Green Residence

Row of students raising their hands in celebration

Help Campus Housing go green!

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.

The goal of the Green Ambassador program is to build student sustainability leadership skills and experience, support sustainable behaviours across the residence community, and provide meaningful feedback to the University on housing sustainability.

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
  • Fulfil requirements for WWF Canada's Living Planet Leader designation
  • Make new friends and have fun!

Fall 2023/winter 2024 cohort

Meet your Green Residence Ambassadors!

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Hailey Kernohan 

Environment, Resources, Sustainability 

Claudette Miller Hall (CMH)

A portrait of Dawson Teu

Dawson Teu 

Mechanical Engineering 

Claudette Miller Hall (CMH)

A portrait of Serena Bal

Serena Bal 

Arts & Business

Columbia Lake Village (CLV)

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Jess Wong 

Master of Climate Change 

Columbia Lake Village (CLV)

A portrait of a girl

Theodora Poulot 

English Dutch 

Columbia Lake Village (CLV)

A portrait of Emily Wong

Emily Wong 

Public Health 

Mackenzie King Village (MKV)

A portrait of Julia

Julia Duarte

Nanotechnology Engineering

Ron Eydt Village (REV)

A portrait of Alexa

Alexa Rigonan

Planning

Ron Eydt Village (REV)

A portrait of a girl

Tracy Zhao

Accounting & Financial Management 

Ron Eydt Village (REV)

Portrait of Cindy

Cindy Kuang

Management Engineering

UW Place - Eby Hall

Tracy tan portrait

Tracy Tran 

Planning 

UW Place - Eby Hall

A girl standing in front of a tree

Suki Cheung

Environment & Business 

UW Place - Waterloo Court 

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Yuvan Soorakumar

Physical Sciences 

UW Place - Wellesley Court

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Anita Wong 

Sustainability & Financial Management 

Village 1 (V1)

A girl standing outside

Ivy Xu

Management Engineering 

Village 1 (V1)

Portrait of Anoushka

Anoushka Saha

Nanotechnology Engineering

Village 1 (V1)

A portrait of Daksh

Daksh Banerjee

Mathematics 

Village 1 (V1)

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Lian Attia

Health Sciences

Village 1 (V1)

A fall tree by the University of Waterloo sign

Madeleine Soutar

Biomedical Sciences 

Village 1 (V1)

A portrait of a person

Nyx Kucharski

Mathematics 

Village 1 (V1)

Pollinator garden outside V1/MKV
Two Green Residence Ambassadors hosting sustainability booth
Stacked countertop organics bins with greenery in vase
Student in REV hosting sustainability booth

Organics collection program (UWP)

Since 2021, Green Residence volunteers have been supporting an organics collection program in UWP suite-style residence buildings. Interested students can sign up to borrow a free countertop organics bin that will be collected once per week by a volunteer. 

Spots in the program are limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis! The program is anticipated to start running mid/late September.

Volunteers

As a volunteer, you will collect compost bins from student rooms in your building once per week and empty it in the outdoor organics dumpsters. Depending on the number of volunteers, this may be done in pairs. The time commitment is estimated at ~1 hour/week. All training and materials will be provided.

Participants

As a participant, you will receive a countertop compost bin for your room. It will be collected by a volunteer once per week on a designated collection day (to be confirmed). Participants will be responsible for washing out their bin in between collections and ensuring only compostable material is put into their bin. 

Testimonials

Find out what what previous Green Residence Ambassadors have to say:

As a double major, I don’t have time to take courses not related to my majors, but through the Green Residence program I was able to continue to learn about environmentalism here in the University of Waterloo and how it relates to local and global initiatives. I was also kept in the loop about Sustainability Office events and even had the chance to volunteer in some of them! I really enjoyed being involved with the repair workshop and the 2022 Eco Summit.

Silvia (2022/23 cohort)

My experiences in the program have allowed me to build friendships with others who are also interested in sustainability. I also learned a lot that I am applying in my daily life. For instance, in our biodiversity discussion we talked about the importance of native plants, and I am currently working towards creating a native plant garden to attract pollinators.

Arunemathi (2019/20 cohort)