College Initiative: Campus Tree Planting May 2018
Posted on Monday, May 14th, 2018
Al
gonquin College’s campus in Perth, Ontario is getting “greener” each year!
In May 2018 these “greener” steps are witnessed with a tree planting project that lays the foundations of a future arboretum envisioned for the site.
Students and employees are joining together to plant a series of native trees selected specifically for the unique site conditions of being in the flood plain of the Tay River. Students who want to get involved in this fun, community project, are invited to sign up. Spaces are limited!
This project is helping to kick off Algonquin College’s participation in the WWF Canada Living Planet @ Campus program and is a collaborative effort between campuses, and the departments of Student Support Services, and Applied Science and Environmental Technology. Living Planet @ Campus is a pilot program, in conjunction with Canadian post-secondary institutions that aims to elevate post-secondary students’ understanding and contribution to the meaning and practice of sustainability as well as the protection of nature on campus and beyond.
The beautiful LEED® Gold certified building that houses Algonquin College’s Perth campus has a starting point of being a “green”. This sustainable and high-performance building, with construction dominated by a large wood-framed structure, situated adjacent to a flood plain area of the Tay River is surrounded by a combination of mature trees that were left undisturbed during the campus construction in 2010, as well as new trees planted as part of site landscaping.
Since the building’s construction, the college community has invested time and effort to keep the green going!
Symbolic trees were planted on site for National Tree day ceremonies September 27, 2017 and September 23, 2015.
An applied research lab focused on advanced housing – the Building Innovation Research Lab (BIRL) opened in 2016.
In 2017 a community garden project was started that provides opportunities for students and staff to grow and harvest food for the community members to share.
More trees, planted in 2018 are a welcome addition to the continuous journey towards a Sustainable Algonquin.
Group Leading Initiative: Multiple
For more information, contact:
Algonquin College
613-727-4723
sustainability@algonquincollege.com