The Martlet

Green and sustainable initiatives such as compost boxes and recycle drives are popping up all over campus. Who’s behind it all? UVic has an abundance of passionate and dedicated environmental groups that work for the cause. On Jan. 25, 24 of UVic’s various environmentally-minded groups met to come up with a plan on how we can keep our earth beautiful and healthy in the years to come.

This event, called the University of Victoria Environmental Round Table (UVERT), will be taking place each semester and was organized by Taylor McLeod fourth-year student and co-director of the UVic Common Energy club.

“From day one on this campus, since I first realized I was interested in sustainability issues, no one had any idea about the overall picture,” says McLeod. “There has been a constant lack of full understanding of what is completely going on, the full picture at UVic.”

This brought him and other students to come up with UVERT. At first, McLeod says, he was “unaware of how many groups of passionate people there are on campus.”

McLeod says the goal for the event was to “share ideas with each other and socialize with like-minded people to start collective action.” He says that it can be discouraging to watch the news and see all the environmental damage being done, but adds that events like UVERT are inspiring.

“You take a look in that room and that room is full of people who are either doing things or want to be doing things,” he says.

The planning for the event began in September and McLeod says it was “a big success.”

UVic student Kelsey Mech of Common Energy and Food for Thought says she hopes that “we keep having these UVERT events and keep people connected throughout the upcoming years.”

The event consisted of short introductions from leaders of the present groups regarding their past accomplishments and future goals. In between presentations, Eric Ng and Amy Wood treated the crowd to live musical performances.

The event showcased the inspiring commitment of UVic’s students to sustainable living and preserving our environment, with groups advocating everything from local farming to solar panels, and offering many opportunities for students to get involved.

The environmental engaged in by groups at UVERT range from the Ancient Forest Committee’s nature hikes through old-growth rainforests to The Dogwood Initiative’s “No Tankers” campaign which is petitioning the government to stop the Enbridge pipeline project.

The issues discussed ranged from campus-centric problems such as banning the sale of bottled water at UVic to the Wilderness Committee’s efforts to stop the Site C Dam.

The discussion was followed by a social gathering where groups and individuals could meet and discuss the projects; in whole, the event encouraged community collaboration and the development of new ideas.

As Sarah Webb of the UVic club SPOKES says, it’s about “getting your hands dirty to make some change.”
Mcleod says the most important thing people can take away from this event is “knowing that there are others out their doing good work.”