The McMaster’s Carbon Sink Forest is the latest research project by the McMaster Centre for Climate Change in collaboration with Nature at McMaster, the Academic Sustainability Programs Office, and Trees for Hamilton. The McMaster Carbon Sink Forest initiative strives to develop a “model forest” to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate climate change. The forest–established on a one-hectare plot in west Hamilton–will facilitate carbon sequestration through careful and thoughtful planting of 1,000 trees. More than a dozen different native, climate-adapted tree species are being planted gradually by students and community members. Students who take on this project will be tasked with researching and recommending native tree species and facilitating the planting of the trees on November 5 at the McMaster Carbon Sink Forest. This project has run the past 4 years as a SUSTAIN project and these years will expand off previous students’ efforts. This project requires students to be available on November 5, to be comfortable working with others in person, to gain skills in facilitating a large-scale event, and to be passionate about trees and the natural environment.

Community Project Champion:

• Abbie Little, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office
• Lejla Latifovic, Graduate Student in Centre for Climate Change

McMaster’s Hospitality Services is committed to making sustainable change to their operations. One way is through the “Choose to Reuse – Bring Your Own Mug” program! Individuals who bring their own reusable mug at participating locations on McMaster campus will receive a discount on their purchase.  

To increase this programs usage, students who take on this project will be tasked with developing a promotional campaign using the “Bring Your Own Mug” (BYOM) branding. This student group can choose to plan an event, host a contest, or develop a social media campaign. In addition, Hospitality Services is interested in students creating a map that highlights where the “BYOM” program is accepted on campus.  

Community Project Champions: 

• Liana Bontempo, Wellness & Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services  
• Cathy Tatsis, Senior Manager – Operations, Hospitality Services  

The Department of Family Medicine at McMaster is committed to strengthening the impact of family medicine on the health and well-being of all people and their communities and serves more than 40,000 people in the Hamilton region.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many decisions made by staff at the Department of Family Medicine resulted in less travel by car and plane, which had a positive impact on the environment with less carbon emitted. The Department recognizes that continuous intentional decision making is essential to reduce their climate impact and would like to continue this momentum of staff choosing more sustainable alternatives to transportation.  

Students who take on this project would be tasked with creating a reference guide for decision making for staff that would allow them to see the direct impact of their transportation choices. While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, possible directions may include implementing a policy instrument aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption or creating a reference guide for internal staff on the impacts of virtual meetings, active modes, public transit, automobile, plan, and other.  

Community Project Champion:

• Tracey Carr, Executive Director Family Medicine 

Did you know that many McMaster students don’t have reliable access to affordable and nutritious food? The McMaster Community Fridge aims to reduce barriers and support food security by providing food for folks in the McMaster community and surrounding area who need it. The McMaster Community Fridge is a fridge, freezer, and pantry located on campus by Mills Library and Lot B that is accessible 24/7. It provides fresh food and non-perishable items at no cost to those who need it.  

This project will build on the work of students in SUSTAIN 2SS3 (2021), SUSTAIN 3S03 (2021), and SUSTAIN 2SS3 (2022) with the goal to have consistent food donations from local food vendors. Currently, the Fridge receives large and infrequent donations from local food vendors resulting in periods of lots of food and no food. Ideally, the Fridge would have a consistent supply of food for folks to access.  

Students who take on this project will be tasked with 1) selecting local restaurants, grocers, and gardens to engage with 2) engaging with the selected vendors to discuss the possibility of consistent donations and process, and 3) recognizing the vendors for their generous contributions.  

Community Project Champion:

• Chitrini Tandon, Food Collective Centre Director 
• Zeinab Khawaja, Health Promoter for Student Wellness Centre

The McMaster Department of Family Medicine is a dynamic and geographically distributed department (9 sites from Collingwood to Niagara, and Brantford to Brampton) that graduates 100 new family doctors and teaches over 200 medical students annually. They directly care for 40,000 patients through a joint venture with Hamilton Health Sciences, provide primary care leadership in the local Ontario Health Team, and are a leader in primary care research. The COVID-19 pandemic created new patterns of work for the department, and they observed that their food cost and waste drastically decreased due to fewer in-person meetings.  They are now looking to maintain reduced food waste with the return of more frequent in person meetings, and to ensure costs expended on catering purposefully align with overall departmental values, including intentional investment in businesses owned and/or operated by members of equity-deserving communities.  

Students who take on this project will be tasked with:  

1. Considering ways that food waste can be reduced (ie., compostable containers, donating unused food etc.)  
2. Researching local food vendors who offer various foods (ie., vegan, Halal, farm-to-table, plant-based food etc.) 
3. Identifying food vendors that are owned and/or operated by members of equity-deserving groups and/or have a track record of intentional support of equity-deserving communities  
4. Creating a list and process to order from these food vendors  

Community Project Champion:

• Tracey Carr, Executive Director Family Medicine 

• Monica Palkowski, Living Learning Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services
• Holly Gibson, Manager, Marketing and Communications, Housing & Conference Services

Project opportunity 1. Donor experiences of donating IT to ACCESS Tech at McMaster 

Project opportunity 2. Student experiences of ‘upcycling’ IT from ACCESS Tech at McMaster 

Past SUSTAIN students worked with McMaster’s Facility Services and University Technology Services (UTS) and with Empowerment Squared to coordinate ACCESS Tech, a technology reuse and donation initiative. Empowerment Squared is a local charitable organization that empowers newcomers, racialized, and marginalized communities with tools and opportunities to thrive. Empowerment Squared refurbishes collected devices and works with their network of community organization to distribute to donated technology to local families in need.  

A group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will plan and implement a collection and ‘upcycling’ event to take place on October 21, 2022.  

SUSTAIN 4S06 students have the opportunity to leverage this event to engage in short, in-person interviews. One group of SUSTAIN 4S06 students will interview IT donors of ACCESS Tech to understand their experiences of and motivations for donating. Another group of SUSTAIN 4S06 students can interview those who upcycle IT from McMaster, which are mainly McMaster students, to understand their experiences of and motivation for upcycling IT.  

Community Project Champions:  

• Megan Bieksa, Manager of Communications, Facility Services, McMaster University   
• Emilia Nietresta, Project Co-Lead, IT Collection & Reuse, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Clare Benson, Project Co-Lead, IT Collection & Reuse, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Carlos Figueira, Director, Custodial, Grounds, Logistics and Mail Services, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Richard Godsmark, Director, IT Strategy & Services, University Technology Services, McMaster University  
• Paula Brown-Hackett, Director, Campus (Core) Infrastructure Systems, University Technology Services, McMaster University  

McMaster University is signatory to the Okanagan Charter, which is committed to optimizing the health and well-being of campus. Since 2019, McMaster has worked to promote native bees on campus and currently has 75 native bee nests and is a Bee City Campus. McMaster is situated in a native bee ‘hot spot’ with over 200 native bee species.  

A native bee nesting garden is a small outdoor area that has been created to promote native bee nesting. Many bees nest and lay eggs under leaf piles, in tubular structures, and in the ground. To continue supporting native bees at McMaster, students who take on this project will be tasked with implementing a native bee nesting garden. This will involve completing research of what the space should look like and include (shrubs, grasses, brush piles, rotting logs, sand, grass, etc.), sourcing local vegetation, and determining a maintenance plan for the future of this garden.  

Community Project Champions: 

• Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster and Pollinator Team member 
• Susan Dudley, Professor of Biology and Pollinator Team member  

Did you know that you can bike from Hamilton to Niagara Falls along the Waterfront Trail? Cycling is a sustainable alternative form of transportation, and Cycle Hamilton is working to make Hamilton the best place for anyone to get around by bike and connect the community along the way. Cycle Hamilton hosts many events throughout the year including an Annual General Meeting (AGM). At the AGM, community members come together to learn about the past year accomplishments, listen to guest speakers, discuss future plans, and socialize with others in the cycling community. In November 2022, we are looking to work with two groups of students to host our in-person AGM.   

Group 1: Event Planning 

This student group would focus on the logistics of planning this AGM. Tasks would include selecting a venue, contacting potential speakers, generating an overall theme, creating the agenda for the event, and anything else the group thinks would make a successful event.  

Group 2: Communications  

This student group would focus on communicating and promoting this AGM. Tasks would include creating an Eventbrite, creating social media content, advertising in Cycle Hamilton’s newsletter & website, or developing any other content they believe will promote the event.  

Part of this learning experience includes student team members being physically present at the event, which is anticipated to take place in November. Here’s Cycle Hamilton’s website for more information on their past Annual General Meeting: https://www.cyclehamont.ca/join-us-for-our-annual-general-meeting-on-july-22/  

Community Project Champions:

• Rachel Weldrick, Volunteer, Cycle Hamilton  
• Abbie Little, Secretary, Cycle Hamilton Board Member

Since 2009, McMaster has continually worked to expand its campus composting program. Compost bins now exist in many building on campus in both kitchens and common areas such as libraries, the Student Center, and most residence building. In 2012, McMaster started the first Composting Chamption program. To participate in this program, the participating area of department identifies at least one champion to lead the initiative. The role of a program champion involves communicating with other students and staff members and emptying the green bin on a frequent basis to one of the central locations.  

While the program took a short hiatus, Facility Services re-introduced it in 2021 and is looking for the help of SUSTAIN 3S03 to enhance the program and participation in it. This project is open to student innovation and creativity, but possible ideas involve mapping the location of public facing compost bins, creating a sign-up sheet for offices, promoting the program amongst offices, and highlighting current Composting Champions. 

Community Project Champion: 

• Carlos Figueira, Director Custodial, Grounds, Logistics and Mail Services, McMaster University  

Cycle Hamilton is a local NFP aimed ‘to make Hamilton the best place for anyone to get around by bike’. Each year, like all registered non-profit organizations, Cycle Hamilton hosts an Annual General Meeting to report on the past year’s progress and present goals for the coming year. Annual General Meetings are also a time to engage current and potential members and supporters.  

This year’s Cycle Hamilton AGM is set to take place in November of 2022 at a local Hamilton venue. Two groups of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will be helping Cycle Hamilton to host an educational and engaging event.  

SUSTAIN 4S06 students have the opportunity to leverage the AGM to engage in short, in-person interviews to understand current and/or potential members’ view as the greatest impact that Cycle Hamilton does or could provide to advance the organization’s mission and serve its members.  

Cycle Hamilton Website: https://www.cyclehamont.ca/  

Community Project Champions: 

• Rachel Weldrick, Volunteer, Cycle Hamilton  
• Abbie Little, Board Member, Cycle Hamilton