Sustainability

Last week we took our students as well as a few others from Kelly Road to Vancouver. One of the most exciting themes for me throughout the trip was sustainability. We saw an excellent presentation at the Vancouver Aquarium on sustainable fishing practices and their Ocean Wise label. We heard from Capilano Suspension Bridge how chose to use reclaimed wood from demolished grain towers in Saskatchewan for their tree tops bridges. Science World had a fantastic exhibit on consumption. We also saw the reclamation work going on at Britannia mines to clean up the local ecosystem after years of pollution. on the solutions side of things we got to experience the Local Garden greenhouse in downtown Vancouver.

The best part is that these exhibits, experiences, and lessons resonate with students. They get it! They know that it's their future that's in jeopardy and their efforts are needed. Our students came away shocked by the statistics and critical of their own choices.

It's so much sweeter know running projects like our greenhouse. It's awesome to see students choosing to reclaim pallets to build shelves, and going out of their way to find buckets to reuse as containers. 

I think sustainability is a theme that lends itself to projects across every discipline. Not only that, but it forces us go think and act globally. It's a theme I hope to weave into my practice and projects wherever possible.