Thompson Rivers University is the first Canadian University to be ranked #1 and awarded the top college or university in North America for sustainability, and this is with help from the Eco Club. The Eco Club helps to promote environmental sustainability on campus and within the broader community!
I sat down with the Co-President of the Eco Club, Stacia Panko (Natural Resource Science student), to learn how the club makes TRU and Kamloops a better, more sustainable place.
The Eco Club is a relaxed group of eco-conscious students from all different disciplines and faculties. One of Stacia’s favourite parts about the club is the community it has created. All the team members are passionate, and each brings something unique to the group.
Join the Eco Club if you are looking for a growing and adapting club that gives you a productive and fun way to think and act on environmental issues! The Eco Club helps to educate students and increase awareness about TRU initiatives. Follow them on Facebook to find out when and where meetings will take place this semester.
The club works closely with the TRU Sustainability Office and helps promote its initiatives such as the TRU Food Service’s eco-friendly containers. These containers are reusable and can be found at different food joints on campus. The Sustainability Office also has speakers come to Eco Club meetings to provide information on how students can help the environment, and the different initiatives students can get involved in on campus.
One initiative that the club is working on is “Zero Waste Wednesdays†that will be starting in January. The goal is to avoid buying or using products that are single-use for the day and eventually will lead to everyday practice. Hopefully, it will become a campus-wide initiative that will help protect the environment and bring awareness to the things we buy and use.
The Eco Club has hosted lots of events such as clothing swaps, eco-documentary screenings, community cleanups, and climate strikes. Look out next semester for another clothing swap that the Eco Club will be hosting! The Clothing Swap will be in partnership with TRUSU’s Fast Fashion Week, bringing awareness and educating students about fast fashion and its impacts.
The club is always looking for new members and initiatives! If you want to help out at events, share an idea for a new sustainable initiative, or ask questions about how you can be more eco-friendly, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram @truecoclub or email them at [email protected].
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