By Carlene Groen, 4th Year student and environmental steward extraordinaire

The vision of King’s is

“To provide university education that inspires and equips learners to bring renewal and reconciliation to every walk of life as followers of Jesus Christ, the Servant-King.”

King’s teaches students about environmental, economic, and social sustainability and living out the stewardship mandate, but we weren’t practicing what we were preaching.

So students and staff had to do something it. We…

·         Formed The King’s Keepers, a student club to bring awareness on environmental issues

·         Conducted paper, energy, water audits.

·         Wrote numerous reports to the administration

·         Presented the issue to the board of governors and administrators

·         Created a Campus Sustainability Coalition

It only took years, but this month our administration has began the shift towards becoming a sustainable campus. They have committed to…

·         Sign the University and College Presidents’ Climate Change Statement of Action for Canada (UCPCCSAC)

·         Conduct a sustainability audit using AASHE STARS http://stars.aashe.org/

·         Develop an Environmental Management System

·          

At this point you might be saying to yourselves “well that is a nice success story, but that could never happen on my campus”. Stop right there! To use a cliché, a stone dropped in water will start a ripple effect, and lots of stones dropped in water will cause a tidal wave to overcome the inertia of any campus administration.

Or….

Maybe you are laughing because your campus has been sustainable for years.  Well watch out! Let me remind you of the epic story of the race between the Tortoise and the Hare. Don’t let your campus be caught sleeping under a tree because we will overtake you!

Visit the Kings' Green Pad to learn more: http://kingsgreenpad.ca/