College Initiative: Earth Day 2014

Posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

Make it Count for Earth Day is the theme for Earth Day Canada - #MIC4ED

Make it Count for Earth Day is the theme for Earth Day Canada – #MIC4ED

Started in 1970, and taking place on April 22 each year, Earth Day is a globally recognized day to reflect on the importance of the natural environment, its role in supporting human life and our responsibility to protect it.

For Earth Day 2014, Sustainable Algonquin invites all Algonquin College community members to seize the positive energy of springtime and this day. Here are suggestions for simple things to mark the day:



Top 3 Earth Day Tips for Students:

  1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator on campus or in your apartment building – the few minutes of exercise might be just what you need to stimulate circulation and prepare you for the next exam or study session (fewer greenhouse gas emissions with less electricity used too!)
  2. Follow @ACSustainable and look for a tweet on Tuesday, April 22 that you can “retweet to win” – a trendy and eco-friendly messenger bag provided by Connections (Congrats to our prize winners!)
    Onyx Green Messenger Bag is the prize for Earth Day student "retweets" from @ACSustainable

    Onyx Green Messenger Bag is the prize for Earth Day student “retweets” from @ACSustainable

  3. Wish someone “Happy Earth Day!” – guaranteed to make you smile!

Top 3 Earth Day Tips for Faculty & Staff:

  1. Give yourself a 10-minute Earth Day break to set up your work space to make it easy to “power down” at the end of every work day. Think about changing the location of your power bar so that you can easily reach it to ensure that monitors, speakers, headsets, personal printers and other electronics can be powered down with one button. (check out the amount of electricity, costs and greenhouse gas emissions are saved each year with 92% of staff doing this simple action every day – you may be surprised at how big of an impact results from such a simple action)
  2. Sign up for the terra20 and Algonquin College “Save for Change” program. Enjoy great choices for eco-friendly home and personal care items at this Ottawa-based retailer. The more you spend, the larger the fund for Ancillary Services to do more great work for better sustainability performance for the College
  3. Save some money, electricity and greenhouse gas emissions with your home electricity use – take advantage of the Ontario Power Authority Save on Energy coupon event. Don’t delay – these great offers are good until Sunday, April 27!

Make it Count for Earth Day and Earth Month

The 2014 Earth Month campaign focuses on 4 action categories – EAT, GROW, TRANSFORM and SHARE. The website http://makeitcount.earthday.ca/ has more information and opportunities to make your commitments. Using #MIC4ED in social media is another way to share individual actions you take for the environment and to compare with friends, colleagues and other people across the country.

Happy Earth Day!


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