College Initiative: Celebrating Trees – National Tree Day 2017

Posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2017

The Silver Maple tree (Acer saccharinum) on the front lawn of the Robert C. Gillett Student Commons building is estimated to be more than 50 years old.

On National Tree Day, Wednesday, September 27, 2017, students and employees are offered multiple ways to acknowledge the importance of trees in our lives and engage in activities that bring us closer to trees and our natural environment.

All campuses: Lug a mug and take a “pass” on the paper cup!

Employees and students are encouraged to show their love of trees on National Tree Day by taking a “pass” on a paper cup when they buy their favourite hot beverage on campus. It is estimated that 1.6 Billion paper coffee cups are used in Canada each year.* These cups, which are made with virgin paper pulp, takes 350,000 trees and 400 million gallons of water to produce.

Using your re-usable coffee mug may seem like a small act, but when you get into the habit, you can see the difference your actions make. And when more people join in, the positive impact increases. (make this a daily habit and you can celebrate National Tree Day everyday!)

Pembroke: Ottawa River Shoreline Invasive Tree Cleanup

Employees and students can already see the activity of the first intake of students in the new Urban Forestry – Arboriculture program as the students have been cleaning up the shoreline of the Ottawa River just outside the Pembroke Waterfront campus. With a partnership with the City of Pembroke, the students are removing Manitoba Maples, a non-native and invasive tree species that blocks other tree species from growing.

View the 2-minute video providing an overview of this program.

(Caution: if you are someone who grew up loving to climb trees, you might be inspired to enroll in this program immediately, but you will have to wait until September 2018 for the next intake to this one-year program!)

Perth: Perth Town Crier and Tree Planting Ceremony 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, starting at 12 noon, students and employees are invited to participate in a campus and community tradition: planting a legacy Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) with a ceremony led by Perth Town Crier.

Additionally, Perth campus community members are encouraged to explore some fun facts about the 4,155 m2 wood-framed, certified LEED® Gold Perth campus building at the Sustainable Algonquin table in the student commons/cafeteria.

Ottawa: 50 years strong – a Story of a Silver Maple Tree and growing a forest

Employees and students are encouraged to get to know the more than 1300 trees of 77 species on the Ottawa campus.

In particular, National Tree Day is the perfect day to admire the 50+ year old Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) (above) that graces the lawn of the Robert C. Gillett Building (Student Commons, E Building). Up to 1964, the original Ryan Farm, where the Ottawa campus of Algonquin College now sits, was actively farmed. At that time, the only trees were those around field perimeters or at the creek (which is now an entombed stream under the lawn of E Building)

Here is a short summary of how a forest has grown alongside the growth of Algonquin College over the last 50 years:

1967: approximately 15 trees planted with the construction of A Building
1977: ~147 trees
1987: ~191 trees
1997: ~ 615 trees
2007: ~ 970 trees
2017: ~1348 trees

A walking map provides guidance on a 3.2 km route around campus that supports exercise and enjoyment of the trees and green spaces on the Ottawa campus.

Sustainability Toolkit Resource: Classroom Resource: Culture and Connection to Wood Exploration Session

Social-cultural sharing and economic-environmental sustainability were the dominant themes that surfaced during a multi-disciplinary approach used in a collaborative event between students from the course Achieving Success in the 21st Century (GED2012 Cabinetmaking and Furniture Technician program) and the course Aboriginal Culture and Heritage (SSC1788, GAS Aboriginal Studies program). A description of this session that focused on the topic of “wood” is now available as a Classroom Resource in the Sustainability Toolkit for employees.

Sustainability Toolkit Resource: Ideas Corner: Print Shop Shipping Boxes & Envelopes Return for Reuse

Check out the Sustainability Toolkit for employees for information on simple steps you can take to reduce corrugated box use (wood fibre).

Additional resources on National Tree Day:

College Initiative: Decreasing paper use with new printers and software

Tree Canada

Canadian Wood Council profile on Algonquin College Perth Campus

Conservation International “Nature is Speaking” video Redwood & “Nature is Speaking” video Rainforest

*Source https://talkintrashwithuhn.com/2013/05/08/wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee/

Group leading initiative: Multiple

For more information, contact:
Algonquin College
613-727-4723
sustainability@algonquincollege.com

 


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