Sustainability at
Saint Mary's

Sustainability Week 2011

"Celebrating our Successes"

March 14 - 17

You can make a difference too!

Each member of the university can have a dramatic impact on our quest to become a more sustainable community.

Faculty, staff, students and administration all have a part to play.

Whether the changes are local or global, each personal contribution makes a difference.

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Attend the Green Roots Symposium

greenroots

Green Roots Symposium

Tools for Change in a Changing Environment

Inform. Inspire. Act.

Who: Educators, students, business owners/representatives, government representatives & agencies interested in the pursuit of a sustainable Nova Scotia.

What: A symposium to inform attendees about tools for making changes to be more sustainable at home, at work, in the classroom and in the community.

Where: NS Community College Waterfront Campus, 80 Mawiomi Place, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 0A5

When: SAVE THE DATE! Fri. March 25 & Sat. March 26, 2011

Why: To share stories of successful change made across the province towards sustainability and to provide tools that inspire support of a more sustainable Nova Scotia.

More updates to come. Stay tuned!

The 2011 symposium is a collaborative effort of SENSE: Sustainability Education in Nova Scotia for Everyone Working Group of the Nova Scotia Environmental Network, Nova Scotia Environment, the Nova Scotia Department of Education, and BALLE Nova Scotia: Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

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What a success, this fundraiser raised over $6000 for the Wadeng project!

Thank you to the volunteers and the fundraisers!

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SMU SUSTAINABILITY WEEK BOOTS UP MARCH 15TH

Click here for the Calendar of Events

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Have you Taken the Pledge?

Click here or visit us at:

Event: Service Expo

Date: August 31 - September 11, 2009

Time: 10am - 3pm

Location: the Loyola Conference Hall.

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Have you heard the phrase "Think Global, Buy Local"?

Have you wondered what it means? It means that buying items from local producers can help to address global problems, including environmental and health-related ones.

For example, food that's grown locally is fresher, healthier, and creates fewer emissions from transportation.

Does this sound difficult? Try it for one day and see how it works! Friday, September 4 is the Eat Atlantic Challenge Day. To make your pledge and to find out how to fulfill it, click on the link below:

Eat Atlantic Challenge. Make your pledge today!

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Bored this summer? Why not enter the Green Challenge by Cascade? Sign up to complete some simple "green challenges" and get the chance to win an ecotourism adventure worth $5000. You'll be helping to create a greener world and you might win some great prizes!

Interested? Click here to find out more!

Please note: this contest is not administered in any way by Saint Mary's University: it is an outside contest affiliated with one of our Green suppliers.

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Congratulations to Residence Life for being awarded a Mobius Environmental Award from RRFB Nova Scotia! These awards recognize innovative organizations and individuals who help to make Nova Scotia a leader in waste reduction.

Take a look at the pictures below to see some of the awareness-raising activities put on by the department!

We hope you enjoyed Sustainability Week 2009!!!!

Campus Wide Green Challenge

We can not believe how much effort was put into the submissions for the Campus Wide Green Challenge. Congratulations to all, every entry deserves a prize.

Winners!

Department/Group: The Supreme Green Girls

This team submitted an entry whereby they would pledge to conserve paper, put waste and recyclables in the appropriate bins and use glass cups instead of disposable cups. The created an awareness campaign around this pledge. In each of their work areas, they became the cheerleaders for the earth. They not only got faculty members, staff members and students to sign their pledge along with them, they also engaged them in activities that required them to sort properly. They have over 25 photos of pledge participants on the OMAoG site, check it out.

They saved over 35 disposable cups each amongst the three of them through use of reusable mugs in 5 days. Their 25 + (and growing) pledge participants did the same, this can have a great impact over time. They have created a poster board and will take their poster board from wing to wing in their areas to highlight the efforts of the participants and keep them engaged in the process over time. They have become the "who to ask gang" when you want to know what goes where in the recycling bins.

Congrats! and Thank you!

Student Society /Group: The SMUSA Green Team

This team took "re-think" to another level. The SMUSA Green Team was comprised of the Information Desk and Husky Patrol department staff member. The Information Desk put up a marquee above the desk with a new green tip for each day of the week, they had a green act sheet at the desk for customers to write their green acts (more on this later!), they tallied their paper usage for the whole year and did a fundraiser to purchase a tree to offset their paper usage, the Husky Patrol changed their sign up process to be a computerized sign up rather then a paper system, they passed out did you know tips in the Husky van and more.

The SMUSA Green Team won a competition amongst the three SMUSA teams entered into the challenge. Each of the three teams, The SMUSA Lean, Green and Clean teams, had a challenge within a challenge, whereby they each had to collect green acts and their goal was to gather 1000 acts throughout the week between the three teams. They achieved and surpassed their goal by a fantastic amount, with a total 7710 green acts for the SMUSA Lean, Green and Clean team. Absolutely amazing!!!!

The SMUSA Lean team came in with 2967 acts of green

The SMUSA Green team came in with 3513 acts of green

The SMUSA Clean team came in with 1230 acts of green

Absolutely amazing!!!! Fantastic job!

Individual: Shellie Petrossie

Shellie Petrossie entered the Campus Wide Green Challenge with her entry called "I am Mother Earth: I don't want to die". Shellie is a General Worker at Saint Mary's University. She cares about the environment and she takes recycling seriously. She wanted to demonstrate that there is still some encouragement necessary to change peoples behaviours and attitudes around recycling. She took the recyclables, organics and paper out of the office waste cans on her floor and placed it out in the hallway with the note attached. Thank you for caring!

We would also like to send out a thank you to Wood Wyant for donating the Individual Prize, which is a $50 Gift Certificate to the Wooden Monkey Restaurant in Halifax. Each of the Groups will receive a $100 cheque to go towards any sustainable event/cause of their choice. Also in the planting season, the winners will have a tree planted on campus in recognition of their efforts.

Sustainability Week 2009 - Partners: