Volunteers from the Algonquin College Green Team have brought the David Suzuki foundation’s Blue Dot Initiative to the campus.
The initiative, which takes the form of a campus-wide challenge, aims to raise awareness for a number of environmental issues. The issue at the forefront of the initiative is the goal to make a healthy environment a legal right to all Canadians.
“I’ve always wanted to make a positive impact,” said Jonathan Baggs, an Algonquin Green Team representative. Baggs is a second-year environmental science student, and got involved in the project through a community engagement course.
The community engagement course allows students to pick one of a number of organizations to volunteer for over the course of the term. Being an environmental science student, Baggs felt most passionately about the initiative and chose to get involved.
The Blue Dot initiative hopes to achieve their goal of a healthy environment through a petition. Every campus participating in the initiative is running a petition which they hope will gain 500 to 1,000 signatures before March 28.
After signatures are gathered, the David Suzuki foundation will bring them to the federal government, hoping to have the legal right to a healthy environment granted to Canadians.
“Although this is not the first time the Blue Dot Campaign petition has made its rounds, it’s one of the first few times ever at Algonquin,” said Sara Bourque, a representative from the Algonquin College Green Team.
The initiative calls for “an environment for Canadians that is enriched with clean air, fertile soil, an abundance of food and a stable climate,” said Bourque. They hope to achieve an environmental bill of rights, which they hope will bring world class standards for environmental protection.
The Blue Dot petition will be available to sign March 15, 18, 22 and 28.
“I couldn’t possibly be more excited to spread the word,” said Bourque. “While educating my peers and co-workers.”