Greening the Campus
Vision Statement / WATgreen Information,
Projects & Links/ Current Activities /
Our Vision
We envision UW transforming itself into a showcase
of sustainability, a true ecosystem in harmony with its environment. We refer
to this process as "Greening the Campus". This undertaking presents an opportunity
for students, staff, and faculty to improve the quality of their environment,
while decreasing the overall operating cost of the University. This project offers
significant new directions and opportunities for education and research. It is
promoting an environmentally-aware campus community. "Greening the Campus" represents
an opportunity for UW to act as a model and a catalyst for other campuses and
institutions. UW students will take with them into society the knowledge and motivation
necessary to foster the transformation to a sustainable society. In short, UW
in the 21st century could do for the environment what it did for computers in
the 20th century.
WATgreen Information
Current Activities of WATgreen
The University of Waterloo WATgreen Advisory Committee includes representatives
from each faculty, staff, students and administration. The committe accomplishments
and activities include:
- The Committee provided assistance on the Environmental Reserve Management
Plan Study for the North Campus Development - Research Park. The Committee was asked for the Teaching and Research
Opportunities as they pertain to the
alternative concepts of the Columbia Lake Management Options. The goal of
the Environmental Reserve Management Plan Study is to "provide
a rehabilitation and management plan for the preservation and enhancement
of environmental function within the Environmental Reserve."
- The Committee is actively investigating paper and its reduction through printing and copying uses on campus.
WATgreen is an educational initiative for the students AND the University.
The WATgreen initiative provides students, faculty and staff with an opportunity
to make a positive contribution to the resolution of environmental issues facing
the University. Together we can transform the campus into a sustainable ecosystem.
In the Environment and Resource Studies 250
course, Greening the Campus, students learn to apply the skills and tools
of interdisciplinary research to current real-life problems involved in running
the university or in fostering sustainability in Waterloo, Kitchener, and the
region. This course makes a direct contribution to enhancing the sustainability
of the campus and the broader community in which it is located. The campus and
the community serve as the laboratory for identifying, evaluating, and assessing
indicators of progress toward greater sustainability.
The WATgreen Library of student projects is here.
Kitchener and Waterloo Chambers
of Commerce Environmental Achievement Award for:
- Innovation (WATgreen) 1992
- General Ecology (WATgreen) 1993
- Company of the Year. Presented for the "Closed-Loop Re-circulation System"
and the "Mass Thermal Storage System". 1994
- Environmental Sustainability Award Nominee for WATgreen - 2000
- Business Excellence Award Nominee, Environment - 2002
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Page last updated May 20, 2005 by Patti Cook