Join the challenge

Think green: Dalhousie students, staff, faculty and alumni are invited to join in on the One Million Acts of Green challenge against Acadia. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Dalhousie is throwing down the green gauntlet to Acadia: We’ll match your 3,000 “acts of green” and top it. Our goal is 16,000 acts altogether.

“C’mon Dalhousie! We’re going for the gusto,” announces Rochelle Owen, director of Dal’s Office of Sustainability. “Oh yeah, we’re not shying away from this at all. I’ll be really proud if we get all of our acts in.”

The Dal/Acadia challenge, running January 15 to April 15, is part of One Million Acts of Green, an initiative launched by George Stroumboulopoulos on the CBC show The Hour. The idea behind the campaign is to get Canadians thinking about what they can do for the environment, from getting their morning caffeine fix in a reusable coffee mug to leaving the car at home and walking instead.

Even before the challenge officially started, Dalhousie’s 106 group members (to date) have registered more than 3,900 acts of green. Acadia has 60 members and more than 1,000 acts on its tally.

“I think the spirit of the program is to challenge ourselves, to get as many acts of green as we have students,” says Jodie Noiles, sustainability project coordinator for Arthur Irving Academy for the Environment at Acadia University. “We’re excited to participate and we’re glad Dal’s going with us in this challenge.”

Dalhousie has already been recognized on the One Million Acts of Green website (http://green.cbc.ca) for the successful, student-led initiative to get people to exchange their old light bulbs for energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs back in November. But meeting the new target will give the university even more green cred, says Ms. Owen.

The key is to get Dalhousians—students, faculty, staff and alumni—to register on the website and join the Dalhousie group. Once registered, participants can check off their sustainable habits, home projects and community initiatives from the extensive list provided.

“It provides recognition for what you’re doing already and is a good reminder of what other steps you can take,” says Ms. Owen. After scanning the list, Ms. Owen— with 95 acts of green and counting—was reminded she needed to insulate her hot water pipes, so that’s what she did. “You read it, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I should do that.’”

Ms. Owen is hoping Dalhousie societies, student groups, academic departments and residences will step up and challenge each other. To sweeten the competition, they’ll vie for the Sustainability Cup.

The trophy will be created through a juried competition that encourages people to create a lasting art piece. A panel of judges will review submissions and choose three finalists to go further and create a model of their idea. From that point, a final design will be chosen. The competition is expected to be concluded by end of spring and the trophy awarded after that.

Want to do your part for the challenge? The first thing to do is register on the One Million Acts of Green website (http://green.cbc.ca) by providing your email address and a password. Then, you can join the Dalhousie group and start adding your acts of green to your personal profile.