Welcome to the Sustainability Office at the University of Waterloo, the central hub for sustainability action and information on campus. We work to integrate sustainability thinking and climate action into academics, operations, and engagement.
Sustainability issues like the climate crisis affect everyone, causing extreme weather, economic insecurity, and health and wellbeing impacts locally and globally – disproportionally so for marginalized and racialized people. The University of Waterloo community has an essential role to play in advancing a low-carbon, equitable, and resilient future. Not only does Waterloo have a large environmental footprint, it also has enormous potential to tap into the collective talent, skill, and innovative mindset of the campus community that will have ripple effects around the world.
From important individual actions to systems changes, we are working with leadership, staff, students, and faculty to build a more sustainable campus together.
Learn more about how you can join this journey, on campus and beyond:
Events
Free Store Pop-ups
Drop by the Student Life Centre (SLC) Marketplace anytime between 11:00am and 1:00pm to donate your reusable goods to the Free Store.
Green Labs Earth Week Challenge
Come one, come all! The Green Labs program invites faculty, students, and staff that work in labs to participate in a friendly campus challenge. Each day will focus on a different theme of Green Labs with various ways to earn points.
Earth Day Campus Clean-Up
In honour of Earth Day, we invite you to join us for our annual campus clean-up! We will provide you with bags, gloves, and litter pickers. There are a number of litter "hot spots" on and around main campus that we'll tackle in smaller groups.
News
Air Travel Emissions
To engage the UWaterloo community directly in the effort of tracking and reducing emissions, Finance and the Sustainability Office have collaborated to add a new voluntary field in Concur titled “carbon emissions” that asks Claimants who have booked and purchased their airfare out of pocket to voluntarily calculate and include the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their UW travel.
Waterloo is bringing back biodiversity
More than 400 Waterloo community members took part in naturalization initiatives to protect Waterloo's biodiversity.
Accelerating action at 10th annual Eco Summit
On November 22nd, 2023, the Sustainability Office hosted its 10th annual Eco Summit to accelerate sustainability action on campus.