The Faculty of Mathematics is introducing a “Meatless Math Mondays” initiative this November to increase departmental sustainability and improve environmental wellness among students, faculty and staff.
The initiative, which is based upon the popular worldwide “Meatless Monday” campaign, challenges participants to eat meatless meals during the four Mondays in November. They can participate by cooking meatless meals at home or choosing meat-free options at restaurants across campus, then posting photos of their food to social media using the hashtag #MeatlessMathMondays and tagging @waterloomath. All participating Faculty of Math members who use the hashtag will be entered to win weekly and grand prizes, including sustainable kitchen accessories and vegetarian cookbooks.
Math Coffee and Donuts is getting in on the action, too: if customers buy meatless meals on Mondays, they can get stamps on a loyalty card that earns them entries for the grand prize at the end of the month.
Melodie Roschman, a Communications Officer in the Dean’s Office who co-created the initiative, explains the reasoning behind it.
“Getting a lot of people to make a small change can often have a much larger impact than trying to get a few people to make radical changes,” she says. “We’re hoping that this program can encourage people to reduce their meat consumption overall and learn to incorporate some tasty meatless options into their regular routines.”
Studies have shown that producing one quarter-pound beef burger requires over 1600 liters of water and enough energy to power an iPhone for six months. “There are more than 9,000 people in the Faculty of Mathematics,” Roschman says. “If we all skipped meat for just four days this month, we could have a tremendous environmental impact.”
Robert Bruce, Community Well-being & Engagement Officer, explains how the Meatless Math Mondays initiative fits into the Faculty’s wellness programming. “We need to remember that wellness is the sum of many interconnected dimensions that work together to create a holistic sense of well-being and fulfillment in a person’s life,” he says. “With that in mind we are looking to help members of our community explore the personal and environmental benefits of going meatless. Hopefully this program will help each of us to focus on our own ability to live a life that is respectful of the environment and of our surroundings and to value the interconnections between people and the environment.”