This project will be centered around designing an evidence informed 2STLGBQIA+ Sexual Health Workshop that will deliver information regarding the physical, mental and social well being components of sexual health. “It requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence” (World Health Organization). This workshop will also serve to advocate for sexual health information for the 2STLGBQIA+community and build the capacity of individuals, professionals and or organizations to help them learn how to better work with and support the 2STLGBQIA+ community and create a safe space for conversations.

Community Project Champion(s):

Alison Schure, Olivia Hubert from the Brant County Health Unit

The goal of the project is to identify barriers that prevent women, Indigenous residents, and racialized individuals from being represented in leadership roles in our city and determine what actions our community can take to address this problem. It is our hope that measurable change can come out of the project. The idea for this project came out of the 2017 Our Future Hamilton Summit, which is the largest community engagement summit in Hamilton and one of the largest in the province. Over 430 residents, community partners, and civic advocates attended the 2017 OFH Summit to explore barriers to democratic engagement and identify areas for improvement. Through facilitated table discussions, attendees identified increased community representation as a recommended action for improving democratic engagement in Hamilton. This project will support the work of Our Future Hamilton which is the city’s 25-Year Community vision. To learn more about Our Future Hamilton, visit: hamilton.ca/ourfuturehamilton. Students involved with this project will develop skills in research, communication and community engagement. They will also have the opportunity to grow their network and meet community leaders in the city.

Community Project Champion:

Cindy Mutch, Senior Project Manager, Our Future Hamilton

Greg Iarusso, Assistant Community Planner

Everyday, all across the city, agencies are working to break down barriers for those in financial need.  These agencies know that despite their best efforts, breaking the cycle of poverty is a complex and multi layered challenge.  The agencies acknowledge that learning about the services of others, working together, developing long lasting partnerships and connecting the right client to the right services is an essential component of the work they do.

The Red Book of Hamilton was one of the city’s most integral resources that offered an up-to-date directory of community and government services. While it was recently out of circulation for a time, its void was clearly recognized by the agencies and citizens who relied on it. Fortunately, the Hamilton Public Library has adopted the Red Book, which is now in need of updating and redevelopment.

The goal for this project is for students to learn from agency representatives about the challenges they face, the resources they couldn’t work without, the information they wish they had but don’t, and ultimately how they would re-envision the the updated version of the Red Book of Hamilton.

Students will work with the Compass Community Health (formerly the North Hamilton Community Health Centre) for mentorship, guidance, for supporting in connecting with various agency and Library representatives.

Community Project Champions(s) Rikki Frith, Children’s Services & Neighbourhood Development, Healthy & Safe Communities Department, City of Hamilton

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  

Project option 1: ACCESS Tech – Communications Strategy 

Project option 2: ACCESS Tech – Increasing Donations Through Refurbishment 

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 organizations to distribute donated technology to local families in need. 

The goal of this project is to iterate and build on the previous students’ work for promotion and communication as well as for increasing the number of devices that are refurbished for donation. 

One group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will develop and implement a communications strategy to encourage individuals to prepare for the upcoming IT Collection Event (October 20, 2023, 9am-3pm) by saving their devices, marking their calendars, and taking part in the collection event. Creating a ‘living’ communications plan that future student teams can use and build upon is another main goal. Students also have the opportunity to lead an Instagram takeover of the University’s account before and/or on the event day. An additional opportunity is to write and publish a story in the McMaster Daily News. 

To further enhance the ACCESS Tech initiative, a second group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will develop partnerships and secure funding to purchase replacement parts like power cords and batteries, making unusable computers usable again. 3S03 students will create and host a workshop to teach McMaster students valuable skills like replacing ram, hard drives, and batteries so that they can refurbish devices for donation. 

Community Project Champions  

Communications Team 

• Gregory Iarusso, Manager, Communications and Culture, Office of Assistant Vice-President & Chief Technology Officer and UTS, McMaster University 

• Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University 

Refurbishment Team 

• Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University  

Project Liaison 

• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

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.   

This past fall, a group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students planned a very successful donation event to collect unused devices from across, and the group captured contact information from each person who donated. Concurrently, a group of SUSTAIN 4S06 students interviewed tech donors about the experiences and motivations to donate technology to the program.  

We are interested in a group of SUSTAIN 2SS3 students to leverage information from both previous SUSTAIN groups to develop a plan to advocate for an ACCESS Tech Champions Program, similar to the newly implemented Composting Champions Program. 

For example: 

• Who already donates? What departments are they from and what roles do they hold? 
• What motivates donors to donate?  
• What are the barriers to donate, and how can we remove them? 
• What are the opportunities to donate, and how can we leverage them? 
• How do we reach out to potential ACCESS Tech Champions and encourage their involvement? 

If students are interested and able to demonstrate both their effectiveness and accountability, they have the potential to implement and test their advocacy plan by piloting the ACCESS Tech Champions Program this Winter.  

Community Project Champions:   

• Greg Iarusso, Communications, University Technology Services
• Emilia Nietresta, Project Co-Lead, IT Collection & Reuse, Facility Services, McMaster University

Project Advisors:   

• 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 
• Alexander Schaap, Project Co-Lead, IT Collection & Reuse, Facility Services, McMaster University 

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 organizations to distribute donated technology to local families in need. 

The goal of this project is to increase the number of devices that are collected, refurbished, and donated. 

ACCESS Tech is hosting their next collection event in late January (date and time tbc) whereby SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can learn about and support promotion/communication, event planning, collection, sorting, and refurbishment. The ACCESS Tech ‘upcycling’ event will follow in early February (date tbc), where SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can learn about and support the student upcycling process and community donation. Students can then apply what they learn to develop an advocacy plan to increase donations for the April 22nd Earth Day collection event and spring upcycling event to follow.  

Community Project Champions  

• Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University 

Project Liaison 

• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

The City of Hamilton’s Public Health Department has been working with Hamilton Elementary Schools since 2009 to help them develop and implement School Travel Plans (STP). While much success has been achieved through working with elementary schools, the same strategies have not been effective at the secondary school level.

Students in secondary school have greater autonomy to choose their mode of travel and are at a critical age where driving a personal automobile becomes an option for those who get their licence and have access to a vehicle. At the same time, these same students may also be taking on greater leadership roles through student government, clubs, and advocating for the things they care about. This provides the opportunity for student leadership rather than relying on school administration to advance ASST objectives. Additionally, secondary school students will likely be more receptive to working with University students, rather than City and/or school administrative staff, to learn about approaches to leadership and advocacy.

Students interested in this project will have the opportunity to work with City staff (from Public Health, Public Works, Planning and Economic Development) and local secondary schools to engage students in taking leadership on ASST, working with them to develop strategies that they feel are effective in engaging their peers, helping them to implement their plans, and report on the outcomes. Ultimately, reporting on a strategy to working with secondary school students to advance ASST through student leadership would support growth and expansion of the strategy to other elementary schools in Hamilton and beyond.

Resources

Regional ASST InformationHamilton ASST websiteHamilton Active & Sustainable School Transportation Charter

Contact

Peter Topalovic Project Manager Sustainable Mobility ProgramsCity of Hamiltonpeter.topalovic@hamilton.ca

The mission of the Daily School Route (DSR) is for 100% of students to have the opportunity to walk or bike to school. The DSR is working with elementary schools in Hamilton to remove barriers and create opportunities for active travel. One current initiative is focused on engaging with elementary school students, parents, and staff to establish a network of ‘Student Streets’. The DSR defines a Student Street as a “contiguous route to school that is safe, convenient, and attractive”, and describes that “Student Streets are the guideway of the DSR, and their purpose is to maximize the number of students using active transportation daily”.[1]  

The initiative includes working with parents and guardians who currently drive to find alternative options, such as walking and biking, carpooling, and parking further away from the school so that their kids can gain the benefits of active travel to and from school, as well as with parents and guardians of kids who current walk or bike to school to improve their transportation experience. The initiative also includes facilitating a street-activation project whereby students use chalk and other means to decorate and ‘activate’ their Student Streets as a way for them to advocate for their transportation infrastructure and to form community connections between students.   

SUSTAIN 3S03 student can take part in this initiative by selecting one of two projects:   

1. Daily School Route Parent Engagement Strategy  

1. Daily School Route Street Activation Event   

NOTE: Students taking on this project will have to complete a Vulnerable Sector Scan. 

Community Project Champion  

• Daniel Chong, Daily School Route  

Project Mentors  

• Megan Bieksa, Volunteer Communications Advisor, Daily School Route  
• Kate Whalen, Volunteer Project Advisor, Daily School Route   

Sources 

1.  https://dailyschoolroute.org/project/what-is-a-student-street/   

The Greater Hamilton Health Network (GHHN) is one of the first Ontario Health Teams across the province, with a purpose of transforming healthcare in partnership with patients, families, care partners, primary care, local organizations and the community. 

A collaboration of local health and social service partners the GHHN includes representation from more than 30 organizations, we are a dedicated group of professionals, organizations and people with lived experience working to co-design a patient centred, health system grounded in engagement, health equity and the local needs of the communities we serve. 

The GHHN is in the position to advocate with and on behalf of health equity issues arising in the Hamilton, Haldimand and Niagara Northwest areas.  Addressing concerns such as equitable access to healthcare, housing and issues surrounding homelessness.  This research paper will outline an extreme heat and winter response plan to address the over-capacity of shelters, emergency rooms and the alarming number of individuals who face extreme heat events and the winter outside with little to no resources or services. Students will research Hamilton’s shelters, outreach services, hours of operation, and programming available during extreme heat and winter events and compare and contrast them to other cities to develop recommendations and a plan to address these issues locally.

Community Project Champions: 

• Megan Lynch, GHHN Manager of Priority Populations 
• Anna Burns, Coordinator of Engagement and Communications 

Information for review: 
City of Hamilton Heat Warnings and Heat related illness: https://www.hamilton.ca/people-programs/public-health/environmental-health-hazards/heat-warnings-heat-related-illness
City of Hamilton: Cold Alerts and Community Response: https://www.hamilton.ca/people-programs/public-health/environmental-health-hazards/cold-alerts-community-response 

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.   

In the fall of 2022, a group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students and their Community Project Champions laid the groundwork for McMaster’s ground nesting bee garden. This fall, another group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students and project champions facilitated the planting of native pollinators in the garden — the group planted pollinator species and created the infrastructure for bees to nest.   

This semester, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students have the opportunity to plan an advocacy campaign for Pollinator Week, which will take place June 17-23, 2024. The task involves conducting background research, exploring past SUSTAIN projects, and reviewing previous content posted on the @macsustain Instagram account related to Native Bees at McMaster. 

The proposed social media campaign aims to raise awareness about native pollinators at McMaster through various components: 

1. Informative Carousel Post: Develop concepts (storyboards) for an informative carousel post based on background research, focusing on key messages and visually appealing elements. 
2. Engaging Reel: Brainstorm ideas for an engaging reel using footage from previous events, with the option to record additional nature-focused content from around campus. 
3. Instagram Story Highlight: Recommend consolidation of specific content related to pollinators into a story highlight, planning the sequence and organization. This will serve as a centralized resource for followers interested in learning more about McMaster’s initiatives and the significance of pollinators. 

Community Project Champions  

• Ashley Low, Communications Assistant, Academic Sustainability Programs Office  
• Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office  

Liaison and Project Mentor  

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

This project will aim to lay the groundwork for opening a sustainable community fridge on the McMaster main campus. Community fridges are stocked with community-donated provisions, which folks in need of food can take at any time. With food insecurity becoming a growing issue on campus, this fridge will help people access much-needed fresh food and produce. In order to be sustainable year-to-year, the community fridge must be a collaborative effort with different campus and community partners. This project will encompass the partnership-building and planning stages needed to implement a successful community fridge and make a positive impact towards campus food security. 

Working with two CPC’s, one from McMaster’s Student Wellness Centre and one from the MSU Food Collective Centre, students will need to research: 

• How will the fridge be accessed and by whom?  
• How will the fridge be refilled? 
• How many fridges should be implemented?  
• How will the fridge be protected from the weather? 
• Where will it live on campus?  
• Who will own the project?  
• Where will the fridge and food come from?  
• What is a long-term maintenance plan for it?  
• Consulting with Indigenous Student Services 

This project is open to student creativity and innovation as it supports research and consultation about food security support and promotion at McMaster. 

Community Project Champion(s)

• Zeinab Khawaja, Health Promoter for Student Wellness Centre
• Morghen Jael, Director of the McMaster Food Collective Centre

Stop Sprawl HamOnt (SSHO) is a coalition of citizens and community groups advocating in an intense and unprecedented way to maintain Hamilton’s urban boundary and save farmland from sprawl development.   

SSHO led a campaign in the summer of 2023 to engage 18,000 Hamiltonians to participate in a City-led survey. Over 90% wanted to save the 3,300 acres of farmland that was at risk. Now, they are advocating to the province, to undue the provincial decision to override the municipal plan and impose 5,000 acres of development on some of the country’s best farmland. The soil is considered in the top 0.5% of the best soil in the country and we need to save this non-renewable resource as this land is priceless.  

Fall 2023 SUSTAIN 3S03 students planned and hosted a farm event at Manorun Organic Farm on Saturday, November 4 to engage with young, local farmers. The event saw over 120 student attendees. The 3S03 students had to both develop the advocacy plan for promotion and communication as well as plan and host the event.  

The goal for Winter 2024 SUSTAIN 2SS3 students is to develop the advocacy plan for promotion and communication for the Spring and/or Fall 2024 farm event.  

Community Project Champion: 

• Sunit Toor, Member, Stop Sprawl Student     
• Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

CPC Support: 

• Michelle Tom, Co-Founder Stop Sprawl HamOnt 

Sustainability poses complex challenges that require interdisciplinary solutions. McMaster’s Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability was developed in 2014 with the goal to develop students’ interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of sustainability. All undergraduate students can pursue the minor, choosing from 80+ courses from faculties across campus. So far. More than 250 students have graduated with the minor.  

Despite efforts to generate awareness, we often hear from students that they found out about the minor too late in their undergraduate career to satisfy the course requirements.  

The goal of this project is to develop an advocacy plan to reach more students early on, so that more students can obtain robust knowledge of sustainability for which they can apply to help create a more sustainable future for all.

Community Project Champion  

• Kara Salvador, Program Administrator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Liaison and Project Mentor 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office.  

Sustainability poses complex challenges that require interdisciplinary solutions. McMaster’s Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability was developed in 2014 with the goal to develop students’ interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of sustainability. All undergraduate students can pursue the Minor, choosing from 80+ courses from Faculties across campus. So far, more than 307 students have graduated with the Minor.   

Despite efforts to generate awareness, we often hear from students that they found out about the Minor too late in their undergraduate career to satisfy the course requirements.   

The goal of this project is to develop an advocacy plan to reach more students early on, so that more students can obtain robust knowledge of sustainability for which they can apply to help create a more sustainable future for all. 

Community Project Champion   

• Kara Salvador, Program Administrator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office  

Liaison and Project Mentor  

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office.

Encouraging and supporting sustainable mobility to and from McMaster is a priority of McMaster’s Parking Services and Office of Sustainability, both of which have information available to staff, faculty, students, and visitors. Information is posted online, but it is in need of a refresh. 

McMaster’s Parking Services and Office of Sustainability are looking for SUSTAIN students to create a clear, concise, and up-to-date ‘Sustainable Mobility’ webpage to be hosted on McMaster University’s website.  

Measures of success include ensuring that the information is accurate, professional, engaging, and in-line with McMaster’s online presence. Other measures, which will be tracked in future surveys will include the number of staff, faculty, and students who take a sustainable mode of travel to/from campus. 

Community Project Champion   

• Robert Morrallee, Senior Manager, Parking Services, Real Estate, Partnerships and Ancillaries, McMaster University  
• Dave Cano, Director, Sustainability, Facility Services, McMaster University 

Liaison and Project Mentor  

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office.   

Encouraging and supporting sustainable mobility to and from McMaster is a priority of McMaster’s Parking Services and Office of Sustainability, both of which have information available to staff, faculty, students, and visitors. Information is posted online, but it is in need of a refresh. 

McMaster’s Parking Services and Office of Sustainability are looking for SUSTAIN students to create a clear, concise, and up to date ‘Sustainable Mobility’ webpage to be hosted on McMaster University’s website.  

Measures of success include ensuring that the information is accurate, professional, engaging, and in-line with McMaster’s online presence. Other measures, which will be tracked in future university-sanctioned surveys, will include the number of staff, faculty, and students who take a sustainable mode of travel to/from campus. 

Community Project Champion   

• Robert Morrallee, Senior Manager, Parking Services, Real Estate, Partnerships and Ancillaries, McMaster University  
• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office     

Liaison and Project Mentor  

• Dave Cano, Director, Sustainability, Facility Services, McMaster University 
• Holly Gibson, Manager, Marketing and Communications, Facility Services, McMaster University 

Hamilton has declared a climate emergency and McMaster has committed itself to an Environmental Sustainability Plan. It is important that these decelerations and commitments are acted on. It is important to advocate for governments and institutions to use their power, influence, and resources for positive change. This project will address Sustainable Development Goal #7, Affordable and Clean Energy. Students may develop an advocacy plan for one or more of the related ‘target and indicators’: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix By 2030, double the global rate of improved energy efficiency Students will have the flexibility to choose who they are advocating on behalf of, who they are advocating to, and what they are advocating for, with guidance from the Community Project Champion. Students are highly encouraged to bring an intersectional lens to their advocacy plan.

Community Project Champion(s):

Erik Jurriaans

Active travel, like biking, promotes physical and mental health, and is a low-carbon mode of transportation. Having a safe and appropriate place to park your bike when you arrive at a destination promotes cycling and supports those who bike.  

Communities at and who access community and social services centres, like hospitals and health care facilities, have described a desire for more bike racks at their locations.  

The City of Hamilton has a process and form for requesting more bike racks, that is publicly available. 

The goal of this project is to advocate for greater awareness and use of the City’s bike rack request form. Measures of success would include the number of new requests made by community and social service centres, as well as the number of new bike racks added.  While implementation is not a required part of this project, it is an option. This project can also be extended for future SUSTAIN students to continue through implementation, measurement, and reporting.  

Related Links: 

Greater Hamilton Health Network: https://greaterhamiltonhealthnetwork.ca/  

Bike Rack Request Form: https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/getting-around/biking-cyclists/bike-parking-request-form   

Community Project Champion: 

• Peter Topalovic, Program Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 
• Alison Carlyle, Project Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 
• Greater Hamilton Health Network

Liaison and Project Mentor 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

Active forms of travel, like biking, promotes physical and mental health, and is a low-carbon mode of transportation. Having a safe and appropriate place to park your bike when you arrive at a destination promotes cycling and supports those who bike.  

Communities at and who access community and social services centres, like hospitals and health care facilities, have described a desire for more bike racks at their locations.  

The City of Hamilton has a process and form for requesting more bike racks, that is publicly available. 

The goal of this project is to advocate for greater awareness and use of the City’s bike rack request form. Measures of success would include the number of new requests made by community and social service centres, as well as the number of new bike racks added.  While implementation is not a required part of this project, it is an option. This project can also be extended for future SUSTAIN students to continue through implementation, measurement, and reporting.  

Related Links: 

Greater Hamilton Health Network: https://greaterhamiltonhealthnetwork.ca/  

Bike Rack Request Form: https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/getting-around/biking-cyclists/bike-parking-request-form  

Community Project Champion: 

• Alison Carlyle, Project Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 
• Marijke Jurriaans, Sustainability Project Manager, Greater Hamilton Health Network 

Project Advisors 

• Evan Nopper, Active Transportation Technologist – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 

• Peter Topalovic, Program Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton  
• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

Cycling is a sustainable alternative form of transportation, and Cycle Hamilton is a local nonprofit who is working to make Hamilton the best place for anyone to get around by bike and connect with the community along the way.  

Recently the Board completed a recruitment campaign to expand their Board but were concerned their pool of applicants lacked diversity (geographic, ethnic, gender, age, etc.). This group of SUSTAIN 2SS3 students would be responsible for conducting secondary research to understand recruitment strategies for non-profit boards, create a matrix and process for a future Board recruitment, and present the findings and plan to the Board at their monthly meeting.  

Community Project Champions:

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

1. https://facilities.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/02/Waste-Audit-2022.pdf

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 , a plan to implement a native bee nesting garden in the spring, and is a Bee City Campus. McMaster is situated in a native bee ‘hot spot’ with over 200 native bee species.  

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students who take on this project would be tasked with reviewing current communication methods used, make recommendations for what can be improved, and create a plan to implement the changes.  This could include improving communication to students/staff/community on the issues, infographics/posters, new signage for campus, and any other unique methods students come up with! 

Community Project Champion:

• Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster and Pollinator Team member 

McMaster’s ACCESS Tech program facilitates the collection, refurbishment, and donation of technology to Hamiltonians in need (read more here). In addition to computers, monitors, and keyboards, the team also collects smartphones for reuse.  

One challenge to the donation and upcycling of smartphones is that the phones need to be factory reset by the owner before being donated, which takes additional advocacy and engagement to support potential donors while they recall their passwords and while the phones still support current operating systems. 

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will have the opportunity to work with student staff of the ACCESS Tech program to develop their ideas and engagement strategies.  

Community Project Champions: 

• Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University 

Project Liaison 

• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

McMaster’s ACCESS Tech program facilitates the collection, refurbishment, and donation of technology to Hamiltonians in need (read more here). In addition to computers, monitors, and keyboards, the team also collects smartphones for reuse.  

One challenge to the donation and upcycling of smartphones is that the phones need to be factory reset by the owner before being donated. SUSTAIN 2SS3 students from Fall 2023 developed easy-to-follow guidelines for users to confidently reset their phones prior to donation. The next advocacy challenge is to inspire the awareness, adoption, and action required to generate smartphone donations for communities in need. 

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will have the opportunity to work with student staff of the ACCESS Tech program to develop their ideas and engagement strategies.  

Community Project Champions: 

Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University 

Project Liaison 

Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Stop Sprawl HamOnt is a coalition of citizens and community groups advocating in an intense and unprecendented way to defend Hamilton’s urban boundary and save farmland from sprawl development.  

They have had enormous success in a campaign last summer to engage 18,000 Hamiltonians to participate in a city-wide survey. Over 90% wanted to save 3300 acres of farmland. Now, they are up against the province which plans to override the municipal plan and impose 5,000 acres of development on some of the country’s best farmland. The soil here is in the top 0.5% of soil in the country and the need to save this non-renewable resource is priceless. 

Students who take on this project would work directly with a Co-Founder of StopSprawl to  develop community engagement tools aimed at the 13-25 year old demographic including but not limited to: developing educational workshops, planning a farm event to engage youth with local young farmers, creating a social media campaign, and drafting a blog post or opinion piece for the local paper.  

Ideal students would be those who have an interest or curiosity about land use planning, saving farmland, or politics and enjoy collaborative planning with others.  

There is room for all ideas and skills, just bring your passion!  

Community Project Champion:

• Michelle Tom, Co-Founder StopSprawl HamOnt  

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” (BYOM) program! Individuals who bring their own reusable mug at participating locations on McMaster campus will receive a discount on their purchase.   

To increase this program’s usage, students in SUSAIN 3S03 worked to create a campaign to promote this program. Through their project, they identified barriers which resulted in low numbers of students knowing about it and using it.  

Students who take on this project will build off the work of SUSTAIN 3S03 students to assess the current program, identify barriers, conduct secondary research into other similar programs that are successful, and make recommendations on how to reduce the barriers so that more students know about BYOM and use it.  

Community Project Champion: 

• Liana Bontempo, Wellness and Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services   

McMaster’s Campus Store is on a mission to do good for the environment and for students, and one of their goals is to reduce the environmental impact of single-use bags and support students in making sustainable lifestyle choices by bringing a reusable bag or backpack that they already own. To support this shift, they have eliminated plastic, considered various alternative such as paper and oxo-biodegradable, and landed on a reinforced plastic tote as an alternative for purchase. While this change may seem easy, we can assure you that it is not.

The Campus Store recognizes that this issue is not so clear cut, just like most sustainability challenges. This Huffington Post article sheds some light on the paper vs plastic issue and how data and information are necessary, but the message can often leave us without a clear direction forward. The idea is that because humans are loss averse, being charged for single-use items will have a more dramatic impact on behaviour change than receiving a rebate for bringing your own is well received. However, this same principle of loss aversion can make behaviour change difficult [1]. Such “nudges” have been shown to have good but mixed results [2 3] in supporting environmentally-friendly behaviour change, which will be key areas of research for this project. Additionally, student perception and support will be imperative for long-term sustainability of the initiative.

The goal of this project will be to support the implementation of initiatives that will support sustainable behaviour change with respect to single-use bags at the Campus Store.

While this project is open to student creativity, opportunities may include research into examples of other bag initiatives of stores and municipalities to learn best practices, creating a social media campaign highlighting those who bring their own bag, or even leading a public lecture or debate about various types of bags.

Community Project Champion(s):

Louise Walker, Sales Floor Manager, Campus Store

Adam Chiaravalle, Facility Services (mentorship and support)

Gabrielle Gonsalves, Sustainability Student Intern (mentorship and support)

Bike Buddy Virtual Group Rides

In the Fall of 2019, past SUSTAIN 3S03 students with support from their Community Project Champion, Elise Desjardins, piloted a bike buddy program at McMaster. Not only did the group pilot a successful two-week program with one undergraduate and one graduate student, but they also prepared a toolkit to “serve as a roadmap to guide future implementation of a successful bike buddy program at McMaster” [1].

Due to physical distancing requirements resulting from COVID-19, Desjardins with support from McMaster’s Multi-modal Transportation for Healthy Communities Committee, is looking to work with creative SUSTAIN 3S03 students to identify most common bikeable destinations of McMaster students, build off of some prior mapping of safe and friendly routes, and engage students through a virtual ride that will introduce them to the route while also sharing safety and navigation tips along the way. Depending on the changing public health guidelines and upon approval by Health & Safety, students may be able to lead a small group ride following one or more of their routes.

Community Project Champion(s):

Elise Desjardins, PhD candidate, School of Earth, Environment & Society

Vikram Hardatt, Smart Commute Hamilton

You might be wondering, what type of block party are we talking about? Good question. The City of Hamilton has developed a guide to hosting a block party with the goals of increasing community engagement, creating a safe and accessible environment, and expanding the public realm through community-led urban intervention. Additional characteristics of a block party would then include: closing the street to vehicular traffic; maintaining an all-inclusive and open invitation; and activating the public realm.

The challenge that the City of Hamilton is posing to Sustain 3S03 students is, “What value does a block party bring to members of the community?”. While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, some initial ideas include hosting a Halloween block party as a way to promote walkability and enhance safety for young trick-or-treaters. As a not-so-fun fact, this article suggests that Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for child pedestrian fatalities.

Students who take on this project will develop skills in research, municipal policy, community engagement, sustainable mobility, and injury prevention and public health.

Contacts

Peter Topalovic Project Manager Sustainable Mobility ProgramsCity of Hamiltonstdstpla2@hamilton.ca

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

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is working to enhance the sustainability of their operations, and this extends to their Volunteer Association, which runs HHS’s catering and retail food services. When department leaders at HHS host a lunch meeting, staff BBQ, or holiday party, the Volunteer Association provides catering services. The Corporate Services Department and Volunteer Association teams want to make ‘sustainable events’ the default option for those ordering catering and food services at HHS, and they know that they need to provide support to those running and attending the event to achieve the most sustainable outcomes. For example, the Volunteer Association could deliver a composting/food waste bin to the event, but organizers and attendees need to have the tools and information to effectively use it.       

Students who take on this project will assess the current catering processes and associated catering items and advocate for any changes that would ensure that every HHS event is a sustainable event by default. Additionally, students will create a sustainable catering guide that will support all HHS staff in hosting, delivering, and attend the most sustainable events possible. One key measure of success is that the new process and guide are used by the organizers of HHS’s Annual Holiday Party in December of 2023 to make it HHS’s most sustainable Holiday Party yet! 

Community Project Champion 

Victoria Brzozowski, Environmental Management Lead, Hamilton Health Sciences 

Project Liaison 

Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, McMaster University

McMaster University is working to enhance the sustainability of its operations, and this extends to the Academic Sustainability Programs (ASP) Office, which runs several large meetings and events each semester. When department leaders of the ASP Office host a lunch meeting, engagement event, or student project showcase, they order food to enhance the experience for those who attend. The ASP team wants to make sure that hosting a sustainable event is easy and is sustainable at every step of the way. ASP leaders know that they need various options to choose from, depending on the event, and that they need an approved process to follow to ensure that nothing is missed.  

Students who take on this project will support ASP staff in refining a list of local catering businesses, assessing the businesses for their sustainability, and creating a sustainable catering guide to support all ASP-run events. One key measure of success is that the new process and guide are used by the ASP Office when catering and hosting the SUSTAIN 3S03 Project Showcase in December of 2023 to make it ASP’s most sustainable Project Showcase yet! 

Community Project Champion 

Kara Salvador, Program Administrator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office  

Project Liaison 

Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, McMaster University 

Potential Resource is the Sustainable Catering Guide created by Sustain Students from 2022.   

McMaster’s Hospitality Services is working to become more sustainable, and this extends to their Catering Services department. If you’ve ever been to a McMaster-catered event, you will have experienced their services. You may have even experienced the diversity in the types of catering they provide – some events are simple platters of coffee and cookies, others include platters of sandwiches and fruit trays, and others include buffet or plated meals. All types of catered events can benefit from additional consciousness towards sustainability, but it’s a joint effort between Hospitality Services, the clients who order the catering, and the participants who attend the meeting or event.

Questions related to this challenge include: 1. What changes can be made to catered events to enhance sustainability? 2. How can Catering Services support the changes? 3. How can clients who place orders be made aware of and encouraged to adopt the sustainable changes? 4. How can attendees of the events play a role to also support the sustainable changes that have been made? 5. How can Catering Services communicate the changes made and the results achieved in order to continue along this sustainable path?

While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, the initial idea is for Sustain students to work with Catering Services staff members, customers who host catered events, and students and staff members who attend catered events to understand barriers and opportunities to enhance sustainability at catered events, to identify and implement appropriate changes, highlight opportunities in a Sustainable Catering Guide, and then measure and report on the outcomes through piloting at least five sustainably catered events.

Community Project Champion(s):

Catherine Young, Senior Manager Administration & Catering for Hospitality Services

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  

McMaster’s Hospitality Services has made many sustainable changes to their operations and services that aim to reduce waste generated on campus, including:

• Using china and metal cutlery in dining locations such as Centro, Bridges, and East Meets West,
• Expanding both the Eco-Takeout Container Program and the Bring Your Own Container program to support waste-free takeout, and
• Sourcing biodegradable containers and cutlery for when and where waste-free options are not available.

However, neither of these are simple “if you build it, they will come” scenarios. Hospitality Services recognizes that it’s not enough to just implement the programs. Research, education, promotion, communication, and community engagement are all imperative for sustainable behaviour change to happen. This project will focus specifically on the biodegradable containers and cutlery to support Hospitality Services sustainability efforts as well as to promote and support sustainable behaviours of students, faculty, and staff.

Community Project Champion:

Liana Bontempo, Wellness & Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services

McMaster University is extending its composting program from the kitchen areas into public areas. Resulting from a successful SUSTAIN 3S03 project from 2017, you can see the first of these permanent, public-facing bins in the Student Centre, just in front of Union Market.

However, just because we put the bins in place, does not mean that people know they are there, know how to use them correctly, and feel empowered to make a difference through their actions in waste disposal.

The goal of this project will be to develop a Composting Champions program at McMaster, whereby staff, faculty, students can become Champions in their respective area and/or network. Students will be encouraged to reach out to groups and departments across campus, learn more about the barriers to taking part and/or becoming a Composting Champion, and then develop resources and engagement activities to support the program.  

Community Project Champion(s):

Adam Chiaravalle, Sustainable Food Systems Advocate

Since 2009, McMaster has continually worked to expand its campus composting program. Compost bins now exist in many buildings on campus in both kitchens and common areas such as libraries, the Student Center, and most residence buildings. In 2012, McMaster started the first Composting Champions program. The program took a hiatus, and in 2022 Facility Services engaged SUSTAIN 3S03 students to help re-invigorate the program on campus. Read their report here, and their Daily News story here. 

To participate in the Composting Champions Program, the participating group or department identifies at least one champion to lead the initiative. The role of the program champion involves communicating with other students and staff members and emptying the compost bin on a frequent basis to one of the central locations.   

Facility Services is looking for the help of SUSTAIN 3S03 to further enhance the program, develop and implement opportunities for communication and engagement, and increase the number of composting champions.  

Community Project Champions:  

• Dave Cano, Director, Sustainability, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Carlos Figueira, Director Custodial, Grounds, Logistics and Mail Services, McMaster University   

Project Liaison 

• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office, McMaster University  

McMaster University is extending its composting program from the kitchen areas into public areas. Resulting from a successful SUSTAIN 3S03 project from 2017, you can see the first of these permanent, public-facing bins in the Student Centre, just in front of Union Market.

However, just because we put the bins in place, does not mean that people know they are their or know how to use them correctly. However, resulting from a successful Student Life Enhancement Fund (SLEF) grant, there are funds available to develop a cross-campus educational campaign to help education students, staff, and faculty about the new bins and the broader composting program.

The goal of this project will be to develop various forms of media and promotional material that can be used for a number of years to come. This may include online videos, posters, pamphlets, an updated website, a series of social media posts that can be shared throughout the year, and more. This project is in collaboration with MUSC Administration and the McMaster Students Union.

Community Project Champion(s):

Adam Chiaravalle, Sustainable Food Systems Advocate

Since 2009, McMaster has continually worked to expand its campus composting program. Compost bins now exist in many buildings on campus in both kitchens and common areas such as libraries, the Student Center, and most residence buildings.[1]  

In addition to the efforts of McMaster’s Facility Services Department, student groups have also been working to foster responsible production and consumption, including composting. Zero Waste McMaster is ‘a club focused on promoting sustainable, low-waste living on campus and in our community’.[2] 

According to McMaster’s 2022 Waste Audit, only 6% of what’s found in the garbage is organic material, signaling the effectiveness of the University’s composting program.[3] However, based on visual audits, some composting bins have very little contamination by items that should have been placed in the garbage or recycling while other composting bins are highly contaminated. Composting bins in eatery kitchens are used most effectively while the public-facing bins are not.  

The challenge for SUSTAIN 2SS3 students is to 1) conduct visual audits to determine and report common misconceptions and/or behaviors that result in improper use of public-facing composting bins and 2) develop two advocacy strategies to address them.  

While this project is open to student creativity, recommendations include: focusing on composting bins in the Student Centre, Mills Library, and John Hodgins Engineering Building; conducting visual audits of human composting behaviors in each building to see what’s working and what’s not; also conducting visual audits of bin material to confirm or revise findings from behavior audits; create advocacy strategies to address the 1, 2, or 3 top misconceptions and/or behaviours.  

Community Project Champion(s): 

• Nelly Okwu-wolu, Project Team Executive, Zero Waste McMaster 

Project Liaison: 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs 

1. https://facilities.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/waste/   

1. https://www.instagram.com/zerowastemcmaster/  

1. https://facilities.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/02/Waste-Audit-2022.pdf  

The McMaster Students Union (MSU) has a goal to enhance sustainability of its services and operational units, with a focus on intersectionality, environmental, accessibility, and financial components of sustainability, as demonstrated in their Sustainability Operating Policy. To support the MSU’s sustainability goals, SUSTAIN 3S03 students will consult with approximately 5 MSU services and 5 operational units, as identified by the MSU and guided by the MSUs Sustainability Operating Policy, to identify the current progress  and goals for the current year to further enhance sustainability in key areas across the MSU.

They key deliverables will include a report of the MSUs current progress in relation to their Sustainability Operating Policy, a list of SMART goals for each service and operational unit, and a presentation to the MSU Executive Board.

The outcomes of this consultation will be shared with SUSTAIN 2SS3 students in the Winter semester to report on progress made and advocate for further enhancement.

Community Project Champion:

• Hargun Kaur, AVP University Affairs, MSU

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 

This project will build on previous work completed by SUSTAIN students to further advocate for the McMaster Community Fridge.   

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. 

There are many downstream and upstream factors that contribute to food security, which for many people may not be well-known. The role of the intersectionality campaign is to educate members of the McMaster community and beyond on the different factors and determinants that impact the food security of individuals. This project will incorporate Indigenous education into understanding intersectionality. 

This project will build on the work of students in SUSTAIN 2SS3 (2021), SUSTAIN 3S03 (2021), and SUSTAIN 2SS3 (2022) with the goal to design, curate, and host a social media campaign focused on intersectionality.  

Students who take on this project will be tasked with 1) Creating 5-10 social media graphics and captions, 2) Hosting a social media story takeover on @mcmastercommunityfridge Instagram account and 3) Reporting on engagement from the social media campaign and takeover. 

This project is open to student creativity and innovation as it supports research and consultation about food security support and promotion at McMaster.  

Community Project Champion(s) 

• Zachary Nott, Community Fridge Liaison, McMaster Community Fridge 
• Maureen Saha, Communications Coordinator, McMaster Community Fridge 

Formed in 2015, Cycle Hamilton was developed with the mission to get more people on bikes in Hamilton. Cycle Hamilton is “a member-supported coalition of individuals, communities, and organizations that works together to promote a healthy, safe, and sustainable cycling culture in Hamilton”. As an advocacy group, its power is in its membership. The more members it has, the stronger the voice, and the more influence the organization has to inspire positive change.

Over the initial two years of development, Cycle Hamilton focused on developing as a formal organization, engaging a board of directors, a strong volunteer base, and most recently engaged in broad community consultation to develop a 3-year strategic plan. Now that development is well underway and a foundation has been built, Cycle Hamilton is well equipped to grow its membership. The question that Cycle Hamilton is posing to Sustain 3S03 students is “How do we create real value for individuals and/or businesses?” Students who take on this project will develop skills in research, communication, community engagement, developing value propositions, and marketing. Students will also have the opportunity to identify and meet with local business to gain their perspectives and discuss opportunities for collaboration.

Contacts

Jay Krause Membership Program CoordinatorCycle Hamiltonkrausejt@mcmaster.ca

Backyard Harvest is an urban farm growing ultra-local produce, using organic and biodynamic methods, in Hamilton, Ontario. The food is produced in 11 backyards in the Strathcona, Kirkendall and North End neighbourhoods resulting in the ability to harvest within 3 hours of market start. Backyard Harvest provides all the benefits of local food – flavour, nutrition, environmental, economic – and contributes to the resilience of our community. To address the continued demand for local food, Backyard Harvest is looking to build their own greenhouse in the city, enabling the earlier start of spring plants. The project will provide a unique opportunity to contribute to an existing vibrant enterprise while developing the communication, financial, project management and design skills necessary to implement sustainable change. Students will have the opportunity to research the various greenhouse options that are currently available and recommend the most appropriate design based on the physical constraints of the various sites. In addition, students will work towards preparing a project plan that identifies regulatory approvals, and may also engage in activities related to public consultation and financing that are necessary to achieve the social, environmental and financial objectives of the project. This project will result in a meaningful improvement to the local food system in Hamilton.

Contact

George Sweetman Green Light Projects Ingeorge@greenlightprojects.ca

Cycling is a sustainable alternative form of transportation, and Cycle Hamilton is a local nonprofit who is working to make Hamilton the best place for anyone to get around by bike and connect with the community along the way.  

Recently, the nonprofit held their Annual General Meeting which was attended by over 80 Hamiltonians. At the meeting, research students in SUSTAIN 4S06 asked attendees about their perceptions of the impact that is or could be provided by Cycle Hamilton. The SUSTAIN 4S06 students have preliminary findings ready and this group of SUSTAIN 2SS3 students would be responsible for creating a plan on how to implement these findings and present them to the Board.  

Community Project Champions:

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

Hamilton is part of Canada’s Carolinian zone, which represents less than 1% of Canada’s landmass, and yet is home to about 70% of Canada’s biodiversity – and most of its at-risk species.  Because over 95% of Canada’s Carolinian zone is privately owned, empowering regular citizens to protect biodiversity is essential.  In this project, you will co-develop an open access, online course on how Hamiltonians can create Canada’s first continuous Carolinian garden.  Your course will teach people how to ethically source, choose, and nurture Carolinian plants in their gardens and apartment-based garden spaces. 

The project relates to SDG 15 (Life on Land), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).  Students who adopt this project will research Carolinian resources, develop their knowledge of how to motivate behavioural change, create a series of short videos with volunteers, vet their content with a botanist who specializes in Carolinian plants, and launch the online course.  The group will also likely be invited to present on their work to community group Action 13. 

Resources will include the Continuous Carolinian Garden Facebook group, a botanist, support promoting the course from the EcoPark Network system.  The work you do in this course has the potential to be built on in the future, with the course being issued along with a friendly challenge to other communities, and being used as a jumping-off point for Carolinian place-making grants.

Community Project Champions:

• Liz Koblyk, Continuous Carolinian Garden

Developing a food donation strategy for the Hamilton Farmers’ Market

The Hamilton Farmers’ Market consists of 59 vendors, 8 of which specialize in selling produce [1]. While the vendors hope to sell everything they bring to the market, some items don’t sell quickly enough before they decline from peak freshness, some items are ugyl, and sometimes supply exceeds demand for a particular item. Those items that are not sold are usually either taken and consumed by the vendor (best case scenario) or composted by the City. While composting is better than landfilling, it still requires transportation, uses energy, incurs a financial cost, and is a missed opportunity to feed people.

A connected problem is that in Hamilton, as of March, 2019, nearly 5,000 children visited a food bank each month, more than 2,000 households used food banks, and Downtown Hamilton had the second highest per capita rate of food bank usage in Ontario [2]. While charities and food networks have approached the Hamilton Farmers’ Market and received support to connect with vendors for surplus produce, a lasting connection has never been realized.

We know that the last thing a farmer or vendor wants is for their food to go to waste, and we know that there are members of our community going to bed hungry every night with groups trying to support them. What we don’t know is how to develop an effective and sustainable food donation strategy focused on shared values and that works in both theory and practice for all parties involved.

SUSTAIN 4S06 students will focus their research on understanding the attitudes and perceptions towards a food donation strategy either by the Market and its vendors or by those of one or more local charities. In addition to conducting an ethics-approved, qualitative research study, students will also conduct secondary research on the broader topics of food waste and food insecurity. The two groups are expected to work in collaboration to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities. A positive outcome of this research would include a series of facilitated discussions with the Market (and its vendors) as well as one or more local charities, with the potential of piloting a food donation strategy for the Hamilton Farmers’ Market.

Community Project Champion(s):

Elly Bowen, Board Member of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, Citizen Representative

Eric Miller, Board Member of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, Citizen Representative

Bill Slowka, Market Manager, Hamilton Farmers’ Market

NFP Representatives, TBC

Port Hope was recently listed as an Area of Concern by Environment and Climate Change Canada due to “a legacy of contamination from the operation of waste management practices of Eldorado Mining and Refining between 1933 and 1953 [which] led to an estimated 85,000-95000 cubic meters of sediment containing low-level radioactive material within the turning basin and west slip of the Port Hope Harbour”. In response, the federal government has committed to spending $1.28 billion over 10 years to clean up the low-level radioactive waste. Part of Port Hope’s action plan, as established by their new Centre of Excellence Working Group is to develop partnerships with educational institutions and investigate educational opportunities. While much of the current focus is on environmental remediation of the contaminated lands as well as on waste reduction, reuse, and recycling, Port Hope is utilizing the momentum and support to also develop a long-term sustainability plan for the municipality.

Students interested in conducting research on best practice for long-term sustainability strategies, such as this one in Freiburg, Germany, and making recommendations on how Port Hope could tailor and then utilize some of the strategies that have been successful elsewhere should contact Kate Whalen.

While this project is highly research-focused, it will expected that students will work with Port Hope to achieve some level of actioned result, which may take the form of community consultation, survey development and analysis, and/or delivering a presentation of findings and recommendations.

Resources

Port Hope Area of Concern, Environment and Climate ChangePort Hope’s Centre of Excellence Working Group$1.28B for Port Hope radioactive cleanup (CBC Jan 2012)30 Years of Planning Continuity in Frieiburg, Germany

Contact

Kevin NarrawayManager of Marketing,Port HopeKNarraway@porthope.ca

The Greater Hamilton Health Network (GHHN) is one of the first Ontario Health Teams (OHT) across the province, with a purpose of transforming healthcare in partnership with patients, families, care partners, primary care, local organizations and the community.  

A collaboration of local health and social service partners the GHHN includes representation from more than 30 organizations, we are a dedicated group of professionals, organizations and people with lived experience working to co-design a patient centred, health system grounded in engagement, health equity and the local needs of the communities we serve. 

The GHHN is currently the only OHT to include Environmental Sustainability in their strategic plan. As part of the Sustainability Road Map for the GHHN, a survey was conducted to review and assess the current state of environmental sustainability of partner organizations. Following this survey, a report was developed with a host of recommendations, including knowledge and capacity building. As part of this recommendation, the GHHN would like to host an introductory workshop for all leaders of GHHN partner organizations. Students will be responsible for working with the GHHN Environmental Advisory Committee to identify workshop objectives, identify and invite speakers, prepare pre-workshop reading materials, develop the workshop outline and powerpoint, and complete an evaluation survey. 

Community Project Champion: 

• Marijke Jurriaans, Sustainability Project Manager (Greater Hamilton Health Network)

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 organizations to distribute donated technology to local families in need.   

McMaster’s ACCESS Tech staff will be hosting a collection and ‘upcycling’ event to take place on October 20, 2023, from 10am to 2pm. 

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 Champion:   

 Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University   

Zero Waste McMaster is a club that is focused on promoting sustainable and accessible low waste living. In 2020, Zero Waste McMaster began its partnership with free Ecosia, a search engine that donates its ad revenue to reforestation projects across the globe. For every 45 searches, approximately 1 tree is planted. Ecosia has planted over 160 million trees and has approximately 200 million users. To date, McMaster students’ collective search count on personal devices has reached over 45,000 and consequently over 1,000 trees planted.

With the long-term goal for McMaster to adopt Ecosia as the default search engine on all university computers, Zero Waste McMaster is working with campus stakeholders to understand barriers and opportunities to pilot the installation and use and provide feedback along the way. In October 2022, Zero Waste McMaster collaborated with the McMaster Students Union (MSU) to pilot Ecosia on 20+ staff computers, and the pilot is currently underway.

Students who take on this project will be working with community project champions and student leaders from Zero Waste McMaster to prepare an advocacy plan complete with clear, concise, and compelling communications to engage other departments in an Ecosia pilot.

While the project is open to creativity, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can expect to create and disseminate information through email, memo, and presentation to department and faculty leaders and leadership teams. Students will develop communication strategies that advocate for the importance of Ecosia to users, and gain community feedback to learn more about effective implementation strategies. This project provides an opportunity for SUSTAIN 2SS3 students to extend their course experience to go above and beyond by implementing their advocacy plan and materials and successfully launch the next Ecosia pilot at McMaster, paving the way for sustainable change on an institutional level by setting up McMaster University as the first Canadian university to make the switch to Ecosia.

Community Project Champion(s): 

• Paris Liu, Co-President, Zero Waste McMaster
• Tina Wu, Vice President of Projects, Zero Waste McMaster
• Nelly Okwu-wolu, Project Team Executive, Zero Waste McMaster
• Richard Godsmark, Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Director, IT Strategy & Services
• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs

Zero Waste McMaster is a club that is focused on promoting sustainable and accessible low waste living. In 2020, Zero Waste McMaster began its partnership with free Ecosia, a search engine that donates its ad revenue to reforestation projects across the globe. For every 45 searches, approximately 1 tree is planted. Ecosia has planted over 160 million trees and has approximately 200 million users. To date, McMaster students’ collective search count on personal devices has reached 55,000 and consequently over 1,200 trees planted. 

In October 2022, Zero Waste McMaster collaborated with the McMaster Students Union (MSU) to pilot Ecosia on 20+ staff computers, and the pilot is currently underway. In the Winter of 2023, Zero Waste McMaster and students from SUSTAIN 2SS3 worked with the McMaster Memorial Library to install Ecosia as the default web browser on 170 public-facing library computers. Read the Daily News story here: https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/ecosia-search-engine-mcmaster/  

Students who take on this project will be working with student leaders from Zero Waste McMaster to prepare an advocacy plan complete with clear, concise, and compelling communications to engage other departments in an Ecosia pilot. 

While the project is open to creativity, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can expect to create and disseminate information through email, memo, and presentation to department and faculty leaders and leadership teams. Students will develop communication strategies that advocate for the importance of Ecosia to users, and gain community feedback to learn more about effective implementation strategies. This project provides an opportunity for SUSTAIN 2SS3 students to extend their course experience to go above and beyond by implementing their advocacy plan and materials and successfully launch the next Ecosia pilot at McMaster, paving the way for sustainable change on an institutional level by setting up McMaster University as the first Canadian university to make the switch to Ecosia.  

Community Project Champion(s):  

• Nelly Okwu-wolu, Project Team Executive, Zero Waste McMaster 

ASP Liaison and Project Mentor 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs 

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 

Engaging employees in office greening strategies is shown to improve the sustainability and success of greening initiatives^[1], increase employee engagement^[2], and foster staff leadership^[3]. The City of Hamilton offices located in at 400 James St. N (Jackson Square) have implemented a number of green office initiatives, including water fountain retrofits to support refilling, composting in kitchens and washrooms, and energy upgrades, but they are interested in continuing their efforts. This project would include developing interview questions, interviewing staff members; transcribing, analyzing, and reporting on findings, including researched recommendations that align with staff perceptions. Ideally, one or more staff recommendations can be implemented within the course timeframe and students could conduct a follow-up focus group to understand staff perceptions of the changes made, as well as recommendations and next steps.

Community Project Champion(s):

Peter Topalovic, Project and Program Manager, Sustainable Mobility, City of Hamilton

According to this article in the BBC, the ‘gig’ economy can be defined as “a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs”. The gig economy is growing and it’s growing fast. According to the iLabour Project, the online gig economy already grew 26% in the past year. This article in Forbes shares why many millennials are embracing this new style of work, due to more flexibility, autonomy, and to ease into entrepreneurship. This report published by McKinsey company examines the benefit and challenges of independent work and captures the ways people make money in this space.

Started by members from a local software company, and then further developed and launched as part of a Sustain 4S06 project team in 2016/17, the smartphone application titled Gigit was created. Gigit was developed to help make both volunteer and job connections through smartphone technology. The app started out for volunteers only and has since developed opportunity to connect people for paid gigs. With an objective to be a made-in-Hamilton solution, Gigit Marketplace Inc. wants to know what local millennials think about the gig economy and how Gigit can help. Students will have the opportunity to work with the Gigit team to make app recommendations and developments as well as to pilot the enhanced technology. A challenge to address is to increase adoption of gigit through creative ways in practical settings. This project is open to student creativity and innovation.

Contacts

Midhat MalikGigit Marketplacemidhat@gigitmarketplace.com

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

Hamilton’s Bike Share currently has a fleet of 825 bikes and 130 hubs. As of 2018, approximately 20,000 active riders took over 1.4 million trips and travelled 2 million kilometers of riding. The Everyone Rides Initiative (Hamilton’s bike share equity program), is currently in the process of enhancing the accessibility of the city’s bike share fleet, broadening the range of people who can take advantage of biking as a mode of transportation. While there have been initial discussions with the City’s Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities, there is a recognized need for more involved community consultation. This SUSTAIN 4S06 project will include: researching to understand bike sharing from a disability justice and equity lens; developing interview questions to understand the perspectives from members of the Advisory Committee of what accessible bike share would look like in Hamilton; conducting interviews; transcribing, analyzing, and communicating the results to the community; and gaining additional feedback to enhance recommendations.

Community Project Champion(s):

Chelsea Cox, Executive Director, Hamilton Bike Share

McMaster’s Catering Services, part of Hospitality Services, worked with SUSTAIN 3S03 students in the fall of 2018 on a project entitled, Catering Sustainable Events at McMaster, whereby students and staff worked together to add more and label menu items as Gluten Free, Halal, Vegetarian, and Vegan. The group piloted two student-led events as part of the implementation of the project, and made recommendations for a future project that would be focused on obtaining feedback from student event planners and event participants to understand student attitudes and behaviours around the changes made, as well as determine if/how further enhancements can be made.

While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, the initial idea is for SUSTAIN students to work with Catering Services, student customers who host catered events, and student event attendees to understand barriers and opportunities to enhance sustainability at catered events, to identify and implement appropriate changes, and then measure and report on the outcomes from piloting at least five sustainably catered student events.

Community Project Champion:

Catherine Young, Senior Manager Administration & Catering for Hospitality Services

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  

In a report published by past SUSTAIN 4S06 – Leadership in Sustainability students, the province of Ontario is experiencing an increase in extreme weather [1]. Climate change is causing extreme heat events that are hotter and longer, and this poses a risk to public health [1]. Working with residents of the Beasley Neighbourhood, SUSTAIN 4S06 students learned about the perceptions of extreme heat events cooling centres (formal and informal places to cool off). The student researchers identified a variety of themes, including the ‘[p]hysical nature of the space’, which included a desire to spend time in shaded public parks, as well as a main theme of ‘[h]ealth’, which includes physical and mental health [1]. While the group had planned to present their findings to City Council in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused them to postpone the presentation.

Despite the delay in presenting their findings, this is a good opportunity to continue data collection and advocacy work to address the issue of extreme heat events and their impacts on public health. While this project is open to student creativity, inspiration can be taken from work of past SUSTAIN 2SS3 – Advocating for Sustainability students, who took an intersectional lens and created a social media campaign to raise awareness and generate discussion about the issue of public washrooms. For inspiration, follow ‘Hamilton Washrooms’ on Instagram and Twitter.

Community Project Champion(s):

Matt Thompson, Beasley Neighbourhood

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

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

Two student groups

Description:

Cycling is a sustainable 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 is a non-profit advocacy organization that 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. Cycle Hamilton is looking to work with two groups of students to host their 2023 AGM.

Group 1: Event Planning

This student group will 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 will include creating an Eventbrite, creating social media content, advertising in Cycle Hamilton’s newsletter and on their 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 during the week of November 14, 2024 (in the evening).  

Community Project Champions:

• Paul Brown, Cycle Hamilton Board Member

Project Advisor

• Liana Bontempo, Cycle Hamilton Co-Chair 

SDG Alignment: 3, 9.2, 11, 16, 17

Feed pollinators and people!  Hamilton is part of Canada’s Carolinian zone, which represents less than 1% of Canada’s landmass, and yet is home to about 70% of Canada’s biodiversity – and most of its at-risk species.  Because over 95% of Canada’s Carolinian zone is privately owned, empowering regular citizens to protect biodiversity is essential.  In a double-win, food security can be improved for local humans and pollinators alike through the thoughtful repurposing of available lawn space, to grow Carolinian food plants, non-edible Carolinian plants that attract pollinators and nurture the soil, and non-native food plants.  In this project you will develop an assessment and advocacy plan to create a Carolinian and food garden on McMaster’s campus. This garden will foster student leadership in food production and systems though collaborative and active learning. In the process of creating a case for the garden, you will connect and collaborate through student engagement, peer to peer learning, and community development.  You will also have an opportunity for Indigenous knowledge exchange and experiential learning.   

The project relates to SDG 15 (Life on Land), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 2 (No Hunger).  Students who adopt this project will research Carolinian resources and permaculture practices, develop their knowledge of how to advocate for and motivate institutional change, create a needs assessment to illustrate the need for the space as well as the benefits to the McMaster campus community.  

Community Project Champion(s):

• Liz Koblyk, Continuous Carolinian Garden  
• Liana Bontempo, Wellness and Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services   

According to a 2011 McMaster Waste Audit, food waste accounted for nearly 50% of garbage, by volume, in the Commons Building. While this may seem shocking, it is consistent with the national trends shown here, along with the stat that “about 80% of consumer food waste was once perfectly edible”. There are multiple stages in the food process, many of which happen before the food even gets to the store or kitchen. Once the food has made its way to the final distribution point, consumers like you and me have the ability to impact what happens next.

At McMaster, Hospitality Service, a group of student food advocates including No Lunch Money and Mac Bread Bin, as well as sustainable-food superstar Adam Chiaravalle, are working together to identify and create solutions to the problems of food waste on campus. While this project is open to student innovation, some of the questions that have been posed include: How can we most effectively order and prepare the right amount of food each day? After trying to minimize leftovers, what happens to any remaining food? How can we ensure edible food is shared first for consumption and with the utmost concern for food safety and personal health and wellbeing. Students will have the opportunity to investigate the issue of food waste at McMaster; develop strategies for action; and make real, positive, and sustainable change.

Contacts

Chris Roberts

Director of Hospitality Services

roberch@mcmaster.ca

Adam Chiaravalle

Sustainable Food Systems Advocate

McMaster disposes of approximately 2,000 [K1] computers annually. Once they are no longer needed on campus, these computers and other IT waste are recycled. However, while no longer suitable for university-level research, study, or operations many of these computers can be refurbished and donated within the community for many more years of use. GreenByte is a local NFP that does just that, and in addition to being recognized for enhancing ‘digital equality’ and contributing to Hamilton being named one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2018 [1] they also gave a laptop to every grade 8 student from Cathy Weaver Elementary School in 2018 [2].

The goal of this project is to establish best practices, with respect to both community engagement and operational process, for university IT reuse that enhances the lives of underserved members of the local community. Key objectives are to: create and disseminate information to all campus stakeholders using various platforms, consult members of the campus community in program enhancement, engage members of the McMaster community to contribute their IT waste; as well as to ensure data security, create multiple avenues for IT reuse, and maintain responsible recycling of end-of-life IT equipment.

This project is open to two student groups. One group will focus on communication and engagement of students, faculty, and staff. The other project will focus on the process for collection, security, sorting, refurbishing, and donating. Project teams are expected to work in collaboration, and both project groups will establish and report on associated measures of success.

Community Project Champion(s):

Craig MacDonald, Director, Maintenance Services, Facility Services

Richard Godsmark, Director of Technology Innovation, Partnerships, and Risk Management, University Technology Services (project collaborator, mentor, and advisor)

Ryan Johnson, GreenByte (project collaborator, mentor, and advisor)

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change has identified climate change as “the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century.” The healthcare sector is not only responsible for this increased health burden, but also contributes to it; about 4.6% of Canada’s national carbon emissions and over 200 000 tonnes of other pollutants are produced by the healthcare sector annually.

This Community of Practice exists to support the growth of knowledge and innovation relating to environmental sustainability in concert with improving patient care and practitioner health for local GHHN partners.

The community of practice is led my local primary care practitioners and supported by the GHHN.

Students will work closely with Dr. Myles Sergeant founder of Peach Health Ontario, a Partnership for

Environmental Action by Clinicians and Communities for Hospitals / Health care facilities, and Megan Lynch, GHHN Manager of Priority Populations.

Students will work with their CPC’s to develop a social media campaign to create awareness about the new Peach website, and support the development of the Community of Practice.

Community Project Champions: 

• Megan Lynch, GHHN Manager of Priority Populations

The Green Room Certification (GRC) program is an opportunity for students in the Outdoor Leadership Living Learning Community to learn about how they can decrease their impact on the environment while living in residence. Participating students can follow a checklist of ways to implement physical and behavioral changes in their residence room to be more sustainable, and then sign up to have their room certified, based on the checklist, and receive recognition and/or prize incentive for taking part. See inspiration from Carlton’s GRC program here.

SUSTAIN students will be able to act as Student Project Champions where they will be responsible for developing the GRC program and related learning opportunities, such as workshops, events, tours, and challenges, for participating students. SUSTAIN students will also be responsible for assessing the students’ rooms and behaviours, having coaching conversations, and designating rooms with the GRC. Suggested GRC theme areas include Sustainable Eating & Drinking; Waste Reduction & Diversion; and Green Cleaning & Personal Care. Suggested learning opportunities could include a fun Foodie Tour or Coffee Tour to visit different eateries/cafes on or near campus to learn about sustainable choices, a Personal Waste Audit and workshop on how to reduce packaging and food waste, and a Green Cleaning and Personal Care workshop where participants learn how to make and use their own products (see here for ideas).

Fostering leadership opportunities for residence students to act as sustainability ambassadors is an important component of this project.

Community Project Champion(s):

Monica Palkowski, Community Development Coordinator, Residence Life, McMaster University

The Green Room Certification (GRC) program is an opportunity for first-year students to learn about, share, and implement strategies to decrease their impact on the environment by creating and following a checklist created by and for participating students.  

Students who complete the GRC checklist can receive recognition and/or a prize incentive for taking part. 

SUSTAIN 3S03 students who select this project will be responsible for leading the development and promotion of, and engagement in, the GRC program and associated checklist in the Fall of 2021. 

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students have the opportunity to continue this project in the Winter of 2022 by collaborating with an existing group or club to facilitate two workshops related to the checklist as well as to complete the certification and recognition components of the program. 

Community Project Champion(s):

• Monica Palkowski, Living Learning Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services, McMaster University 
• Katie Fitzgerald, Archway Coordinator, Student Success Centre, McMaster University 

Businesses can have a major impact on individual behaviour. A café, for example, can support individual sustainability efforts by applying a discount for those who bring a reusable mug, and they can also go above and beyond by being a champion for sustainable change, the latter requiring significantly more effort, community engagement, and leadership.

The 2019/2020 MSU Executive is striving to take a leadership role through Greening The Grind. The Grind has been renovated and many sustainability initiatives have been implemented, such the inclusion of a compost bin, sourcing biodegradable cutlery, and removal of plastic bags. These changes will support individuals striving to reduce waste by diverting garbage and recycling to compost. However, they aren’t stopping there. The MSU is striving to champion environmental sustainability while also reducing costs for students. One option being considered is to separate the embedded costs of cups and cutlery for those who bring their own. For example, if your meal currently cost $5.00, such a change would result in a reduced costs of $4.90 with an optional purchase of biodegradable cutlery for an additional $0.10*.

The idea is that because humans are loss averse, being charged for single-use items will have a more dramatic impact than receiving a rebate for bringing your own. However, this same principle of loss aversion can make behaviour change difficult [1]. Such “nudges” have been shown to have good but mixed results [2 3] in supporting environmentally-friendly behaviour change, which will be key areas of research for this project. Additionally, student perception and support for this initiative will be imperative for long-term sustainability of the initiative.

The goal of this project is to enhance the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of The Grind through student engagement, education, and policy change.

Community Project Champion:

Alexandrea Johnston, VP Finance, MSU

“There are segments of existing multi-use trails in the vicinity of Cootes Paradise and this project has been identified to connect these various segments into one excellent high-quality multi-use (pedestrian and cycling) route around one of Hamilton’s jewels – Cootes Paradise.  One critical segment that has been identified as a first priority is a link from McMaster University/ Cootes Dr/ Dundas St, via the King St right-of-way and Olympic Dr, to the intersection of York Rd/ Valley Rd.” – CityLAB

One of the challenges and opportunities of creating the multi-use trail is that there are a number of stakeholders to consult with, which include conservation authorities, environmental groups, community members, private landowners, and more. Each stakeholder will have a unique and valuable perspective to contribute to the project, and it will be the responsibility of SUSTAIN 4S06 students to interview each stakeholder, listen and understand their perspectives, and to capture their ideas, concerns, recommendations, and questions.

SUSTAIN students will have access to potential trail and route designs prepared by CityLAB students, which will support their stakeholder engagement and research. Through qualitative research methodology, SUSTAIN students will interview and then conduct a thematic analysis of the interview data to pull out the key themes and important messages shared by the stakeholders. SUSTAIN students will work with Masters engineering design students on the next iteration of the ideal design solution that would result in positive outcomes for the stakeholders, the City, and the community.

Community Project Champions(s) Daryl Bender, Project Manager, Alternative Transportation, City of Hamilton

Cynthia Graham, Manager, Landscape Architectural Services, City of Hamilton

The Hamilton Health Team is one of 42 Ontario Health Teams across the province that are working to build a connected health care system centred around patients, families and caregivers.  The HHT’s goal is to come alongside community and health care providers to strengthen local services, make it easier for patients to navigate the system and create seamless transitions between providers.

The HHT is working with partners across Hamilton to develop a Health Equity framework that will inform, support, and guide all Hamilton Health Team work.

The HHT is inviting 2SS3 students to research healthcare systems across the world and learn how they have successfully integrated Health Equity frameworks at different levels (personal, cultural and structural) this could include governance structures, decision makings tools, and training.  Students will be asked to research and develop 5-10 recommendations that the Hamilton Health Team could then implement and suggest to over 200 partners to help shift and strengthen the local health system.

Community Project Champion(s)

• Sarah Precious, Manager of Engagement and Communications at Hamilton Health Team
• Melissa McCallum, Hamilton Health Team Director

Climate change has been declared the greatest global health threat in the 21st century, and also the greatest opportunity.¹   With Healthcare contributing to approximately 4.6% of Canada’s carbon and carbon equivalent emissions² there is opportunity and urgency to mitigate the impact of healthcare on the environment

The Hamilton Health Team has been given permission by Dr. Meghan Davis to use the work of the Hamilton Family Health Team’s Green Initiative and look at how it could be applied to a Long Term Care setting.  This initiative looked at how we can make our healthcare delivery model more environmentally friendly to provide our patients with a sustainable future, reduce costs, reduce waste and mitigate the impact of healthcare on the environment.  The team developed worksheets, educational posters, how to embed green initiatives in patient care, office level recommendations and more.

Students are invited to work with a Green Team leader, a physician leader delivering care at a Long Term Care facility, and a Hamilton Health Team manager to develop the scope and deliverables of this project.

Community Project Champion(s)

• Marijke Jurriaans, Operations Support, Hamilton Family Health Team
• Dr. Brian McKenna, Family Physician, Hamilton Family Health Team & Grace Villa Long-Term Care
• Melissa McCallum, Hamilton Health Team Director 

Past SUSTAIN 2SS3 – Advocating for Sustainability students prepared an advocacy plan with the goal to elevate the discussion about the lack of public washrooms as a human rights and public health issue. The group applied an intersectional lens to the issue and developed a social media campaign to highlight how the lack of public washrooms impacts people in different ways depending on their personal characteristics. From people who are houseless, to seniors, to those experiencing extreme heat, and to those who have medical conditions such as crohn’s and colitis, to name just a few, everyone needs to use the washroom and some people are impacted more than others. The group’s project culminated in the launch of their social media campaign (Instagram and Twitter) and an OpEd in the Hamilton Spectator.  

Past SUSTAIN 2SS3 students were supported by the YWCA Hamilton, and there are many other groups who have been tackle this issue from various perspectives, including Keeping Six, HAMSMaRT, and the Beasley Neighbourhood Association (BNA). Specifically, in preparation for their updated Neighbourhood Plan (see the 2017 Plan here), community organizers of the BNA are hearing from residents that access to parks is very important, and part of what makes a good park is access to publicly washrooms.  

In support of community-led advocacy, the BNA is looking for SUSTAIN 2SS3 students to source the ‘top five questions that opponents will have about public washrooms’ as well as to source the most effective and compelling responses to each question. Students who tackle this project are expected to conduct research of best practices in Ontario, North America, and around the World. In addition, students will receive support from YWCA, Keeping Six and HAMSMaRT, BNA, and local councillors. Students will use information collected from the literature and personal consultation to equip community advocates to engage in dialogue with City Council, radio, newspaper, and residents.   

Community Project Champion(s):

Matt Thompson, Beasley Neighbourhood 

Project Mentor: Violetta Nikolskaya, YWCA Hamilton 

If you believe that what we buy, how we buy, and who we buy from impacts our environment and our society, this project might be for you.

McMaster’s department of Strategic Procurement spends a quarter of a billion dollars on goods and services each year. The department has led incredible sustainability initiatives, like working with Grand & Toy to eliminate 20,000 cardboard boxes annually in place of reusable totes and bags, and collaborations with past SUSTAIN students.

In Fall 2021, SUSTAIN 3S03 students updated McMaster’s Request for Proposal template, created an RFP Evaluation tool, and highlighted supplier and McMaster success stories (see this Daily News story about their work). Later, in Winter 2022, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students researched best practices and drafted McMaster’s first Sustainable Procurement Policy that is currently in development.

This Spring, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will continue building on the momentum of past groups.

The goal of this project is to support McMaster’s department of Strategic Procurement in developing engaging workshops and/or other supports for members of the McMaster community to be better equipped to buy more sustainably.

Students who select this project will work directly with McMaster’s Director of Strategic Procurement to develop supports for purchasers to populate McMaster’s Sustainable Procurement webpage and help McMaster vote for sustainability through each of the millions of dollars it directs each year.

Community Project Champion(s):

• Angelo DiLettera, Director Strategic Procurement, Financial Affairs, McMaster University
• Tracie Felton, Manager Financial Affairs
• Helena Teng, Project Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

Stop Sprawl HamOnt (SSHO) is a coalition of citizens and community groups advocating in an intense and unprecedented way to maintain Hamilton’s urban boundary and save farmland from sprawl development.   

SSHO led a campaign in the summer of 2023 to engage 18,000 Hamiltonians to participate in a City-led survey. Over 90% wanted to save the 3,300 acres of farmland that was at risk. Now, they are advocating to the province, to undue the provincial decision to override the municipal plan and impose 5,000 acres of development on some of the country’s best farmland. The soil is considered in the top 0.5% of the best soil in the country and we need to save this non-renewable resource as this land is priceless.  

Students who take on this project would work directly with a Co-Founder of SSHO to host a farm event at Manorun Organic Farm on Saturday, November 4 to engage with young, local farmers. The goal of this project is to increase McMaster students’ awareness of agricultural land use and its scarcity. 

This project is open to student creativity, and some ideas may include adding live music, food, and/or games. 

Ideal students would be those who have an interest in or curiosity about saving farmland, politics, and who enjoy collaborative planning with others.    

There is room for all ideas and skills, just bring your passion!   

Note; when declaring your interest in this project, be sure to advise if you are available on November 4th between 10am and 4pm for set-up, the duration of the event, and wrap up. 

Community Project Champion: 

• Michelle Tom, Co-Founder Stop Sprawl HamOnt   
• Shania Ramharrack-Maharaj, Founder of Stop Sprawl Students 

CPC Support: 

• Chris Krucker, Manorun Farm  

The Tree Equity Project, with Green Venture, aims to improve urban forest health and tree equitable distribution on CityHousing Hamilton properties to build up community health in our city. Over the summer of 2021, a tree inventory team has measured and collected data on tree species, health, and site characteristics at CityHousing Hamilton properties. Next steps include engaging the community to foster Tree Stewardship teams to care for and plant trees on these properties and help reduce the inequity gap of urban forest canopy in the Hamilton area.

Students who take on this project would work directly with Green Venture’s Urban Forest Coordinator to develop community engagement tools for CityHousing Hamilton residents including but not limited to: developing educational workshops, planning a tree walk,  creating social media posts, and writing a blog post.

Ideal students would be those who have an interest in Hamilton’s urban forest, have a passion for tree ecology, and are good communicators!

Community Project Champions: 

• Bella Aoshana, Urban Forest Coordinator, Green Venture

Meal Exchange‘s Hungry for Knowledge report was released in Maclean’s magazine in October of 2016. This report was the largest cross-campus investigation of student food insecurity in Canada, and determined that 2 in 5 students on five university campuses had experienced moderate or severe levels of food insecurity – the inability to access sufficient healthy food due to financial constraints. Meal Exchange is now working with the campuses included in the Hungry for Knowledge report to develop innovative programs to reduce student food insecurity.

As student food insecurity is influenced by a variety of factors at the campus, community, city, province, and federal level, we are interested in discovering the prevalence of food insecurity at McMaster University, the barriers faced by McMaster students, and the student groups who are most at risk. The Hungry for Knowledge survey can be used to learn more about food insecurity among McMaster students. We would also like to get student ideas and suggestions on ways to raise awareness of this issue among the student population.

This project would allow McMaster students to become a part of Canada’s national student food movement and connect with a network of peers, faculty, and community and advocacy organizations across the country, as well as build essential research methods and knowledge translation skills.

This project is open to two groups – one group to conduct the survey and another group to hold awareness-raising events and/or advocacy activities on campus.

Community Project Champion(s):

Merryn Maynard, Meal Exchange

Stephanie Bertolo, VP Admin, McMaster Students Union

This project will build on the work of students in SUSTAIN 2SS3 (Summer 2021) and work towards implementing a sustainable Community Fridge on McMaster’s main campus. Community fridges are stocked with community-donated provisions, which folks in need of food can take at any time. With food insecurity becoming a growing issue on campus, this fridge will help people access much-needed fresh food and produce. Students will: build on relationships with campus and community partners; ensure the Community Fridge is set up in a sustainable manner; secure a weather-proofed outdoor fridge and donations from campus and community partners; promote the fridge on social media; support with recruitment of volunteers; and ensure the Community Fridge is accessible and appropriate for students with the greatest needs.

Community Project Champions:

• Zeinab Khawaja, Health Promoter for Student Wellness Centre
• Morghen Jael, Director of the McMaster Food Collective Centre

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  

The Haldimand War Memorial Hospital (HWMH) aims to serve its community by providing the best possible care for its residents. Located in Dunnville, the HWMH serves several rural communities, including Caledonia, Dunnville, Hagersville, Jarvis, and Cayuga, with a total population of roughly 49,000 people over ~1,250 square kilometers. You can learn more about the Haldimand County community here. 

HWMH has embraced the call to green health care and is an active leader in hospital environmental stewardship. From their 2014 Energy Conversation and Demand Management Plan to replacing Styrofoam take-out containers with recycled cardboard containers, HWMH is on the forefront of green care. Moving into their next phase of green work, the HWMH is looking to follow the PEACH sustainability guidebook for hospitals, including the road map to environmental stewardship.  

Students will work with HWMH and their Environmental Sustainability Committee to identify low-hanging fruit as outlined within the PEACH tree diagram, develop an implementation action plan, including an evaluation to evaluate the impact and outcome, with an opportunity to present these elements to relevant stakeholders. The Committee has previously identified MDI inhalers as a top priority project for HWMH but has also identified projects within procurement as potential initiatives.  

Community Project Champions: 

• Dr. Reza Kazemi, Physician Lead for Environmental Sustainability (HWMH) 
• Marijke Jurriaans, Sustainability Project Manager (Greater Hamilton Health Network)

Active travel, like biking, promotes physical and mental health, and is a low-carbon mode of transportation. Having a safe and appropriate place to park your bike when you arrive at a destination promotes cycling and supports those who bike.  

Communities at and who access community and social services centres, like hospitals and health care facilities, have described a desire for more bike racks at their locations.  

The City of Hamilton has a process and form for requesting more bike racks, that is publicly available. 

The goal of this project is to increase access to bike parking at a social services centre in Hamilton. Measures of success include the number of new requests made by members of social service centres, the number of new bike racks added, and the reach of the reporting back to the centre and its community members. This project can also be extended for future SUSTAIN students to continue through implementation, measurement, and reporting at other social services centres. 

Related Links: 

Greater Hamilton Health Network: https://greaterhamiltonhealthnetwork.ca/  

Bike Rack Request Form: https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/getting-around/biking-cyclists/bike-parking-request-form  

Community Project Champion: 

• Alison Carlyle, Project Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 
• Marijke Jurriaans, Sustainability Project Manager, Greater Hamilton Health Network 

Project Advisors 

• Evan Nopper, Active Transportation Technologist – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton  

• Peter Topalovic, Program Manager – Sustainable Mobility, Planning and Economic Development, Transportation Planning & Parking, City of Hamilton 
• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office  

Increasing Waste Diversion at St. Peter’s Hospital

St. Peters Hospital has a newly-developed Green Team that is focused on increasing the hospital cafeteria’s 7% waste diversion rate. The Team has identified the most common culprits — misplaced PPE, coffee cups, and dirty food containers. During the month of March 2020, 4 out of 16 bags of recycling were sent to landfill, due to contamination by misplaced items. 

The Team recognizes the significant opportunity to increase the hospital’s waste diversion through infrastructure, education, and employee engagement, and they are looking for support from SUSTAIN 3S03 students.

While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, possible directions may include analysis of waste diversion data resulting from newly-modified bins with shaped deposit holes; research to learn best practices of others such as Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare[1]; creation of an animated video, like this one from Sheridan College; a follow-up quiz to engage staff, test their knowledge, monitor engagement and celebrate their success.

Students will have the opportunity to work directly with the Green Team, which is made up of a diverse group including a Doctor, Nurse Practitioner, Coordinator of Volunteer Resources, Waste Management Coordinator, Retail Site Manager, and more.

1. Stone, D. (2017). Greening healthcare at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. Healthcare Management Forum, 30(2), 93–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470416677118

Community Project Champion(s):

Kim Gutt, Waste Management Coordinator

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.   

In the fall of 2022, a group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students and their Community Project Champions laid the groundwork for McMaster’s ground nesting bee garden. See their project report here. Why do bees need a garden to nest? Because many bees nest and lay eggs under leaf piles, in tubular structures, and in the ground. Following the success of the group’s work, a native bee nesting garden has been installed on McMaster’s main campus. To continue supporting native bees at McMaster, SUSTAIN 3S03 students who take on this project will organize and facilitate a community gardening event so that students, staff, faculty, and members of the broader community can get their hands dirty while planting shrubs/bushes and additional native pollinators and creating a garden ideal for McMaster bees to nest and lay their eggs for spring.  

Students who choose this project must be available to attend the event on November 9th from 8am until 12pm. 

Community Project Champions:  

• Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster and Pollinator Team member  
• Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Project Advisor: 

• Susan Dudley, Professor of Biology and Pollinator Team member  

Students will be responsible for planning, executing and disseminating the results of a participatory mapping workshop with community members in the Centennial neighbourhoods (Riverdale). The objective of this workshop is to learn more about community concerns and priority areas that we can focus to make Centennial streets friendlier. Students will be responsible for planning out the workshop, which includes connecting with community members (may need to visit the area), preparing materials such as maps, finding space to run the workshop in, and performing background research, with materials that include: the Friendly Streets Toolkit, Centennial Neighbourhoods Secondary Plan, and Centennial Transportation Master Plan. Friendly Streets will provide a protocol for how to run the participatory mapping workshop, based on other workshops we have run, but this protocol is open to revision. After the workshop, students will be responsible for adding the data to our existing maps, such as this,  through ArcGIS’ online tools. Lastly, students will report on this data through the Friendly Streets Blog and social media platforms.

Community Project Champion(s):

Waverley Birch, Project Manager, Friendly Streets

Beatrice Ekoko, Project Manager, Friendly Streets

McMaster’s ‘Bring Your Own Bottle’ initiative “aims to reduce the use of single use plastic water bottles by encouraging the McMaster community to use the water bottle filling stations located throughout campus.”  

The initiative and the formation of a committee made up of students, faculty, and staff, was inspired by past SUSTAIN student research that identified a need to increase access to filtered water stations, especially for on-campus residence students, so that we could effectively move away from single-use water bottles.  

The Bring Your Own Bottle Working Group is looking for SUSTAIN 3S03 students to help advance this work by analyzing Residence-Wide Student Survey results, measuring usage of refill stations, reporting on water bottle sales data, and recommending strategies to further promote water bottle refilling and reuse.   

Each semester, Residence Life runs their ‘Residence-Wide Survey’, which asks dozens of questions of residence students, including questions related to single-use plastic bottles and water bottle refilling. SUSTAIN students have been involved in analyzing the results and making recommendations for improvement. While survey data is one source of information, we also have access to plastic-bottle sales from Hospitality Services and can collect data on ‘water bottles saved’ from refill station counters on campus. If you believe that ‘we can’t manage what we don’t measure’ and that ‘we need to make data-driven decisions’, then this project might be for you!  

SUSTAIN 3S03 Students from Fall 2022 created a framework for this analysis and established benchmarks for future SUSTAIN 3S03 students to build upon. This data and framework will be made available to students who choose this project.   

Community Project Champion: 

Monica Palkowski, Living Learning Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services 

Project Liaison: 

Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

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 

Sustainability is a complex, system-wide issue. Sustainability problems are interdisciplinary problems, requiring interdisciplinary solutions. Identifying problems, generating sustainable solutions, and working to realize positive change, takes teamwork, collaboration, and community. The Executive Board of the Hamilton Sustainability Professionals Network (SPN)believe that great teams are formed first through personal connections, where both parties give and take in a reciprocal relationship. As the building blocks of creating great teams, community, and culture change, personal connections are not always easy to form and foster but they are worth the investment. Mentor-mentee relationships are an integral part of building the types of relationships where individuals share knowledge, meet and discuss common areas of interest, and start to build connections that can have a profound impact.

The goal of this project is to develop and help host a workshop session at the Hamilton HIVE’s annual young professional’s conference, HIVEX, which will educate young professionals about mentorship. Through storytelling, roundtable discussions, and workshop-style activity, this workshop will de-mystify common misconceptions around mentorship and offer steps that current or prospective mentors and mentees can use to form powerful personal connections, give back, and have positive, sustainable impact. The proposed objectives include the following: Present what ‘real’ mentor-mentee relationships look like in Hamilton right now; highlight the impact that mentor-mentee relationships can have for community development and personal growth; and inform people about how to get started on developing or enhancing their mentor-mentee relationships to have a positive, sustainable impact.

Students who take on this project will have the opportunity to design and conduct university-level primary research; develop connections across Hamilton’s diverse professional networks; gain experience presenting at a conference; hone their skills in project management, time management, organization, and communication; as well as have the opportunity to choose from Hamilton SPN’s Executive team members to be your personal mentor over the duration of the academic term. Exec members include: Maria Topalovic, Jayde Liebersbach, Janelle Trant, Jay Carter, Kate Whalen, Vikram Hardatt.

Contact

Vikram Hardatt Executive Board MemberHamilton Sustainability Professionals NetworkBy day, Vikram is a Transportation Planner at IBI Group and Program Manager at Smart Commute Hamilton.vikram.hardatt@gmail.com

The Hamilton Farmers’ Market is one of our city’s gems but is struggling logistically (1) and economically. Millennials, those born between 1982 and 1997, are the largest demographic in Hamilton, have a strong sense of belonging to the community, and participate in community life. The goal of this project is for SUSTAIN 4S06 students to learn about the attitudes and perceptions of millennials towards the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, which will provide opportunities for data-driven decision-making to enhance the Market and, as a result, the local community.

Community Project Champions(s)

Elly Bowen, Board Member of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, Citizen Representative

Bill Slowka, Market Manager, Hamilton Farmers’ Market

With an aging population, older housing stock, and the influence of gentrification, many residents may be in need of external home repairs, but lack the expertise and/or finances to pay for them. Unshoveled sidewalks and other exterior property concerns, such as overgrown lawns and broken fences, result in potentially dangerous situations for residents and neighbours. Non-compliance with city by-laws including the “Snow Removal By-law 03-296” and the “Yard Maintenance By-law 10-118” results in fines and compliance orders for property owners. While volunteer-based programs like Snow Angels and skill-development programs like the Neighbourhood Home Improvement Program have been developed, they struggle with on-going financial sustainability, volunteer recruitment and retention, or meeting skill requiring.

The needs within community are varied, but through the support of engaged citizens and City departments like the Neighbourhood Action Strategy (NAS) and Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC), localized approaches can be developed and implemented.

As part of community conversations and neighbourhood actions, the need for a program of this sort, is evident. It’s believed that the trade skills exist within the community, but are not being accessed for reasons including liability insurance, as well as skills in marketing and business development. Those who may be interested in investing time and energy in developing their skills and starting a small business may not know the wide array of resources, grants, and supports available to them. Connecting residents to available services offered, including the Hamilton Tool Library for tool rentals as well as the Gigit app for connecting needs and services in Hamilton, and then to those in the community who could benefit from their services, would provide a win-win-win for homeowners, skilled individuals, and the city as a whole.

Resources

Our Future Hamilton ReportsNeighbourhood Action StrategySnow AngelsSmall Business Enterprise CentreGigit

Contact

Jocelyn StruttProject Manager, Neighbourhood Action StrategyCity of Hamilton jocelyn.strutt@hamilton.ca

This project is great for Sustain students who want to work on a sustainability initiative that has social, environmental, and economic impacts. No Lunch Money is not just about saving lunch money, it’s also about forming community and social connects as well as about reducing food waste.

The challenge that NLM is facing is that we want every student at Mac to know about us and to feel comfortable taking part if they like. We understand that part of this includes removing stigma, connecting with student values, and also to demonstrating our legitimacy. However, we realize that there is much more we can do and we want to hear what students think.

Sustain students who take on this project will be encouraged to review and critique No Lunch Money’s current services and operations from a student engagement perspective, develop and conduct a student survey to see what’s working, what’s not, what we could do to be better, and from the group’s analysis and survey findings, provide a report of recommendations as well as work with NLM to implement one recommendation and report on the outcome of the change. Ideally, students will be able to identify a problem, recommend and implement a solution, as well as measure and report on the change in student engagement and participation as a result. This project is open to student innovation and creativity.

Community Project Champion(s):

Sai Garlapati, Chair of NoLunchMoney

The global 100 in 1 Day celebration of community action was brought to Hamilton in 2015. Hosted annually, community organizers have generated several hundred resident-led ‘urban interventions’ to foster positive change.   

Following the completion of its seventh year in Hamilton, and after two socially-distanced events taking place in 2020 and 2021 to ensure compliance with COVID-19 public health guidelines, community leaders feel it’s an opportune time to obtain participant feedback. 

Two groups of SUSTAIN 4S06 students will work in tandem, with one group interviewing ~7-12 members of the 100 in 1 Day planning committee and one group interviewing ~7-12 members of the Hamilton community who led a 100 in 1 Day intervention in 2020 or 2021.  

Findings in the form of key themes and recommendations will be shared publicly and presented to members of the 100 in 1 day planning committee to help organizers renew and enhance the 100in1 program. 

Community Project Champion 

• Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office, McMaster University, and member of the 100 in 1 Day planning committee. 

Related Resources 

• 100 in 1 Day Hamilton Facebook page 
• Ginsberg, J. (2015). Hamiltonians come together for 100in1Day community action campaign. Hamilton Spectator 

With increasing heat alerts, the City will be called on to continue creating more cooling centres, which range from offering water bottles by the Salvation Army to offering free swimming at public pools.^[1] In addition to formal cooling centres provided by the City, there are also informal places and ways to cool down, such as going to the mall or parks with lots of shade. Hamilton residents living in older homes and apartment buildings have first-hand experience living in extreme heat during the summer, because their houses are built to retain heat and often don’t have air conditioning.^[2]  The Beasley Neighbourhood Association (BNA) has been very engaged in discussing the issue of extreme heat and cooling centres in their neighbourhood, such as by advocating for more shade at Beasley Park and taking temperature readings of neighbourhood homes2.

The goal of this project is to understand BNA resident attitudes and perceptions towards extreme heat events, with a focus on assessing formal and informal cooling centres to inform future developments and enhancements.

Community Project Champion:

Matt Thompson, Resident and Beasley Neighbourhood Association member

Promotion of active transportation is a promising solution to building physical activity into daily life for many university students and helping the University meet its goals of encouraging sustainable travel. Cycling mode share in Hamilton is currently 1.2%, and most cycling trips in the city start and end near the University. While this is promising, there is evidence that Hamilton has plenty of potential for further cycling growth especially among certain demographics like students. To encourage more students to bicycle, we need to understand how to engage and support those who do not currently cycle but are interested. One example is a Bike Buddy program that supports habit change by pairing individuals who want to develop cycling skills with an experienced cyclist.

Students will have the opportunity to conduct a feasibility study for implementing a Bike Buddy program on campus, as well as develop and facilitate an engagement campaign or workshop to connect students. While the latter deliverable is open to student creativity and innovation, it could include the following: sharing knowledge of safe routes and cycling programs in Hamilton, providing advice for riding in different seasons and settings, asking friends to help use SoBi bicycles.

Community Project Champion(s):

Elise Desjardins, Graduate student in the Master of Public Health program, Wilson Leader

The Community Permaculture Lab was born in autumn of 2017 and it all began with a man named Adam wanting to make a change on a large scale and a woman named Cynthia offering her backyard as a pilot project… The Community Permaculture Lab’s mission is to build resilience in our communities in order to live well in the face of climate emergency, through growing connections, knowledge, and application, year by year. Our goal is to see a Community Permaculture Lab in every neighborhood of Hamilton.” ~ Community Permaculture Lab

The community associated with constructing the CPL has worked diligently over the past 1.5 years to initiate and establish an outdoor teaching and learning facility, close to campus, that exemplifies permaculture (an ethical design system for people and Earth), living sustainably and community-campus communion.

Resulting from their efforts, there are now a number of native plant species populating the garden; however, they are not yet identified by signage. The goal for this project will be to work with members of the CPL community to learn about the plant species; conduct additional research about the plants, their histories, and their importance to permaculture; and then create and install engaging and educational signage made using materials and processes that align with the 12 Permaculture Design Principles.

The CPL meets every second Thursday and every fourth Saturday of the month. Students who choose this project should be available at some point between 10am and 2pm on those days to meet with community members and their community project champions.

Community Project Champion(s):

Cynthia Meyer

A Carbon Sink Forest is one that absorbs more Carbon Dioxide than it produces and is an important resource that improves air quality. 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 6 at the designated location. This project will be the first step in creating a Carbon Sink Forest in partnership with McMaster University and Trees for Hamilton.

Students will also be responsible for educating youth on the importance of trees and will be leading a workshop on October 23 to the McMaster Child and Youth University.

This project requires students to be available on both October 23 and November 6, to be comfortable working with others, to gain skills in presenting and running a workshop and event, and to be passionate about trees and the natural environment.

Community Project Champions:

• Wayne Terryberry, Coordinator, Natural Lands and Outdoor Recreation
• Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

In the fall of 2022, a group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students and their Community Project Champions laid the groundwork for McMaster’s ground nesting bee garden. This fall, another group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students and project champions will be facilitating the planting of native pollinators in the garden — the group will be both planting pollinator species as well as creating the infrastructure for bees to nest.  

This project at McMaster provides an excellent opportunity to amplify this information obtained and use it to advocate for individuals to also support pollinators in their own gardens and/or communities.  

Students who choose this project should be available to attend the community gardening event on November 9th from 8am until 12pm.   

Community Project Champions 

Ashley Low, Communications Assistant, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Advisor 

Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster and Pollinator Team member 

Planting Trees by Searching the Web 

If you’re wondering how searching the web can result in more trees, check out Ecosia here. Ecosia is a free search engine that donates its advertising revenue to reforestation projects across the globe. For every 45 searches, approximately one tree is planted. Ecosia has planted over 160 million trees and has approximately 200 million users. In October 2022, Zero Waste McMaster (an awesome student club) collaborated with the McMaster Students Union (MSU) to pilot Ecosia on 20+ staff computers, and then worked with SUSTAIN students and Mills Memorial Library to install it as the default browser on 170 public-facing computers (read the Daily News story here). 

Following this early success, this year’s SUSTAIN 2SS3 students have two opportunities to advocate for others to adopt Ecosia.  

While the project is open to creativity, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can expect to create communications that could be disseminated through email, memo, and PowerPoint presentation to students, department leaders, and/or staff teams. Students will develop communication strategies that advocate for exploration and/or the use of Ecosia to users, and gain community feedback to learn more about effective implementation strategies.  

Community Project Champion(s): 

• Nelly Okwu-wolu, Project Team Executive, Zero Waste McMaster 

Project Liaison: 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs 

If you’re wondering how searching the web can result in more trees, check out Ecosia here. Ecosia is a free search engine that donates its advertising revenue to reforestation projects across the globe. For every 45 searches, approximately one tree is planted. Ecosia has planted over 160 million trees and has approximately 200 million users. In October 2022, Zero Waste McMaster (an awesome student club) collaborated with the McMaster Students Union (MSU) to pilot Ecosia on 20+ staff computers, and then worked with SUSTAIN students and Mills Memorial Library to install it as the default browser on 170 public-facing computers (read the Daily News story here). 

SUSTAIN students and Zero Waste McMaster have continued to collaborate to advocate for the adoption of Ecosia on personal and networked computers alike. In the Fall of 2022, SUSTAIN students worked with McMaster’s GIS department to have Ecosia installed as the default browser on all GIS computer lab computers, and they began discussions with staff leaders of computer labs in Life Sciences as well as Integrated Sciences. Another group surveyed Integrated Sciences students who had been informed of Ecosia by their course instructors. The students reported their interest in a mini, in-class workshop on how to download and use Ecosia on their personal computers.  

This semester’s SUSTAIN 2SS3 students have the opportunity to develop a mini, in-class workshop about using Ecosia that can be delivered by Zero Waste McMaster executive members to classes across campus.  

While the project is open to creativity, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students can expect to create the following: 1) draft email to course instructors requesting the opportunity for either an in-person visit or virtual A2L post about Ecosia, 2) the presentation material for an effective and engaging in-person workshop, and 3) the material for an A2L post that can serve as both a re-cap to the in-person presentation or as a stand-alone presentation/guide. Other ideas include a short follow-up survey to measure the effectiveness of the presentation material and the creation of content that can be modified for social media as an addition to the key items noted above.  

Community Project Champion(s): 

• Nelly Okwu-wolu, Project Team Executive, Zero Waste McMaster 

Project Liaison: 

• Dr. Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs 

Planting Trees on McMaster Campus to Increase Biodiversity and Support the Solitary Bee Population

Trees for Hamilton is a non-profit organization whose mission is to plant native trees in those areas of need in Hamilton and improve the long-term health of those living in our community. Trees for Hamilton develops, promotes, and facilitates projects which will preserve, conserve, and enhance the natural landscapes and environment of Hamilton. (Source)

After a great success in 2018 and 2019, this project will be continuing and expanding for the Fall of 2020. This year the goal is to research, recommend, and facilitate the planting of trees on McMaster campus to enhance the natural landscape. This project will also partner with the other SUSTAIN 3S03 group The Solitary Bee Project to help facilitate planting recommended shrubs around the 50 bee homes on campus. 

The challenge for McMaster students is to research which shrubs and trees are best to place on campus, select the areas in which they should be planted, and facilitate the planting on campus by working with Facility Services. 

Students will also be responsible for determining and reporting on measures of success to share the project outcomes. Preparing a report on the opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for future iteration of this project will support the continuity and enhancement in future years.

Students will not be required to come to McMaster campus and all planting will be completed by McMaster Facility Services staff members. 

Community Project Champion(s):

Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster     

Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

Many post-secondary institutions have banned or are phasing out the sale of bottled water on campus. However, there are some important questions that current literature does not answer for us: Does banning bottled water increase or decrease plastic waste? Will students and staff choose to refill or opt for high-sugar alternatives instead? What change or changes (i.e., a ban or something else) need to happen to reduce plastic waste generated from beverages, on campus and beyond? While this project is open to student creativity, possible directions include: 1) designing a research study/pilot. 2) searching out researching faculty who may be interested in consulting on study design, from an environmental/health lens, 3) running a survey to better understand student behaviour/opinions, and/or 4) reaching out to other schools who have already implemented a similar ban.

Community Project Champion(s):

Liana Bontempo, Wellness and Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services 

Promoting and Supporting Cycling on Campus

Launched in 2002 as an initiative of the MSU, MACycle was a “Do-It-Yourself bike shop” that “seeks to get more students on affordable and reliable bicycles” as a way to build a healthier and more environmentally-friendly community [1].

Due to the service’s space requirements, MACycle was relocated from central campus (previously located in Wentworth House, before the construction of L.R. Wilson Hall) to behind the stadium. According to a recent survey, of the 790 that responded 667 students had either never used or did not know about the service [2].

The service was reviewed in Fall 2019, which highlighted the lack of student engagement with the service, the inability to fulfil the mandate of its Operating Policy and the new availability of bike self-serve repair stations on and around campus. Consequently, MACycle was rescinded in Winter 2020 and is no longer in operation.

McMaster’s Multi-modal Transportation for Healthy Communities Committee has identified both a gap in the bike community and an opportunity to re-imagine how we support cycling as an active, safe, and affordable form of transportation for students. The MSU will also be completing a large-scale community needs assessment this year to identify gaps in overall service delivery, resources and student supports. SUSTAIN 3S03 students will have support from the Committee and available consultation with representatives from the McMaster Students Union who will help guide them in their research, including resources offered at other campuses and in other communities for cycling groups; consultation with McMaster stakeholders; and dissemination of findings and recommendations. Time permitting, students are also encouraged to engage and implement their ideas virtually. Examples might include sharing bike repair tips via social media, renting tools, sharing posts about bikes for sale in the community, and/or hosting virtual repair workshops. This project is open to student creativity and innovation as it supports research and consultation about the history and suggested evolution of cycling support and promotion at McMaster.

Community Project Champion(s):

Wayne Terryberry, Coordinator, Natural Lands & Outdoor Recreation

Giancarlo Da-Ré, President, MSU

On Sunday, June 18, 2023 from 10 am to 2 pm, King Street East in Hamilton will be closed to vehicle traffic from John Street to Gage Avenue and opened for residents to walk, cycle, roll up and down the street. The street will be transformed into additional public space with physical activity stations and other activities. This event is the first of its kind and is an extremely exciting opportunity! The goal of Open Streets Hamilton is to get as many people as possible outside and exploring on the event day. The event touches on a number of goals: community engagement, increased physical activity, LRT awareness, sustainable transportation, environmental stewardship and business engagement.

Students who take on this project will be tasked with promoting this event through the following ways: 

1. Design a 6-week social media campaign (for IG, FB, Twitter) promoting the event that includes:

1. 1. Save the dates and action posts (i.e: Join us for a run, Check out this yoga class at 10am etc.)
   2. Encourage residents of Hamilton to register their own Open Streets Activation
   3. Volunteer recruitment 
   4. Template for organization/programming partners to promote their involvement and easily create posts like “I’m part of Open Streets” 
   5. Draft a press release for media outlets
2. Create an map (virtual and physical) that highlights programming hubs and program partner locations from John Street to Gage Avenue
3. Research an open source photo sharing gallery to present to your community champion.

This project is ideal for organized and driven students who are creative and passionate about Hamilton!

Community Project Champion

• Laura Buckley, Open Streets 2023 Coordinator  

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, a plan to implement a native bee nesting garden, and is a Bee City Campus. As a designated Bee City Campus, the University is required to participate in Pollinator Week, which is occurring from June 19 –25, 2023.  

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students who take on this project would be tasked with creating a campaign for Pollinator Week. This will entail: 

1. Designing a social media campaign for @macsustain and @natureatmac Instagram accounts that will be posted for Pollinator Week 
2. Pre-recording a social media story takeover for @macsustain and @natureatmac Instagram accounts that will be posted for Pollinator Week 
3. Drafting a Daily News story highlighting McMaster’s native bees that will be posted for Pollinator Week 

This project is open to student creativity and is ideal for students who like graphic design and are passionate about educating the McMaster and broader community about McMaster’s native bee population.  

Community Project Champion: 

• Noah Stegman, Coordinator of Nature at McMaster and Pollinator Team member  
• Veronique Audette, Coordinator, Communication & Initiatives of Nature at McMaster 

You’ve seen it done many times before; companies encourage customers to bring a reusable container to reduce waste. Examples include: reusable grocery bags at grocery stores, reusable jars at Bulk Barn, reusable mugs at Nook Café and containers at Mustard Seed Co-op. But can we extend this to cafeteria and restaurant food?

Imagine if your sandwich could be placed in the reusable container you brought from home, rather than being wrapped in paper and plastic? It would reduce the packaging waste and also allow you to keep half fresh for later, possibly reducing food waste too. However, what are the barriers and challenges to implementing such a program and encouraging people to adopt it?

Students are challenged with identifying opportunities and barriers involved, working with Hospitality Services to pilot a program for accepting reusable containers in at least one eatery with at least one food product, and reporting on the outcomes and recommendations for next steps.

Community Project Champion(s):

Chris Roberts, Director of Hospitality Services

You’ve seen it done many times before; companies encourage customers to bring a reusable container to reduce waste. Examples include: reusable grocery bags at grocery stores, reusable jars at Bulk Barn, reusable mugs at Nook Café and containers at Mustard Seed Co-op. But can we extend this to cafeteria and restaurant food?

Imagine if your sandwich could be placed in the reusable container you brought from home, rather than being wrapped in paper and plastic? It would reduce the packaging waste and also allow you to keep half fresh for later, possibly reducing food waste too. However, what are the barriers and challenges to implementing such a program and encouraging people to adopt it?

Students are challenged with identifying opportunities and barriers involved, working with Hospitality Services to pilot a program for accepting reusable containers in at least one eatery with at least one food product, and reporting on the outcomes and recommendations for next steps.

Community Project Champion(s):

Chris Roberts, Director of Hospitality Services

The City of Hamilton, in partnership with SoBi, implemented a bike share program in 2015 with a fleet of 750 bikes.

Currently, there are 7 bike share stations on McMaster’s main campus, which offer substantial opportunity for students to use the service to get to and from Campus. Additionally, Sobi has consulted the Mac population to create accessible membership options. However, the parking lots are still full and line-ups at the HSR stops still exist. The question Sobi is posing to Sustain 3S03 students is “How do we increase student Sobi ridership by decreasing barriers?”. This project is open to student creativity and innovation.

Contacts

Peter TopalovicProject Manager Sustainable Mobility ProgramsCity of Hamiltonstdstpla2@Hamilton.ca

Reducing Energy Consumption in The Hamilton Farmers’ Market

The Hamilton Farmers’ Market is looking to reduce its environmental footprint. Currently, the market is lit by 697 fluorescent bulbs. The Market ensures that the lights are turned off when the market is closed but is wondering whether or not to replace them with more efficient bulbs, and if so, when/how, and what options are best for their purpose? Furthermore, each vendor stall is individually metered, and The Market is wondering how they could use the information they have to determine the best opportunities to achieve energy reductions.  

While this project is open to student creativity and innovation, possible directions may include the creation of social-comparison energy reports[1] for similarly-typed vendor groups and providing a limited number of interested vendors with the opportunity to engage in virtual consultation to explore additional opportunities for energy reduction. Students who select this project should have knowledge of energy consumption, auditing, and conservation strategies, and would be expected to undertake additional research, such as to support vendors and The Market to learn about best practices for energy reduction. 

Students will be working remotely and must be committed to effective communication with The Market staff, vendors, and board to share information. Students who engage in this project will be supported by The Market Manager and two Market Board Members. Furthermore, students are encouraged to collaborate with other students who are working with The Market on their waste reduction initiatives. 

Community Project Champion(s):

Elly Bowen, Board Member of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, Citizen Representative

Eric Miller, Board Member of the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, Citizen Representative

Bill Slowka, Market Manager, Hamilton Farmers’ Market

Consumer behaviour is one of the root causes for edible food being wasted or discarded. To reduce food waste in Hamilton, the City is planning to initiate a Food Waste Reduction Action Plan in the community.  To support this initiative, the City is interested in gathering data on residents’ attitudes and perceptions towards food waste in their household, such as perceptions about how much food they waste, why it is wasted, desire to reduce food waste, and motivators, barriers and challenges related to reducing food waste .The challenges for Sustain 4S06 students will be to conduct a study to learn about residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards food waste in Hamilton, analyze the data, summarize the findings, and work with the City to evaluate possible solutions. Once a possible solution has been identified, students will work to implement the solution and assess its effectiveness in reducing food waste.

Community Project Champion(s):

Ruby Samra, Public Health Dietician

Consumer behaviour is one of the root causes for edible food being wasted or discarded. To reduce food waste in Hamilton, the City is planning to initiate a Food Waste Reduction Action Plan in the community.  To support this initiative, the City is interested in gathering data on residents’ attitudes and perceptions towards food waste in their household, such as perceptions about how much food they waste, why it is wasted, desire to reduce food waste, and motivators, barriers and challenges related to reducing food waste .The challenges for Sustain 4S06 students will be to conduct a study to learn about residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards food waste in Hamilton, analyze the data, summarize the findings, and work with the City to evaluate possible solutions. Once a possible solution has been identified, students will work to implement the solution and assess its effectiveness in reducing food waste.

Community Project Champion(s):

Ruby Samra, Public Health Dietician

Walking and cycling for transportation are associated with physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as travel satisfaction and wellbeing. Based on anecdotal evidence, walking and cycling rates in many Canadian cities have increased over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, since these modes allow people to physically distance from others, and are anticipated to increase at McMaster as well.  

McMaster’s Multi-Modal Transportation for Healthy Communities Committee has identified both a gap in active transportation services on campus and an opportunity to re-imagine how MACycle could be adapted as a hub to better support active, safe, and healthy transportation options for students, staff, and faculty.

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will have support from the Committee, and available consultation with representatives from the McMaster Students Union and Facility Services who will help guide them in their research and engagement. Students will have the opportunity to examine how other campuses support active transportation through resources and/or transportation hubs; consult with McMaster stakeholders to identify feasible strategies and/or supports to encourage active transportation that are feasible based on financial/personnel/and space considerations; and disseminate findings and recommendations to inform a potential new active transportation hub on campus. 

This project is open to student creativity and innovation as it supports research and consultation about active transportation support and promotion at McMaster.

Community Project Champion(s):

• Elise Desjardins, PhD candidate, School of Earth, Environment & Society
• Tyler Marr, Sustainable Mobility, City of Hamilton

Repair Café

McMaster’s Thode Makerspace, located in Thode Library, is an “interdisciplinary experiential learning space where the McMaster community can gather to create, invent and learn.”[ibid] One of the pre-COVID-19 ideas was to create a ‘repair café’ that fostered social learning amongst students, faculty, staff, and members of the community to share knowledge and skills to repair items, rather than discarding them.

Due to COVID-19, students will not have access to the Makerspace. However, knowledge sharing and remote learning is still possible.

The question for SUSTAIN 3S03 students is, how can we leverage communications technology to foster social learning through a virtual repair café?

While possible topics may include repairing old smartphones for parts, reuse, or donation; mending clothing and other textiles; and small appliance and home repair (ie. how to unclog a drain sustainably), this project is open to student creativity and innovation. Students will be responsible for working with the Makerspace Coordinator to select topics, source and coordinate with experts, and support promotion and communication efforts.

Students who choose this project will have the opportunity to work with McMaster’s Library Sustainability Committee, which consists of a diverse group of library staff members.

Community Project Champion(s):

Nicole Doro, Learning Support Librarian and Chair of the Library Sustainability Committee

Are you interested in the local food movement? Learning how to grow your own food? Connecting with Hamilton based farmers, seed suppliers, and local community groups addressing food security? Seedy Saturday is Hamilton’s annual one-day festival. Inspired by Seeds of Diversity Canada, this event brings together a wonderful community of like-minded vendors, environmental groups, and local organizations. It is the ‘go to’ place for anyone and everyone interested in backyard gardening, edible gardening, pollinator gardens, sustainability, heirloom and organic seed supplies, and more!

The goal is to develop a community seed exchange, promote sustainable and local products and practices, and share knowledge through workshops and presentations. This event has been organized by Green Venture since 2007, Hamilton’s environmental education organization. The 2018 event is scheduled for a Saturday in early February 2018. While the seed exchange will take place outside of the course timeframe, student are encouraged to host a ‘teaser’ event to spur interest among the student population and the broader community. Students are also encouraged to attend and/or volunteer with Green Venture at Seedy Saturday 2018 to experience the fruits of their effort.

Green Venture is looking for a dynamic team of Sustain 3S03 students to work with our coordinators to help shape the 2018 event. This would include researching and selecting a 2018 host location, research and inviting vendors and sponsors to participate, organizing fundraising initiatives like soliciting raffle prizes, researching and inviting guest speakers for the workshops, coordinating marketing for the event, and setting up logistics including recruiting volunteers.

If you are interested in this grass-roots local food festival and/or environmental non-profits, this is the project to develop and hone your skills in communication, community engagement, social marketing, and project management.

Contact

Laura AndersonProgram CoordinatorGreen Venturelaura.anderson@greenventure.ca

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 organizations to distribute donated technology to local families in need.   

McMaster’s ACCESS Tech staff will be hosting a collection and ‘upcycling’ event to take place on October 20, 2023, from 10am to 2pm. 

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 Champion:   

 Sanya Sharma, Coordinator, ACCESS Tech, McMaster University

The McMaster Students Union (MSU), led by President Chukky Ibe, has identified waste reduction, reuse, and recycling on campus as areas for improvement and opportunity. While there are various kinds of waste, the MSU is focused on addressing electronics, coffee cups, and take-out containers specifically. Students will have the opportunity to work directly with the MSU President and executive team in tackling one or more of these complex sustainability issues. As an exciting addition, the project outcomes will be highlighted in the MSU’s annual State of the Union report, as the issues associated with these particular waste items have been formally included on the President’s Year Plan. Students wishing to work on this project are requested to specify their interest in electronics, coffee cups, and/or take-out containers.

Contacts

Chukky IbeMSU Presidentpresident@msu.mcmaster.ca

Several post-secondary institutions have banned or are phasing out the sale of single-use plastic water bottles on campus. However, there are some important questions to answer:

• How can we avoid making the problem worse for the environment and human health, which is what happened when the University of Vermont banned the bottle (Taylor, 2015)?  
• What are current student perceptions of refilling and a potential ban? 
• What are the barriers and opportunities to reuse?  

SUSTAIN 3S03 students will have access to a survey with responses from nearly 800 students indicating their views of single-use plastic bottles. Following survey data analysis, 3S03 students will have the opportunity to learn how data is used to inform quality improvements. With a greater understanding from student stakeholders, 3S03 students will recommend ways for the university to address the issue of single-use plastic bottles while enhancing the natural environment and human health. 

SUSTAIN 4S06 students have the opportunity to conduct in-person interviews to understand, in detail, student attitudes and perceptions towards water bottle refilling and reuse on campus.  

Community Project Champion:

• Liana Bontempo, Wellness and Sustainability Manager, Hospitality Services

In June of 2021, McMaster released its inaugural university-wide sustainability report. The report covers three key pillars of natural resources, reducing our environmental impact, and student learning and research. Following the launch of the report, McMaster’s Sustainability Office, a team within Facility Services, began campus-wide engagement to inform the development of a sustainability plan for the university.  

McMaster’s first sustainability plan will be developed in the coming months and involves engaging students, staff, and faculty members in feedback through an online survey. To continue to engage students in a meaningful way, SUSTAIN 4S06 students have the opportunity to interview ~12 sustainability-minded students to gain their unique perspectives on current efforts, plans, and future directions. 

Findings from this study will be shared publicly and presented to McMaster’s Facility Services and McMaster’s Sustainability Advisory Committee in March of 2022. 

Related Resources 

• Bieksa, M. (2021). New report offers snapshot of campus-wide sustainability action. McMaster Daily News. 
• McMaster University (2021). McMaster University Sustainability Report 2021-21. 

Community Project Champion:

• Michael Moore, Manager of Sustainability, Urban Design & Space Planning; McMaster University 

With the vision to change the way people view the “gig economy”, Gigit’s mission is to help connect people with the community around them, no matter where they are.

Through an online platform and smartphone application, people can both offer and find services, either for money or as a volunteer. For example, a budding photographer looking to build their portfolio and a not-for-profit organization looking for someone to help capture images at their annual charity gala can easily find each other through the Gigit platform.

The challenge for Sustain 3S03 students is to learn 1) what services students need at McMaster, and 2) what skills students have to offer, either for volunteer hours or a fee. For example, do students at Mac need mentorship from upper-year students, opportunities to have conversations in a new language, study help, support to learn a new software, or help editing their written work? Are there students at McMaster who could offer these services to their peers?

While the goal of this project is not to promote Gigit specifically, the findings will produce information about the McMaster population that can be useful to on-campus departments, such as the Student Success Centre, as well as to Gigit to better support Mac students the larger gig economy in Hamilton.

This project is ideal for students interested in working with and learning from a tech start-up, working in the volunteer or not-for-profit sector, working in the gig-economy, and/or supporting McMaster student development.  

Community Project Champion(s):

Chris McIntosh, President Gigit

This project will develop an evidence informed Suicide Prevention Policy draft that (for profit and non profit) organizations can use and tailor to create a suicide safer work environment for their staff. It has been found that although many organizations have policies in place for the people they serve, and health and wellbeing programs for their staff, many do not have suicide prevention policies. These policies would outline training, leaves of absence, return to work, work security, how to support staff who experience an attempt, suicide loss, and more. This policy will help to create much needed awareness about the need for open and direct conversations about suicide, and take steps to create a culture shift about suicide prevention and mental health in the workplace. This draft would be made available to individual and organizations to use as a template.

Community Project Champion(s):

Laura Fretz, Brant County Health Unit 

Did you know that many McMaster students don’t have reliable access to affordable and nutritious food? The MSU Food Collective Centre is a service run by students, for students who may be experiencing food insecurity. The service offers access to non-perishable food items and various hygiene items at no cost and various programs to help support students. 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. 

To increase support for and awareness of the Community Fridge, SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will advocate for McMaster students to donate acceptable items during move-out in both winter and spring. 

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will focus on advocating to students living in McMaster residence buildings. Students can leverage social media and other forms of communication and are encouraged to get creative with their advocacy and engagement strategies! 

Community Project Champion(s) 

• Zachary Nott, Volunteer Coordinator, McMaster Community Coordinator 
• Maureen Saha, Communications Coordinator, McMaster Community Fridge 

Project Advisors: 

• Monica Palkowski, Living Learning Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services 
• Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Supporting the McMaster Community Fridge While Reducing Food Waste??
 

Did you know that many McMaster students don’t have reliable access to affordable and nutritious food? The MSU Food Collective Centre is a service run by students, for students who may be experiencing food insecurity. The service offers access to non-perishable food items and various hygiene items at no cost and various programs to help support students. 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.
? 

SUSTAIN 2SS3 students will advocate to McMaster staff to encourage them to volunteer and support the efforts of the Community Fridge, specifically during the examination period/move-out. Students who take on this project will want to consider ways of engaging with McMaster staff, who may be willing to support the community fridge and the best method to encourage participation.

Community Project Champion(s)? 

• Zachary Nott, Volunteer Coordinator, McMaster Community Fridge? 
• Maureen Saha, Communications Coordinator, McMaster Community Fridge? 
• Jenna Wathier, Society of Off-Campus Students
   

Project Advisors:? 

• Nathan Butterworth, Community Engagement Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office? 

Trees for Hamilton is a non-profit organization whose mission is to plant native trees in those areas of need in Hamilton and improve the long-term health of those living in our community. Trees for Hamilton develops, promotes, and facilitates projects which will preserve, conserve, and enhance natural landscapes and environment of Hamilton. (Source)

After a great success in 2018, this project will be continuing and expanding for the Fall of 2019. This year the goal is to engage McMaster students in this on-campus event and raise awareness about the importance of trees and their impact on climate change.

The challenge for McMaster students is to organize a tree-planting event, for the chosen date of Sustainability Day, October 23, 2019, which will include fundraising, choosing and receiving approval for the location of the tree planting on campus, researching what native species of trees are best in the chosen location, and gathering volunteers for the event. Additionally, students will need to plan food as well as marketing and promotion before, during, and after the event. Students will also be responsible for determining and reporting on measures of success to share the event outcomes. Preparing a report on the opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for future events will support the continuity and enhancement of a similar event in future years.

Community Project Champion:

Martha Kilian, Nature at McMaster

Wayne Terryberry, Coordinator, Natural Lands & Outdoor Recreation

In the fall of 2018, three SUSTAIN 3S03 students, Sabrina Dasouki, Billy Olds, and Kristal Ramnarine, created the Essential Utensils Kit and later went on to work with the The Forge to learn how to start their own business. They learned a lot and made some great connections, but have yet to start their business.

After seeing them highlighted in this Daily News story, the Campus Store reached out to see if they could carry the Essential Utensils Kit as a pilot project in the fall of 2019. This would align with The Campus Store’s work to enhance the sustainability of their operations and of the products they sell, as well as to support a new initiative where they support four McMaster entrepreneurs by providing a venue to test out the sale of their products.

The challenge is in how to create a sustainable business model and operation for the Essential Utensils Kit, one that would source materials most sustainably and ethically, create new ‘green jobs’ for members of the community, teach new skills to employees, leverage resources already available, and give back to the community. Some questions for consideration include:

• What type of material should the cutlery be?
• Where should products and materials be sourced from?
• What kind of ‘green jobs’ could be created and how can they include social, environmental, and economic aspects of sustainability?
• What type of meaningful and transferable skills can be taught through these jobs?
• What resources or tools are already available and accessible on or near campus?
• How could this business also give back?

Creating a sustainable business that has positive social and environmental impacts while still being profitable is harder than we think. There are many competing interests that must be weighed. This project will challenge students to think critically about the various aspects of sustainability, provide them with mentorship from both young entrepreneurs and seasoned retailers, and enable them to make a real sustainable impact.

Community Project Champions:

Sabrina Dasouki, Co-Founder, Essential Utensils Kit

Diane Warwick, Merchandise Manager, Campus Store (for mentorship and support)

If you believe that what we purchase, how and why we purchase, and who we purchase from impacts our environment and our society, this project might be for you. 

McMaster’s department of Strategic Procurement is involved in the purchase of millions of dollars’ worth of goods and services each year. The department has led incredible sustainability initiatives, like working with Grand & Toy to eliminate 20,000 cardboard boxes annually in place of reusable totes and bags, and is now embarking on the development of a sustainable procurement strategy.  

The goal of this project is to support McMaster’s department of Strategic Procurement in becoming a leader in sustainability through the following: 

1. Understanding the strengths and areas of opportunity.  
2. By reviewing and comparing McMaster’s sustainable procurement to best practices and other institutions, what are we doing well and where can we improve? 
3. Highlighting five success stories that exemplify initiatives to build from. 
4. What past successes of ours should look to as examples to build from? 
5. Identifying five areas of focus and associated specific measures of success. 
6. Considering McMaster’s vision and strategic plan, what should our specific goals be with respect to advancing sustainability through strategic procurement? 

Students from SUSTAIN 2SS3 will research and develop an advocacy plan.

Students who select this project will work directly with McMaster’s Director of Strategic Procurement, develop content related to successes and future goals to populate McMaster’s Sustainable Procurement webpage, and help McMaster vote for sustainability through each of the millions of dollars it directs each year.  

Related Resources: 

1. Link to McMaster’s President’s Vision and Strategic Plan 
2. UN SDG Guidelines (available upon request once project group is created) 
3. AASHE Stars: https://stars.aashe.org/   

Community Project Champion(s):

• Angelo DiLettera, Director Strategic Procurement, Financial Affairs, McMaster University 
• Tracie Felton, Manager Financial Affairs

Sustainabus: Sustainability Learning Workshop

Sustainabus is a carbon neutral, self-built, retrofitted bus that’s goal is to inspire people to live more sustainably through adventure and creativity. This project was inspired from a former SUSTAIN 3S03 students learning experience and is now a vehicle to drive change in the Hamilton and broader community.

This interdisciplinary project would create a workshop to teach individuals how to incorporate sustainability into their lives. Most people know they need to be more environmentally friendly but struggle to start or put sustainability in action in their own lives

Community Project Champion(s):

Erik Jurriaans, Sustainabus Creator

Kolina Tavares, Sustainabus Creator

In 2019, McMaster Facility Services and ASP Office designed, constructed and erected 50 Solitary Bee homes on campus. Each year the homes are reviewed by students and staff, cleaned out and refilled with appropriate material, and studied to ensure they are thriving. In 2021, McMaster was designated as a Bee City Campus and is committed to improving the health and well-being on campus and in our community.  

Students in this project will create an advocacy plan for the future of Solitary bees on campus and will speak with experts to determine modifications, expansions, and future plans that McMaster should consider to ensure Solitary bees are fully supported on campus.    

• How many homes can/should McMaster support?  
• How would these be implemented/phased in?  

• What are the ideal locations for homes to be located?

• What’s the best design for Solitary bee homes?  

• What materials should be used to fill the homes?

• If we were to plant more shrubs/plants around the homes, what should we plant and how close to the homes should they be?  

Community Project Champion(s):

• Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, McMaster’s Academic Sustainability Programs Office
• Craig MacDonald, Director of Maintenance Services, McMaster University

In 2019, McMaster Facility Services and the ASP Office designed, constructed and erected 50 Solitary Bee homes on campus. Each year the homes are reviewed by students and staff, cleaned out and refilled with appropriate material, and studied to ensure they are thriving.  

In September of 2019, 3 students observed the 50 bee homes and recorded what materials and locations were most successful. They proposed some changes to the homes, including planting native vegetation around the homes, filling them with Bamboo only, and moving some of the homes to other locations.  

In September 2020, 4 students applied to have McMaster become a Bee Certified Campus and were successful. They also spread awareness about the importance of Bees and facilitated the planting of native vegetation around the 50 homes.  

In June 2021, 3 students reviewed the work that had been completed and suggested to expand the number of bee homes from 50 to 75, the recommended a live stream camera be installed on one home and confirmed that the structure of the home was the best design.  

For the 2021 Fall semester, we are looking to have two groups of SUSTAIN 3S03 students work on this project.  

• Group 1 (Communication) 
  • Students in this group will work to develop communication material about the Bee project 
  • Suggest ways to update the Facility Services website to highlight past, present, and future work on this continuous project 
  • Create social media posts and blog/news articles to highlight the current project 
  • Work on updating policy/operating procedure to keep fallen leaf/natural debris on the ground in the Fall to promote natural bee home generation  
• Group 2 (Home installation) 
  • Students will select the precise locations for 25 Bee home installations and facilitate the installation of the homes on October 28, 2021 
  • Students will update the existing map of bee homes with new houses and locations 
  • Students will facilitate the planting of native plant species around the new homes 
  • Students in this group will work with McMaster partners to install a live camera on one bee homes 

Community Project Champions:

• Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office
• Craig MacDonald, Director of Maintenance Services, McMaster University

The Solitary Bee Project

In June of 2019, 50 solitary bee houses were designed, constructed, and erected at McMaster University (read the Daily News story here). In addition to the goal of creating bee homes on campus, the objectives of this project were to bring together the community, educate individuals on the importance of solitary bees, and create a SUSTAIN 3S03 project.

In September of 2019, a group of 3 students observed the 50 bee homes and recorded what materials and locations were most successful. They proposed some changes to the homes, including planting new vegetation around the homes, filling them with Bamboo only, and possibly moving some of the homes to other locations. 

In the summer of 2020, the recommendations from the previous students of filling the homes with only bamboo were implemented and all 50 homes were refilled. This year, SUSTAIN 3S03 students will investigate:

• How can we plant the recommended vegetation around the bee homes? 
• How can McMaster become a Bee certified University and ensure our actions are in line with our commitment to pollinators? 
• How do we educate passersby about this initiative?
• How can we further enhance this initiative and support solitary bees on campus and in the broader community? 

Community Project Champion(s):

Abbie Little, Community Relations Coordinator, Academic Sustainability Programs Office

Craig MacDonald, Director of Maintenance Services, McMaster University

In collaboration with Simran Jolly of The Solitary Bee Project, in June of 2019, 50 solitary bee houses were designed, constructed, and erected at McMaster University (read the Daily News story here). In addition to the goal of creating bee homes on campus, the objectives of this project were to bring together the community, educate individuals on the importance of solitary bees, and create a SUSTAIN 3S03 for the fall of 2019.

As a follow-up to the efforts in June, SUSTAIN 3S03 students will investigate:

• Which locations were successful/unsuccessful?
• Which materials were successful/unsuccessful?
• Is the design effective?
• How do we educate passersby about this initiative?
• How do we track and record this information for others to utilize?
• How can we further enhance this initiative and support solitary bees on campus and in the broader community?

The goal of this project is to share information on how individuals can support solitary bees through the creation and maintenance of bee houses.

Community Project Champion(s):

Craig MacDonald, Director, Maintenance Services, Facility Services, Facility Services

Simran Jolly, Founder, The Solitary Bee Project

The Green Room Certification (GRC) program is an opportunity for students in the Outdoor Leadership Living Learning Community to learn about how they can decrease their impact on the environment while living in residence. Participating students can follow the GRC checklist of ways to implement physical and behavioral changes in their residence room to be more sustainable, and then sign up to have their room certified, based on the checklist, and receive recognition and/or prize incentive for taking part.

SUSTAIN students who select this project will act as Student Project Champions and will be responsible for developing the GRC checklist and related learning strategies.

The GRC program will be split into two components:

1. Checklist
   1. Educating about the GRC
   2. Researching what McMaster currently has available to students (Eco takeout container program, Sobi racks, etc.)
      
   3. Recruiting students to sign up for the GRC
   4. Conducting monthly ‘check ins’ with the signed up students
2. Strategies
   1. Consists of active and passive activities for students
      1. Active: workshops, tours, movie nights, gatherings/talks etc. for participating students
      2. Passive: survey, poster, signage etc.
   2. Five key themes have been identified that will be the focus for the GRC strategies, split between two project teams. One team will work on Energy, Water and Transportation themed strategies; and another will work on Food and Waste themed strategies. For each key theme, the students will develop one active activity and one a passive activity.

This project presents a great opportunity for SUSTAIN students to act as Student Project Champions and encourage residence students to think about their impact on the environment and learn about steps they can take to decrease their impact on the environment.

Community Project Champion:

Katie Fitzgerald, Program Administrator, Healthy Leadership Academy

At McMaster, unwanted furniture items like desks, chairs, and bookcases are not tracked as part of McMaster’s annual waste audits as either waste or part of reduction efforts1 because there is currently no coordinated effort to donate or reuse items. 

With the motto, “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure”, a working group of McMaster’s Sustainability Advisory Committee developed processes and procedures so that university-owned furniture assets can be donated. The group successfully launched a McMaster ‘Trash to Treasure’ Facebook group to facilitate the program.  

The objectives of the Facebook group were to, (1) provide a platform for the exchange of University-owned goods between campus departments, (2) donate items to campus departments and university-sanctioned clubs, and (3) measure the impact through analysis of items posted. 

Unfortunately, the program was launched within weeks of the global pandemic and lockdown of McMaster. Fortunately, although some years have passed, few people were renovating their on-campus office spaces during this time, and folks became proficient in using the Microsoft Teams platform, which is more accessible to those working at McMaster. 

The goal of this project is to re-launch the Trash to Treasure program as a pilot with a handful of users, gain their feedback, make required revisions, launch the program campus-wide through a promotional campaign, and both measure and report on the program’s initial success.  

Community Project Champions  

• Carlos Figueira, Director, Custodial, Grounds, Logistics and Mail Services, Facility Services, McMaster University 
• Dave Cano, Director, Sustainability, Facility Services, McMaster University 
• Christa Morrison, Business Systems Specialist, University Technology Services 

Project Liaison 

• Kate Whalen, Associate Director, Academic Sustainability Programs Office 

Project Supporters/Advisors 

• Alex Schaap, Access Tech  
• Waste Reduction Working Group, McMaster Sustainability Advisory Council 

In the Fall of 2019, SUSTAIN 3S03 students worked in collaboration with University Technology Services (UTS), Facility Services (FS), and local non-profit GreenBYTE, to re-imagine how McMaster deals with its IT waste.  

The group developed a process and communications strategy to recover IT from owners, sanitize the hard drives, refurbish the devices, and donate computers within the community. Read this inspiring story, which describes the process and outcome of donating over 70 devices to local kids. 

Nearly two years later, and still in the midst of a global pandemic, things have changed. The momentum of the first collection event has slowed, and the process established is no longer safe for our McMaster community due to the spread of COVID-19.  

The goal of this project is to iterate the previous framework, including the process for collection, sanitization, and transportation, as well as the process for communication and community engagement.  

One group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will develop and implement a communications strategy to encourage individuals to prepare for the upcoming IT Collection Event by saving their devices, marking their calendars, and taking part in the collection event. Students also have the opportunity to lead an Instagram takeover of the University’s account before and/or on the event day. An additional opportunity is to write and publish a story in the McMaster Daily News.   

A second group of SUSTAIN 3S03 students will plan and implement a collection event to take place on October 22, 2021. Students will work with campus stakeholders and within public health guidelines to create an event that is safe, fun, well-attended, and generates significant equipment donations. Students will also learn about and enhance the Trash to Treasure process, which includes collection, sanitization, delivery, and communication. 

Related Resources: 

• Students collecting used university computers for donation to Hamilton kids (October 30, 2019) 
• “It was so much more than reducing IT waste” (July 13, 2020) 

• The students changed McMaster’s IT landscape. Here’s how: (July 27, 2020) 
• Trash to Treasure: A Process for IT Collection, Reuse, and Donation Simran Saini, Clare Benson, Abanoub Gaber 
• IT Collection, Reuse, and Donation: Communication and Engagement Mehran Janatyani, Claire Logeais, Shunmathi Shanmugam 

Community Project Champions: Trash to Treasure Working Group: 

• Alex Schaap, Project Lead, IT Collection & Reuse, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Carlos Figueira, Director, Custodial, Grounds, Logistics and Mail Services, Facility Services, McMaster University  
• Craig MacDonald, Director, Maintenance 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  
• Megan Bieksa, Manager of Communications, Facility Services, McMaster University 
• Dr. Kate Whalen, Senior Manager, Academic Sustainability Programs Office, McMaster University

In the Fall of 2019, SUSTAIN 3S03 students worked in collaboration with University Technology Services (UTS), Facility Services (FS), and local non-profit GreenBYTE, to re-imagine how McMaster deals with its IT waste.

Trees for Hamilton is a non-profit organization whose mission is to plant native trees in those areas of need in Hamilton and improve the long-term health of those living in our community. Trees for Hamilton develops, promotes, and facilitates projects which will preserve, conserve, and enhance natural landscapes and environment of Hamilton.

While Trees for Hamilton has established a relationship with landowners at Eramosa Karst conservation area and secured 5-8 plants/ person from a nursery, they are in need of volunteers to take part in the tree planting.

The challenge for McMaster students is to organize a tree-planting event, for the chosen date of October 13, 2018 (10:00am), which will include fundraising and planning for transportation and food as well as marketing and promotion before, during, and after the event. Students will also be responsible for determining and reporting on measures of success to share the event outcomes. Preparing a report on the opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for future events will support the continuity and enhancement of a similar event in future years.

Community Project Champion(s):

Wayne Terryberry, Coordinator, Natural Lands & Outdoor Recreation

Abbie Little, Coordinator of ASP Office

Several post-secondary institutions have banned or are phasing out the sale of single-use plastic water bottles on campus. However, there are some important questions to answer:  

• How can we avoid making the problem worse for the environment and human health, which is what happened when the University of Vermont banned the bottle (Taylor, 2015)? 
• What are current student perceptions of refilling and a potential ban? 
• What are the barriers and opportunities to reuse? 

• Why do students purchase water and/or other beverages in single-use plastic bottles?
   

In the Fall of 2022, a group of SUSTAIN 4S06 student researchers interviewed students who already use a refillable bottle to understand their experiences. The student researchers recommended that future studies focus on first-year students living in residence who purchase beverages in plastic bottles to understand their attitudes, perspectives, and choices.  

Community Project Champion:  

• Monica Palkowski, Living Learning Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services 
• Melissa Gallina, Research Coordinator, Housing & Conference Services  

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” (BYOM) program. Individuals who bring their own reusable mug at participating locations on McMaster campus will receive a discount on their purchase.    

To increase this program’s usage, students in SUSAIN 3S03 worked to create a campaign to promote this program and address the issue of lack of awareness. However, following their campaign, usage increased only slightly. You can read the group’s report here.  

SUSTAIN 4S06 student researchers who take on this project will help McMaster’s Hospitality Services understand why students choose single-use coffee cups over their reusable mug.   

Community Project Champions:  

• Liana Bontempo, Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Hospitality Services     

Detour Coffee Roasters is one of Canada’s earliest speciality coffee roasters and they continually strive towards sustainable practices through various aspects of their business, including sourcing and processing. One area for opportunity is with the jute coffee sacks that are used to transport coffee beans from places like Rwanda and Ethiopia to their roasting facility in Burlington, Ontario. Over 100 jute bags are accumulated each month. Currently, the bags cannot be composted in local facilities and are disposed of as waste. However, there are a number of uses for jute bags (just Google or Pinterest the possibilities!)

The challenge for Sustain students is to develop a sustainable process for converting the bags into something of greater value that can be sold at Detour’s retail shops and by their retail partners across the country. Measures of success include: 1) having at least one upcycled product that can be sold during the holiday seasons starting in November and 2) having an established process that will transcend the student’s time on the project. This is a great project for students interested in developing a sustainable social enterprise and/or forming collaborations with existing groups or businesses.

Additional support for this project will be provided by Manufacturing students in McMaster’s W. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology.

Community Project Champion(s):

Alex Yurek, President, Detour Coffee Roasters

City Housing Hamilton supports 11 sites specifically for adults 60 years of age and older. While many of their programs are led by resident volunteers, their Wellness Program is one of the few that is coordinated by staff (with day-to-day operations of Wellness Rooms supported by volunteer residents). is staff-led. Despite the request from residents, several initiatives have low participation, including the Falls Prevention Exercise Classes, Cooking for One, and the Good Food Box initiatives have low participation, and it is not fully understood why. A separate challenge is that both the Wellness Program rooms and the resident-led programs are dependent on a small number of dedicated volunteers and when they retire their role the programs collapse or service is disrupted. However, without a dedicated staff member to support resident volunteers the programs are at risk of failure.

The challenges posed to Sustain 4S06 students is to select one of the two issues identified above and work with staff members, community developers, and residents to better understand the barriers and opportunities. Once the problem is analyzed, and possible solutions developed, the students with support from City Housing will implement a solution and evaluate the results.

Students who select this project will have the opportunity to learn about a variety of complex issues related to housing, social dynamics, wellness, and citizen engagement. Furthermore, students will gain leadership experience in fostering sustainable and resilient communities.

Resources

Tenant Engagement ReportTenant Engagement BookletThe Good Food Box program is provided through Environment Hamilton.

Contact

Kelly CoxsonCommunity Development Coordinator,City Housing Hamiltonkelly.coxson@hamilton.ca

The GHHN had a unique opportunity to collaboratively offer drop in and barrier free health and wellness services to individuals who may not access traditional models of healthcare for the first time in August 2021 providing care to over 57 women. Our network is working together to ensure health care is accessible for all during the pandemic. Together, with partners, we will continue to offer this innovative model of care dedicated to providing safe and equitable access to women, trans, and gender diverse individuals experiencing homelessness, and are grateful to have offered services to over 200 women across 3 events.

Women’s Health Days are focused on building meaningful connections to those who are unhoused to prioritize proactive and preventative care, support, and with the intention to learn from those in accessing care. Women’s Health Days provide safe quality care, food, and giveaways with the ultimate goal of building an integrated, responsive, and equitable healthcare system.

This project will focus on understanding how the event could be updated to support the health needs of Ukrainian Refugees, women and children, coming to Hamilton in 2022.   Students will have access to the work completed by the 2SS3 students from last semester.

Community Project Champions: 

• Megan Lynch, GHHN Manager of Priority Populations
• Melissa McCallum, GHHN Director (Indirect)