Carleton University
EN-3: Student Life

Student Energy at Carleton
The Student Energy Chapter at Carleton University (SEC) is a global, not-for-profit organization that aims to inspire youth to lead the world to a more sustainable energy future. SEC seeks to foster student opportunities and engagement in the energy sector. Their objective is to serve as an interdisciplinary forum for student engagement across disciplines—such as engineering, business, public affairs, and the sciences—on energy through debates, speaker series, workshops, and social and networking events.

Fair Trade Carleton University
Fair Trade Carleton University is a club on campus that advocates for FairTrade products and ethical consumption. The club promotes the use of Fair Trade products within the Ottawa community by purchasing and selling Fair Trade chocolate, coffee and teas across campus.

Climate Action Carleton
Climate Action Carleton brings together clubs and students to address the climate emergency through concrete action and advocacy.

Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Society
SREE Society is a student society that represents the students in the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering program. The society provides services, academic support, and hosts social events for its members.

Emerging Leaders for Solar Energy
ELSE Carleton is an advocacy group dedicated to educating and connecting the solar industry with the general public of Ottawa. We host a variety of events such as coffeehouses, panel talks and various fundraisers. ELSE Carleton is closely affiliated with ELSE Canada, who are a nation-wide and non-profit organization which provides mentor ship and networking opportunities for anyone interested in being part of the solar movement

Enactus Carleton
Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders that is enabling progress through entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. Enactus members share the ability to see opportunity everywhere. It’s our objective to discover resources that are not utilized and shape them into business models that stimulate local economies. We rally the energy, ideas and passion of Canada’s best and brightest students who see business as a way to address social issues.

Carleton Geography & Environmental Studies Student’s Association
CUGESA is all about meeting other students within the Geography, Geomatics, and Environmental Studies department. We plan various events throughout the year, both on and off campus, and everyone is welcome! Our events focus on meeting others in the department, networking, educational opportunities, and having a blast with your friends. Best of all, it’s free to join!

Insight at CU
Insight at CU is a campus club building a community of like-minded students, with a passion for international development. As a club we host events ranging from through the topics of sustainability, international development and more. Additionally, we are continuing to grow our footprint through the Ottawa community by building an Outreach program with Ottawa high schools. With this will assist in facilitating workshops to help enforce the discussion of international development at an earlier age.

Kitigànensag GSA Carleton Community Garden - The initiative is run by the Graduate Students Association. The garden is an attempt to build a community around gardening and a way to increase local food availability to Carleton Students.

The Student body government operates a cafe on campus as well as a bookstore/cafe off-campus. Student-workers gain sustainable business skills through the implementation of sustainability practices within the operations, such as fair-trade coffee, compostable containers, and sustainable programs such as the "lug a mug" program.

Green Revolving Fund - Carleton University has established a $1 million revolving fund to allow for investment in sustainability-related projects. The main criteria for accepting projects will be to undertake those with positive environmental impacts and strong financial plans, as well as: The Student Experience, Innovation, Risk Reduction
Demonstration of Social and/or Community Responsibility. Given that the fund is revolving, the project must be financially viable in order to be considered for funding. All members of the Carleton community are encouraged to submit ideas for consideration.

The Sustainable Energy Lecture Series is part of the Master’s program in Sustainable Energy, organized by the Carleton Sustainable Energy Research Centre (CSERC). The lecture series was established in 2010, and since then has covered diverse topics ranging from examinations of the sustainability of nuclear power, to Indigenous energy projects in Canada, and the ability to catalyze action on climate change. Learn more about past lectures by selecting an academic term in the sidebar!

The university has several sustainability themes incorporated into the students residence experience. Community Cleanups: Community Cleanups are events that take place in October, when Residence staff and students will walk around the Carleton/Ottawa community and collect waste. By joining this initiative, students can recognize the impacts that waste can have on the environment and discuss the importance of disposing waste appropriately. Sustainable Gift Giving: Do you know that our conventional gifting practices produce so much waste – from energy-consuming production to unsustainable packaging? During the last week of November, Residence staff is presenting students with a Sustainable Gift Giving session, so we will enter the holiday season knowing how to take better care of our planet! Residence-Wide Challenge: Don’t miss out on our month-long sustainability initiative in February! This is an excellent opportunity for Residence students to understand better their environmental resource consumption. Earth Hour: In March, turn off your lights, unplug your electronics, and join our Residence staff in a stargazing event at a location away from bright lights. Not only will you help reduce light pollution and save energy, but perhaps you will discover something fascinating in the sky! Mindful Move Out: Every April thousands of students move out of residence, and sometimes items that could have been reused or recycled end up in the garbage. However, residence has created multiple initiatives to become more sustainable.

Residence Eco Rep Program - This is a program where residence students volunteer as an eco representative for the their floor/building. They then educate their peers about how to live more sustainable life styles after being provided with a variety of tools to be more sustainable.

Sustainability Assistant - Student employee acts as an assistant to the initiatives of the Sustainability officer. Works directly with making Carleton a more sustainable University.

The purpose of the pledge is to put Carleton University’s sustainability commitment into action. By respecting, protecting and preserving our resources we can ensure future generations on our campus have the same opportunities we have today.

To reduce our impact on the environment we need both institutional action (i.e. the Carleton Sustainability Strategic Plan) and individual action. By committing to the pledge, students, faculty, staff can join forces with the University in our efforts to make Carleton more sustainable.

The pledge is one step individuals can take to live more sustainably. It is tangible, pragmatic and allows the Carleton community to make a long-lasting and positive impact in our community.