Green Residence

Help Campus Housing go green!

Two Green Residence Ambassadors at a booth in residence, holding up pledge stickers and with sustainability promotional materials on the table in front of them Students have an incredibly important role to play in making the University of Waterloo a more sustainable campus. To support students in this journey, we've launched the Green Residence program in partnership with Campus Housing.

Throughout fall 2020, our ambassadors took part in weekly discussions on a range of sustainability topics to build knowledge and reflection on opportunities within residence. In winter 2021, our ambassadors continued to participate in biweekly discussions, and also supported the following initiatives. Learn more about their impact in the dropdowns below!

Warm clothing donation drive in CLV and UWP
Organics collection pilot in UWP
Virtual Earth Hour event

Stay tuned for details on fall 2021 programming!

BIWEEKLY DISCUSSIONS

In winter 2021, ambassadors participated in biweekly virtual discussions on sustainability topics, including green buildings and cities, water conservation, biodiversity and nature, and sustainable transportation (~1 hour every 2 weeks).

ORGANICS COLLECTION PILOT

6 countertop organics bin stacked together with sticker to indicate what can go in them (food scraps and compostable food containers) Seven amazing ambassadors volunteered to help to divert organics from landfill in UWP by collecting organics from student rooms and dropping it off in the large outdoor bins. The pilot took place between February 1 and March 26. In total, our volunteers performed 160 collections and helped to divert nearly 130 bags of organics from the landfill!

WARM CLOTHING DONATION DRIVE

Clothing donation bins were set up in CLV and CMH to collect warm clothing between February 1 and February 21. On Friday, February 26, three amazing student ambassadors volunteered their time to sort through the donations (following COVID protocols!). In total, 20 bags of warm clothing were donated to local organizations in need.

VIRTUAL EARTH HOUR EVENT

Five amazing ambassadors helped to organize and host a virtual Earth Hour event for students, including creating marketing materials, preparing questions for the trivia activity, and facilitating the event. Our students did an amazing job pulling the event together, and we all learned a lot about Earth Hour and broader environmental topics!

BENEFITS

The Green Residence Ambassador program is an amazing opportunity for students to:

Gain valuable leadership, teamwork, and communication experience
Make a tangible impact in lowering your environmental footprint
Fulfill requirements for WWF Canada's Living Planet Leader designation
Make new friends and have fun!

Stay tuned for details on fall 2021!