the future for blog posts with more information on our greenhouse gas emissions and the initiatives we are taking to reduce them.

2022 Review

• Solar powered lights were installed at Princess Point
• We purchased an electric fleet vehicle for use by catering for delivering of services at multiple RBG sites.
• 2022 was our second highest year for GHG emissions since setting a reduction target.
• Options were investigated to heat the Rose Garden tent in Hendrie Park with electric heat initially, but the electrical capacity was not sufficient for the space. A different heater supplier was used with a design featuring a recirculation system which was expected to reduce propane consumption. It was expected we would see a 30-50% reduction in propane emissions but despite the recirculating system and a warmer winter, overall emissions for heating the Rose Garden tent increased by ~8 tonnes CO2e compared to 2021.
• Grass cutting was outsourced to external party this year. This means the emissions associated with grass cutting that would have been captured in our fleet management system were now the emissions of our service provider and scope 3 emissions. Overall our fleet emissions increased despite this change.

Our GHG emissions are determined using activity data from our electricity, natural gas and propane utility bills, our internal fuel tracking system, and our employee mileage expenses which are converted to tonnes of CO₂e using the Sustainability Leadership Program’s Carbon Accounting Tool.

Water Consumption

Updated March 2023

As a botanical garden we have a significant demand for water to irrigate our living collections. While we’re making efforts to choose plants that aren’t as “thirsty” where we can, it is critical that we track water consumption in detail so we can identify areas where there are opportunities to conserve and reduce our impact. We have many kilometers of irrigation lines and have invested in our systems to better monitor water use in our gardens and our buildings in the last two years and we are seeing a reduction as a result.

2022 Review

• A significant meter read issue at the Rock Garden was resolved in February 2023 requiring the adjustment of water bills and retroactive charges. The data is this report and in the table above represents the accurate true water consumption for 2021 which has increased by roughly 7,000 m3 from what was first reported.

We are still working on a target for reduction. To learn more about our water conservation initiatives check back for future blog posts.

Waste Diversion

Updated Machr 2023

Waste Diversion is a measure of how much material disposed is diverted away from landfill to be recycled or re-used. A 100% diversion rate would mean nothing is going to landfill, so a higher diversion rate is ideal. In 2017 we invested in an entirely new waste diversion program and rolled out dozens of new two- and three-stream bins. We set a goal to achieve a 65% diversion rate, aligned with Halton Region’s Waste Diversion target at the time. While we have seen improvements, and have most recently created a single-use plastics policy, we still have a ways to go to reach our target. Part of the challenge in reaching our goal is that some material can’t be recycled at RBG, such as most commercial coffee or drink cups (the cups we use at RBG are all BPI certified compostable).

2022 Review

• Our diversion rate has been hovering around 55% since our last major system update. In 2021 audits were completed to help inform updates to outdoor signage planned for 2022.
• Additional waste diversion services have been expanded upon to allow for improved collection of internal electronic and battery recycling services

For more information on our waste diversion initiatives check back for future blog posts.

Our waste diversion rate is calculated using service summaries from multiple waste and recycling service providers.