By Tyler Dubreuil
Algonquin’s Approaches to Sustainability class will be holding an exhibit in the Student Commons this Monday, from 9 a.m., to 12 p.m.
With Earth Day approaching, the exhibit will focus on green technologies and sustainability.
“The purpose is to engage the campus, to engage the faculty, staff and community of algonquin and not to mention, the students about sustainability,” Jason Smith, professor of approaches to sustainability said.
The exhibit will hold 10 booths, focusing on topics varying from fair trade to bio-mimicry, to a study of the implications a bottled water ban would bring.
Twenty-year-old Mohamoud Ibrahim, an environmental arts and sciences student at Algonquin, is hosting a display allowing the audience to view their ecological footprint.
“All of your daily activities, everything no matter what you do, you are creating an ecological foot print, a measure of how much you consume on a daily basis and this display allows you to view this and adjust your habits to be more environmentally conscious,” Ibrahim said. “The hopes that the initial faces of the students when they come in, are different when they come out.”
Geneva Allen-Powlesland, 21, also an environmental arts and sciences student, is hosting a display on fair trade, an initiative that Algonquin has supported by serving only fair grade organic coffee at stores on campus.
“Fair trade certification means that the labourers are getting treated fairly and often the work standards are better; a lot of the time the farms are organic or use sustainable methods of farming so overall its just economically, socially and environmentally more sustainable,” Allen-powlesland said.
The event will also highlight some of Algonquin’s achievements in sustainability, like the green technology used in the ACCE building.
“It’s important to know that it’s certified at platinum, which is the highest status you can get,” Smith said.
“There are only 1,000 buildings all over the world that are certified at that standard; it’s a new standard of design and it is the future,” listing one of the Algonquin’s many achievements in the field of the sustainability. “Algonquin does a really good job in terms of sustainability but sometimes you have to look really hard, so part of the purpose of this event is to raise the profile of Algonquin and the things they are doing.”
There will be a raffle at the exhibit with the lucky winner taking home a portable solar charger, allowing for mobile charging anywhere.