News

Global Environmental Measurement and Monitoring (GEMM) has three Sustainability Action Fund projects which focus on improving air quality monitoring and reducing traffic and greenhouse gas emissions on campus. They also aim to demonstrate the need for increasing measurement and monitoring of environmental parameters at a local scale. 

The Sustainability Action Fund has granted funding for five new campus sustainability projects in spring 2025. Projects include a mercury recycling initiative, a reusable container pilot, a new water refill station, programming to support climate education, and a campus air monitoring project.

The Sustainability Action Fund has granted funding for nine new projects in spring 2024. These projects include training and workshops to improve green skills and decrease climate anxiety, invasive species removal, air quality monitoring, and new sustainable transportation initiatives. 

To engage the UWaterloo community directly in the effort of tracking and reducing emissions, Finance and the Sustainability Office have collaborated to add a new voluntary field in Concur titled “carbon emissions” that asks Claimants who have booked and purchased their airfare out of pocket to voluntarily calculate and include the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their UW travel. 

The Sustainability Action Fund has granted funding for seven new sustainability projects in fall 2023. From advancing climate change education and piloting alternative protein options to installing a deionized water system and expanding electric lawn equipment, these projects support more sustainable operations and learning on campus. 

The Sustainability Action Fund has granted funding to five new projects in fall 2022. From recycling filament scrap from 3D printers and promoting reusable containers to electrifying lawn equipment and building sustainability into the engineering curriculum, these projects will help make UWaterloo more sustainable. 

The Sustainability Action Fund has granted funding for a new project on campus this term. This project will improve LED lighting in a new growth chamber in Biology, reducing the energy required for research. 

Warrior Home, a multidisciplinary student team at the University of Waterloo, designs and builds high-performing, net-zero energy, affordable, and sustainable homes for community housing organizations.

This article was originally published by Media Relations.

The University of Waterloo has committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its pension and endowment investment portfolios by 50 per cent by the year 2030 and is committing to achieving full carbon neutrality by 2040. 

The University of Waterloo was honoured to be the recipient of the Sustainability Breakthrough Award from Sustainable Waterloo Region at their 12^th Annual Recognition Event last week.