SUCCESS STORIES

One Piece A Day is a non-profit organization with an app to inspire people to pick up litter and refuse single-use plastic. I began volunteering with the organization in early 2020 — long before I had even heard of WWF-Canada’s Living Planet Leader certification. The organization’s goal to end plastic pollution through a mobile app aligned with my studies in digital business management and my personal interests in all things eco-friendly. I put in over 100+ hours planning and executing marketing initiatives, receiving the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded individuals towards a great cause. One year later, I am currently working as a paid marketing manager at One Piece A Day, where I work to advertise app features, create educational content, and manage an online storefront. If I had one piece of advice to give to other students, it would be to volunteer with organizations in the industry they wish to work in.

Being an executive member of the Sustainability Squad at George Brown College has inspired me to do so much more for the environment by providing information to students interested in starting/continuing their sustainability journeys. Within the squad, I was able to create a three-part series on the 3R’s which included interviewing professionals who could teach us all better recycling and reducing waste practices. WWF-Canada’s Living Planet Leader adventure helped me to take the first steps in purchasing more environmentally friendly products for my household and it has been fun finding which ones work best! In the near future I will be switching colleges to obtain a degree in International Business. Upon completion, I will continue my studies by diving into sustainability Management. Hopefully in a few years I will have my dream job in Sustainability consulting/management! I can’t wait to help businesses adopt cleaner and greener practices.

“Designing for Change” was beyond a hackaton for me, it was a brilliant learning experience. Getting the first place with Humber’s Sustainability Team was a truly unforgettable moment! Our team envisioned an app to connect homeowners, renters, low socio-economic families together to find suitable housing in the city. The app’s algorithm matches people to the appropriate tools to find housing, much like a dating app matching system.We came up with the ‘live-co’ app idea by thinking that it would leverage the concept of living together with others and enhances using less space by sharing places. During ideation phase, we asked ourselves the design question: “How might we find a solution for growing urbanization and global density and how we can change behaviours?” We went back to old habits and co-living culture. My grandparents used to live in a village where 3 families share one house and all children grow together. This concept ensures sharing of childcare and security. Moreover, this system enhances the mental health by minimizing feeling of loneliness. We looked at sharing economies as signals for possibility for such a concept. Even though the main reason for using “live.co” would be to decrease expenses, sharing houses would decrease carbon footprint of individuals by sharing energy resources. Finally, we thought that this solution would create a culture and behaviour change, disrupting the idea of individuality, allowing people to adopt sustainability. I highly recommend this challenge to all students as it is a great opportunity to practice design thinking, ideation, collaboration and presentation skills. It is also an incredible feeling to be a part of WWF and working for a solution that might change the world!

Leading Students for Sustainability together in the 2017-2018 school year, Calvin and I had the idea to somehow obtain and steward an apiary for the Fleming College Frost Campus. The project was initially brought to our attention (the Students for Sustainability – SFS) by staff members at the college from the Office of Sustainability. Instantly, we knew we wanted to work towards accomplishing this. The more we sat down and hashed out details and potentials, the more excited we became at the thought that Fleming College might very well get its own apiary. The incredible staff members at Fleming who spearheaded this initiative accomplished a great deal of work. They figured out the logistics, legalities and purchasing. The SFS with its incredible team of volunteers contributed by fundraising to contribute towards the purchase. The SFS team worked to promote the project, educated students, and spread awareness about the current situation of decline in pollinators. With an incredibly successful fundraising campaign and assistance from the WWF-Canada's Go Wild School Grants, we were able to raise over $1000! All funds were used directly to purchase the bees, hives, and all necessary equipment. Currently, there are two hives located on campus besides the local community garden. The bees will undoubtedly serve an irreplaceable role within the local environment and community as they will help to pollinate local wildflowers, vegetables, fruits, crops and many other plants. In time, the Frost Campus Apiary will serve as an integral component of campus and community education by raising awareness about pollinator and honeybee decline and its critical role in biodiversity and food security. Applied learning in beekeeping can be achieved through on-campus workshops for students, events and curriculum-linked activities. This apiary can prove to be an integral stimulus for applied research to better understand the dynamics between bee ecology, the natural environment and public health. Calvin Swan, Environmental Technician 2018, Health, Safety, and Environmental Compliance 2019, Fleming College & Adam Alaimo, Environmental Technician 2018, Environmental Technology 2019, Fleming College

Centennial College and its Environmental Student Society first started working with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup in 2005. Since then, we have continued our participation every fall in conjunction with a planting activity in the Local Highland Creek Watershed. The cleanup is a great campus engagement event with 200 to 300 volunteers signing up to help each year. Since 2005 over 3800 students, graduates, staff, faculty, families and community members, have joined together to celebrate the health of our waterways! In 2016 to mark Centennial’s 50th anniversary, we incorporated the cleanup into our Paint the Town Green initiative at all of our Canadian and International Campuses, inspiring over 10,000 students, staff and faculty to collect over 5,000 KG of litter – all in one day. Our event was recognized in letters of congratulations from John Nightingale, David Miller and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We applaud the Great Canadian Shore Line Cleanup program and the work that we can do together with students to help nature in our school and surrounding communities.

The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up was Fleming College’s first major experience with the Living Planet @ Campus Program and WWF-Canada; this experience was nothing short of incredible as the staff from WWF-Canada assisted the Office of Sustainability in planning the clean-up every step of the way. Fleming College received many compliments from the staff, students and community members about how nice it was to see the College participate in a shoreline clean-up of a local Peterborough Park. The first year was a great success for the college having over 80 participants cleaning up the lake; moving forward with our second year Fleming College looks forward to seeing it grow.

My e-waste event at HP Canada during my co-op made it easy for colleagues to recycle their electronic waste and save valuable materials for reuse in new products. This experience improved my leadership and event planning skills and now I can make sure that electronics are properly recycled wherever I work.

Designing Change is not simply a competition to test your abilities, but it also gives you the chance to experience what it feels like to be brainstorming and presenting an idea under pressure. The competition values teamwork, fresh ideas, and networking. It gave students the chance to interact with many industry professionals, ranging from WWF workers to marketing professionals. I would highly recommend students to enter the competition because this is a great learning opportunity and chance to learn from others. One of the main things that I felt like I have gained the most from this competition is the importance of networking. As a second year student, initially I did not have the courage to approach others, but after practicing with these industry professionals and higher year students, I was given the opportunity to develop a skill that could really benefit me in the future. I really want to thank WWF for this opportunity and highly recommend students to join because it is worth it!

Had a great time collaborating with peers interested in sustainability. We took a holistic look at an important issue and delivered recommendations to industry leaders that were well received. Thank you so much for the opportunity to collaborate for a better world!

WWF’s Designing Change For a Living Planet 2018 was an incredible event put on by caring and dedicated volunteers that consisted of WWF-Canada staff, academic institutions and other organizations. This event challenges individuals to not only think outside the box and disrupt the norm but to redefine societal norms as they currently exist for a better future.