Blue and Gold Goes Green
Rolling up their sleeves and taking action, TWU’s environmental student club is passionate about promoting good stewardship of the university campus. And after just one year, the results of their efforts are a greener campus and an Environmental Hero Award.
Previously called the Trinity Environmental Advocates, A Rocha (Portuguese for “the rock”) is an international organization intent on “environmental action through community-based conservation projects.” A Rocha TWU (ARTWU) is the first-ever Canadian A Rocha student chapter. ARTWU is committed to improving environmental conservation on campus. The students are supported and encouraged by Melissa Oakes, TWU field resources coordinator and environmental missionary.
In January, 2008, TWU began composting food waste from its main cafeteria. On TWU’s 57 acres of land across the road from the main campus, two large bins, each with three sections, were built to place the waste. While composting may seem simple, it is no easy business. Optimal conditions for composting require a specific temperature range, moisture and ph levels, and a balance of the types of waste. The program has seen growth in the amount of waste sent for composting from 14 per cent in the spring to approximately 20-30 per cent over the summer. Oakes and volunteers collect the food waste and bring it to the compost bins weekly.
To encourage environmental awareness across the campus, the environmental club hosted Earth Week this past spring. ARTWU president, Trish Buhler, and the club’s other members, organized bird walks, geo-caching, tours of the Langley Bog, demonstrations on composting, and even a waste management panel. Oakes gave a presentation on the economical and ecological benefits of recycling and composting. MP Mark Warawa, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment, highlighted Earth Week with an address entitled Taking Action on the Environment and Climate Change.
The culmination of ARTWU’s hard work resulted in the club receiving the 2008 Environmental Hero Award, sponsored by Warawa, who personally presented the award, and co-sponsored by The Langley Times. About the award, Buhler comments, “It is such an honour to receive the Environmental Hero Award, not only to receive recognition for all the hard work we put into ameliorating the environment around TWU, but also to create awareness for the changes that have been made since the beginning of this year.”
by Jamie Hall ('06)
photography by Colleen Flanagan (The Langley Times)
Back to Top Table of Contents
Share This Story
Butterflies with Oakes in the Oaks
As a part of her responsibility as field resources coordinator at TWU, Melissa Oakes works on conservation projects on Salt Spring Island at TWU’s Crow’s Nest Ecological Research Area. The Propertius Duskywing butterfly requires the island’s Garry Oak Ecosystem to survive. To better understand and conserve this ecosystem, Oakes and students conduct butterfly surveys and, since the caterpillar depends on the local oak tree leaves for food, analyze leaf material for nutrient levels for the bluelisted (vulnerable but not threatened) butterfly.
For more information on Salt Spring Island research visit www.twu.ca/crowsnest
Feature Stories
A Sense of Place
Jonathan Raymond, Ph.D., shares his life experiences, and his passion for transforming students through education.
Shakespeare's North American Tragedy
The European starling has devastated agriculture across North America. Biology Professor Karen Steensma has solutions.
Inside the DPRK
Professor Phil Goertzen has had a lifechanging encounter with the people and land of North Korea.