Western has become one of two universities in Canada as signatories to United Nations-linked group to support sustainable development through education and research.
Sustainability
Chakma building wins ‘green’ award
Western’s newest facility – the Amit Chakma Engineering Building – has won a provincial award of excellence for new green buildings.
Student wastes no time in conservation efforts
This gap in Earth Sciences MSc student Jordan Hawkswell’s new home’s environmentally conscious initiatives has led to a grassroots movement across the city focused on a different way of living. And it all started when she decided to focus on her own efforts.
New network confronts ‘real issues in real world’
As our world experiences unprecedented social and economic changes, policy-makers will increasingly turn to world-class research institutions in search of ways to understand and address those changes. Enter NEST.
Western branches out for arboretum tree count
This summer, Western is conducting the first Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping inventory of trees on campus. No more ‘eyeballing’ the species or counting on fingers the number of trees. No more handwritten additions or deletions on a printed database.
Campus abuzz with Bee City designation
Laura Pendlebury wants you to consider the tiny honeybee and its not-so-tiny impact on human health and survival. In fact, she wants the whole campus community to keep in mind the important role of pollinators, an insect species whose survival ensures our own.
Straw poll: Western chooses paper over plastic
Western is taking steps in September towards becoming a campus free of plastic straws, even as Starbucks works to eliminate single-use plastic straws from all its locations by 2020.
Instilling sustainable thinking across courses
As Tima Bansal sees it, treating sustainability as a standalone, piecemeal concern is counterproductive. In fact, it is unsustainable.
Landscape Services gets charge from new tools
This summer, Landscape Services takes its first foray into battery-powered equipment. Two grass trimmers, a push mower and two leaf blowers have been added to the team’s tool crib.
Green Awards turn attention to sustainability
This year’s winners of the Western Green Awards are all about reduce, reuse and recycle when it comes to environmental sustainability.
Western receives $11M to reduce greenhouse gases
University efforts to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions received a multi-million-dollar boost thanks to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program from the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Western officials announced this week The $11.6-million...
Bringing urban farming to the community
They are unlikely farmers, sure. But armed with a vision of making a social and sustainable impact in London, a lawyer, writer, business instructor and social service worker are rolling up their sleeves and making it work. Urban Roots, co-founded by Heather and Graham...
Sustainability at Western in provincial spotlight
A new report, issued by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) last month, shines a spotlight on recent sustainability efforts at Western and the university’s commitment to battling climate change. Going Greener 2017: The Road to Low-Carbon University Campuses...
Western tapped among Canada’s greenest
A recent ranking of Canadian universities has Western seeing green – and the institution is quite happy about it. Corporate Knights recently named Western as the second greenest university in Ontario, and ninth overall in Canada, using data from the Sustainability...
Award signals purple is green at the core
It’s almost like every day is Earth Day on campus. Last week, Western was named among Canada’s Greenest Employers, recognized as an institution that leads the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness, Mediacorp Canada announced as part of the Canada's...
Western named among greenest employers
Western has been named one of the 2017 winners of Canada’s Greenest Employers competition. The annual award is organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project and acknowledges workplaces with noteworthy environmental programs and Earth-friendly policies that...
Western gets WISE about sustainability
Reducing meat and dairy consumption, clean energy and food sharing were among the innovative ideas shared at Western’s Ideas for Sustainability and the Environment competition.
Baruah and Gaudet: Confronting the gender gap in Canada’s green transition
Women are a minority in the energy sector everywhere in the world – and Canada is no exception. Concerns about climate change and fossil fuel insecurity have ensured significant interest in Canada in the technologies and financing for transitioning to clean energy,...
Campus a-buzz with latest addition
Kristian Crossen has been in his new role for just over seven months and, already, he looks after more than 300,000 university workers who are ‘busy as bees’ every day.
Commentary: Shoreline Clean Up comes to campus
Earth Day 2016 brought a new and exciting initiative to the Western community, a large, collaborative campus clean-up event that involved university staff, students and volunteers from across campus. For the first time at Western, a group of graduate students from the...