What Is Green?
Living or going "green" is not simply a trend, nor does it involve making one or two small changes in lifestyle. Living green means slowly changing our entire way of thinking of our role on Earth as human beings, and adjusting how we live accordingly. More and more people are beginning to recognize the need for a cultural shift further toward a holistic and meaningful way of coexistence with our environment, with "green" having emerged as a neat catchphrase to sum up this new approach.
In short, a green lifestyle is one which takes into consideration the long-term consequences and effects of all our choices. A green lifestyle aims to consider the needs of others as well as one's own health and welfare, and to ensure the continued availability of our planet's resources for all time.
At the University of Guelph, there are nearly as many ways of going green as there are people. Individuals and organizations within the community have committed to living more sustainably via individual pledges, organizational agreements, or core policies. This section of the Sustainability website highlights some tools, programs and initiatives that the University has engaged in and implemented.
Living Green On Campus
Among the programs offered by the Sustainability office are the Enviro Rep and Green Department programs, both aimed at specific communities within the University of Guelph. Enviro Reps are volunteer student representatives in residence, while Green Departments are departments which have pledged to follow a community checklist of greening initiatives.
More broadly, the Zerofootprint calculator offers all U of G community members a chance to measure their individual carbon footprint and set goals to actively reduce it.
The Eating Green and Green Volunteering sections offer not only local resources and tips, but also highlight some of the ongoing relevant activities of campus-based organizations, such as the Sustainability Plan laid out by Hospitality Services.
If you know of more campus resources or initiatives which have not been included in this section, please send an email to sustain@pr.uoguelph.ca.
We do our best to ensure that all of the community's efforts are celebrated.