Vanier College
EN-3: Student Life

Vanier College has an active student group focused on sustainability. Whether it’s called the Green Team, the Sustainability Squad, or VC5, the group is open to all students who are interested in being engaged in sustainability. Official membership ranges from 5 students to 19, depending on the year, and the group meets biweekly to organize activities together to promote and raise awareness about topics related to sustainability in collaboration with the Sustainability Office. Examples of such activities include Fairtrade Campus week kiosks, battery recycling campaigns, water awareness week and yearly thematic activities the group prioritizes based on their interests such as zero waste or veganism. In 2019-2020, this group’s feedback was instrumental in the development of Vanier’s new Sustainability Policy. Going forward the goal is to include this student group’s voice more in all sustainability related initiatives, internal policies, plans, and procedures to compliment student representation on VCACE.

Students have many opportunities to participate and contribute to the Vanier College Collective Gardens outside of academic courses. Students can volunteer or potentially be hired during the summer to work in the gardens. Since the 2017-2018 academic year the number of student volunteers has almost doubled from approximately 35 to 65. Students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems as the Collective Gardens fertilizes the gardens with no chemical fertilizers and has never sprayed pesticides or insecticides on campus. Instead techniques focus on permaculture, natural farming and no-till agriculture to allow students to gain first-hand experience of sustainable food and medicine production. Students can also learn about sustainable food systems through workshops such as Tea Making 101 and Herbal Pesto and oils using plants from the gardens.

Jake’s Co-Op is a supported student-run co-operative that has operated a café since 2014 and a bookstore since 2016. It is a non-profit organization and has as its mission to offer affordable supplies and books. Its values are based on social sustainability and include democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. The menu at Jake’s Café includes a variety of vegetarian and vegan options. Jake's Café has also supported the College’s Fairtrade certification by offering Fairtrade coffee and other products. Jake's Café has also partnered with the student association (VCSA) to provide catering for their events.

https://jake.bookware3000.ca/become-a-member

Student Services organized “Climate Action Week”. The sustainability-themed week focused on how students can mobilize and advance efforts and awareness about climate change. Events included a speaker series with a speaker from the Extinction Rebellion Movement. Approximately 200 students attended the talk that provided an overview of the climate crisis and the Extinction Rebellion Movement. [Insert name] presented on the topic of Indigenous involvement on the frontlines of climate action with 400 student attendees. Lourdenie Jean spoke about the intersectionalism in sustainability to educate community members about how issues of sustainability impact marginalized communities and the barriers experienced by said communities based on socioeconomic issues and cultural norms. Other events during the week included the showing of Anote’s Ark, a film about the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati and how rising sea levels are threatening the island’s existence (http://www.anotesark.com/). The week culminated in a gathering of over 500 students and staff to attend the Montreal Climate March on September 27th, 2020. Prior to the march there was a climate sit-in and human chain to raise awareness about the march and a banner making.

Ethical and Sustainable Clothing Exhibition. Student led exhibition about clothing waste and fast fashion. November 26th, 2019. Over fifty students attended.

Vanier College has wilderness and outdoor programs that follow Leave No Trace principles. Peter Woodward, Coordinator of the Physical Education Programs explains that the Leave No Trace principles are well covered in Vanier’s outdoor education courses and that the practice of having a minimal environmental footprint is central to these teachings. These principals are also the foundation for which the Environmental and Wildlife Management (EWM) program’s field school in the municipality of Gore is based on.

Student Services organizes numerous “Do-It-Yourself” workshops throughout the semester for students to learn sustainable life skills. Workshops topics include for example food preservation where students learn how to can and ferment food in order to preserve it, Beeswax Wraps for students to learn how to make beeswax food wraps as an alternative to Tupperware or saran-wrap and Tea bag making for students to learn to make teas from plants grown in the Vanier Collective gardens.

The Vanier Collective Gardens hires on average two students every year and Jake’s Co-Op also hires students annually.