Green Spaces – Making your U of A office or event sustainable

Developed by the Office of Sustainability in 2012, Green Spaces celebrates the efforts of offices and events that strive for sustainability. The program allows for three levels of certification (Bronze, Silver, and Green & Gold) in a process that encourages across campus to adopt sustainable practices in their work, school, and living environments.

Participants sign up for the program and a leader within their organization is identified who guides the office or event planning through a series of sustainable actions. The actions are identified on an easy to use checklist that is customizable to the needs of the space or event itself. A Green Office is defined by the Office of Sustainability as a ‘work unit that has made a collective commitment to reducing resource use and improving the overall sustainability of their day to day operations.’ A Green Event is ‘an event of conference that incorporates multiple sustainable features into its delivery and attendees are encouraged to take personal actions that help reduce the overall impact of the event.’

Some examples of Green Offices across campus are: Facilities and Operations Shared Services – Administration, Sustain SU, Ancillary Services – Administration, and the Silviculture Laboratory.

Past Green Events include The Student Sustainability Summit and The MCLS Student Conference. The upcoming support staff Learning Event, GIVE, GROW, PLAY! has been granted Green & Gold status as well. Look for details on this upcoming, exciting, and sustainable event in June.

For information on how to get involved in Green Space certification for your office or event, see the Office of Sustainability website (sustainability.ualberta.ca) under Green Spaces Certification.

For details on Give, Grow, Play! please visit our website.

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