It’s Getting Hot In Here

This story is part of an ongoing series: Vanity Fair: The Untold Stories

Apparently a picture says a thousand words; I beg to differ.

In the latest edition of Vanity Fair (the May “Green Issue”) staff members from the Campus Climate Challenge (CCC) were profiled in a 2-page colour spread. What is more exciting, however, is the mountain of stories that lies behind each of those 35 faces in the picture. Every CCC staff member works with almost a dozen campuses in their respective region. And, as one of the many staff members, I have the pleasure of working with my very own handful of campuses - and what fabulous campuses they are!

Major highlights of the year:


- Memorial hires full-time Sustainability Coordinator
- Mount Allison runs successful inter-residence energy challenge
- Moncton publishes first Energy, Waste, and Food audits
- Regional Paper Cut campaign to use more sustainable sources of paper is launched
- Campuses host “An Inconvenient Truth” screenings and panel discussions
- Dalhousie votes on $2 levy to implement Sustainability Office
- King’s hosts 2nd Annual Atlantic Sustainable Campuses Conference
- UPEI hosts 8th Annual National Sustainable Campuses Conference

Memorial hires full-time Sustainability Coordinator under Facilities Management

Following great lobbying efforts by student group ProjectGreen, Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland hired a full-time Sustainability Coordinator to work within Facilities Management starting in January 2007. The Coordinator will work on improving campus curriculum, operations and culture to make them more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, including projects such as the regional paper campaign, Campus Sustainability Assessment, a GHG audit and the Campus Climate Challenge.

Mount Allison runs successful inter-residence energy challenge

Throughout the month of April, student group EcoAction ran an inter-residence energy challenge to see which residence building could reduce the most amount of energy in the period of 30 days. Students were shown different methods of saving energy and were taught about why saving energy was important. At the end of the competition, the winning building brought home a brand new energy efficient flat screen TV, to watch “The 11th Hour” and “An Inconvenient Truth” as many times as their hearts desired.

Moncton publishes first Energy, Waste, and Food audits

Student group Symbiose has been working on key pieces of the Campus Sustainability Assessment, and in April 2007 published a report (in French and available for download here) outlining their findings on le Université de Moncton’s energy, waste, and food practices. This research will be used to target the most problematic areas of the university and used to create both benchmark and long-term goals to improve energy efficiency, decrease methane-releasing waste, and decrease food waste and cafeteria styrofoam use.

King’s hosts 2nd Annual Atlantic Sustainable Campuses Conference

This 2-day conference was hosted in early February 2007 by the King’s Environmental Group (KEG) at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Elizabeth May, former Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada and holder of the Order of Canada, delivered a keynote speech on what Canada needs to do in the next 5 years to address the climate crisis. Workshops focused on elements of the Sustainable Campuses project, including topics such as winning a campus Energy Policy. Students and Administration from Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia were in attendance. See photos here!

UPEI hosts 8th Annual National Sustainable Campuses Conference

Atlantic campus, the University of Prince Edward Island, had the honour of hosting the 3-day national conference this year in late September 2006 in Charlottetown, PEI! We planted trees, strategized and planned for the year, learned the nuts and bolts of GHG audits and sustainability assessments, and had “good times in the Maritimes”, as always! See photos here!

Regional Paper Cut campaign to use more sustainable sources of paper is launched

After 4 years of bubbling excitement and countless volunteer hours, the Sierra Youth Coalition is officially launching the Paper Cut campaign to implement paper policies at Atlantic universities and colleges that move the institutions towards paper conservation practices as well as the purchasing of paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled and Forest Stewardship Council certified. The temporary collaborative working site is here, but stay tuned for the campaign launch May 1!

Campuses host “An Inconvenient Truth” screenings and panel discussions

Screenings were held this year and many campuses (sometimes twice!) across the Atlantic region, by both Sustainable Campuses/Campus Climate Challenge groups as well as fellow-NGO, the Ecology Action Centre. Campuses include Saint Mary’s University, Dalhousie University, University of Prince Edward Island, Acadia University, Memorial University, and many more! Some included panel discussions while others included writing letters to political representatives. Good times had by all!

Dalhousie votes on $2 levy to implement Sustainability Office and hire Sustainability Coordinator

Two years after their inception, the Dalhousie Integrated Sustainability Initiative is over. But not because the students quit, quite the opposite: they are being replaced by Dalhousie’s first Sustainability Office and full-time Sustainability Coordinator. The funds were approved in a recent student union election ballot, supporting a $2.00 levy to each full-time student at the university. The office and all related initiatives are here-on projects of SustainDAL. The Coordinator position will start in September 2007!

* Student leaders in Atlantic Canada are rising up and delivering big wins on sustainability and climate projects, as they reel in the big win for the 2nd year in a row for the annual Sustainable Campuses Success Stories Competition. (The prize? Mounds of organic, fair-trade, dark chocolate. A little motivation never hurt anyone…)

As you might be able to tell, the Vanity Fair spread is worth millions upon millions of inspiring, powerful, and campus-changing words. And we’re all a part of it.

For more success stories from the Atlantic Region as well as the rest of Canada, please visit our Success Stories Database!