Hi Everyone! My name is Ana Antunes, I am an international student from Brazil, I am currently attending the Community Economic Development program at Red River College and during the month of April I will be working with Whitney, Kale and Sara at the Sustainability Office as my program practicum placement.

I am passionate about sustainability, green living, reducing our impact on the environment, supporting small businesses in achieving social and economic wellbeing, people empowerment, educating for citizenship and everything else that leads us to a happier and more environment friendly living. Read More →

We’re pleased to announce that the Plug Load Inventory is now complete! Our small team traveled around the College over the last few months, poking our heads into offices and staff common areas and taking note of all items powered by means of an AC outlet. Now we begin the hard work of creating and implementing impactful programs to help us reduce our environmental and financial footprints and to ensure a safe and comfortable work environment for us all.

But before we begin this next phase, we want to share our findings with the College community and provide some information on what we plan to do next to help RRC reduce our plug load energy consumption. Please bring your lunch and join us at our:

Lunch & Learn: Inventory Unplugged
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 12-1 pm
eTV Studio (GM33), Notre Dame Campus
Livestream: live.etvlabs.com

—  Refreshments  provided  — Read More →

As you may know, this week is Bike Week, and what better time to dust off that bike and take it for a ride. So, with a ton of great events going on all week, lets get moving!

Not only is biking a great way to reduce your personal carbon emissions, but it has many other benefits on your physical health and mental wellbeing.

Our office sat down with Breanna Sawatzky, the College’s Mental Health Coordinator to discuss sustainable transportation.  Her role consists of many important facets such as drop-in counselling as well as training and education. Below Breanna answers some questions about her experience biking to work, and how it can positively affect your mental health.

Q: Tell me about yourself and your transportation strategies in the past?

A: I live in St. James and have a family of four, with one car. In the past, we would convoy together when we all worked downtown. When I started at the college, my husband and I would take turns either busing or taking the car, without really finding a method that worked better than the other. Our home is about 7km away from the campus so in reality it isn’t that far. Read More →

Don’t forget to shutdown all unnecessary lights and electronics before you leave for the break.

The winter break is fast approaching and we’re making a list and checking it twice – our seasonal shutdown checklist that is. With the College being closed for 10 days, we’re asking for your help to clean up and shut down before you leave for the holidays.

Over the break, the College’s major building systems will run in “Un-Occupied Mode”, which means lower temperatures and, in most cases, minimal ventilation.  This will reduce our energy consumption, and our environmental footprint, while the College is shutdown. We can increase that impact by everyone doing their part to ensure unnecessary lights and electrical equipment are shut down.

So, before you dash away into the night, please go over the checklist below to help save energy and reduce our collective footprint at the College this holiday season. Read More →

The Sustainability Office has grown from two to three! We’re excited to introduce Laura Hnatiuk as RRC’s new Sustainability Coordinator while (former Sustainability Coordinator) Whitney Crooks takes on the role as Resource Reduction Specialist for the next two years.

Learn more about Laura in her own words. Read More →

We’re happy to tell you that bike lockers are now available for rent at the Notre Dame Campus. Seventeen bike lockers have been installed in high traffic locations around campus. The lockers have access doors on both ends and hold two bikes each – adding a total of 34 bike parking spots on campus. These lockers are ideal for regular bike commuters who want a place to lock their bike, bag and helmet in a secure place protected from the elements. Read More →

Red River College has been named as a finalist for the 2017 AASHE Sustainability Awards. Our Pitch In redesign project – Branding our Waste: Creating College-Specific Recycling Signage through Collaboration – earned us this honour in the Campus Sustainability Achievement Award category for outstanding achievements in sustainability.

Environmental Engineering Technology Students performed waste audits to test the effectiveness of the initial redesign

“We are excited to recognize Red River College for their high-impact sustainability projects and pioneering research,” said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “The innovation and leadership demonstrated by these finalists is inspirational.”

The College launched Pitch In, our comprehensive hallway waste and recycling program, in 2011. The concept behind “Pitch In” is two-pronged: it shows students and staff where to “pitch” their waste and recyclables and also reminds us that the program can only be successful if we all “pitch in” and do our part. Read More →

Here’s the deal… we know that 60% of staff and 50% of students are concerned about the environmental impacts of commuting. We also know that many staff want flexibility in their commuting options throughout the year and that 25% of students prefer to carpool to campus. For these reasons, and many more, Red River College is excited to introduce GoManitoba to students, staff and faculty. Read More →

Red River College’s 2nd annual Farmers’ Market is being held on Friday, September 15th from 11am – 1:30pm in the Library Hallway… and we hope to see you there!

Our local line-up includes: Read More →

We’ve got some exciting news to share. Sustainability is growing from two… to three. This Fall a Resource Reduction Specialist will join the Sustainability Office to bring a focused and dedicated effort to campus paper reduction and plug load energy reduction. Staff and students consistently rank these topics as top sustainability priorities. In the most recent staff survey (Feb-Mar, 2017) staff cited paper reduction and energy reduction as their top two sustainability priorities. Read More →