Become a GO-Rep and join a community of sustainability-minded colleagues

When Anna Nekola started at the university in January this year, she was surprised to find that sustainability was part of the culture at the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, where she works as an educational developer. 

“Coming in as a new employee, and walking into the lunch space where there is composting happening, and knowing that there is a safe place for bike parking, knowing that somebody has already thought of these things, sustainability choices are easier for me to make,” says Nekola, who bikes to work. “I get the sense that this is a priority for a lot of people.”  

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning has a history of nurturing a sustainability culture, says Mona Maxwell, an educational developer. When she started in 2017, there already was a Green Office Rep (GO-Rep), bringing a sustainability mindset to day-to-day practices. Inspired, she became one too.  

The GO-Rep program from the Office of Sustainability offers a guide for offices to incorporate green practices into operations while directly contributing to UM’s sustainability goals. 

“Individual action is important, but collective action is where we really get things done,” says Maxwell. She and Nekola, along with Bran Adams, who joined the university in May, are all GO-Reps.  

Nekola and Adams joined Maxwell at their first GO-Rep meeting a couple of weeks ago and were happy to explore solutions to some of the challenges encountered in offices across the university.  

“There were lot of different departments and they all have things they are looking at – whether it’s new bike cages at Bannatyne or laundry services for cloth dishtowels in some lunchrooms – what are all the situations for everybody and how can they green their offices,” says Adams, a program coordinator. 

Maxwell says the diverse representatives from different units is refreshing. “Where can I get a diversity of representative perspectives – from a facilities perspective to pedagogical aspects to perspectives from a dean’s point of view and those who work directly with our student sustainability groups in one place?” she asks. The answer: “A one-hour GO rep meeting four times a year.” 

Motivated by the belief that small changes add up, the group at the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning have undertaken a number of initiatives in their office, including composting, events and biking. 

Waste streams 

“We’ve focused on our waste stream the most, both in terms of action and in mindset shift,” says Maxwell. 

The centre has been composting for years, and when the Office of Sustainability formalized a program for office composting, they signed up. The Office of Sustainability provides compostable bags and composting bins that staff members take turns emptying in a central location. It has become part of the culture and is seen as a collective commitment. Staff even transport the bins to the different workshops and events they organize for the broader university community.  

“A milestone was reached this summer when the centre reached our 300th eight-litre bag of compost! As we searched for ways to communicate our impact in more imaginable terms, we figured that we had diverted at least 293 kg of food waste – the equivalent of 100 days of electricity use from one household,” says Maxwell. She notes there are a lot of assumptions in the calculation and they look at  waste calculators to try to accurately communicate the impact of their actions.  

Events 

Adams has a love for sustainable actions that comes from his previous experience as an educator at the Assiniboine Park Zoo and at the Leaf. “Now here, as a program coordinator, I get to see all the workshops that are being organized at the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and I can encourage people to green their event or workshop,” he says.  

“We have the Better Together entrepreneurship workshop coming up in the November Reading Week, and part of making the event green is looking at the catering, getting compostable cups and making sure that we’re not printing things so that we can make it green and sustainable.” 

He also encourages people to look towards Green Event Certification – a program through the Office of Sustainability – when it makes sense for their event.  “That involves going through the Sustainability department, completing a checklist and getting a certification level,” says Adams.  

Biking

When Maxwell started seven years ago, she says there were about three people who biked to work on a regular basis, and that has now grown to eight.  “The tricks, tips, and biking-to-work adventures we share are not only hilarious, but provide a very supportive culture that sustains us through the challenges of keeping this habit that is healthy for us and also is a step toward addressing the greenhouse gas problem,” says Maxwell.  “The more people bike, the more barriers to biking are addressed.” 

Cycling infrastructure continues to expand, with secure bike cages at the University Parkade and Active Living Centre on Fort Garry campus, and on Bannatyne, adjacent to the Brodie Atrium.  

Small choices add up 

“There are ways the centre has already turned sustainability into a culture,” says Nekola, who is continuing to find ways to be more sustainable with the Office of Sustainability’s Green Office checklist.  “I’m hoping to be able to find additional things that we can add to existing practices.” 

“It feels like we’re talking about small things in a way, either composting, or greening an event. They might seem insignificant, but they’re not,” says Nekola. “You have to start somewhere, and it’s the additive effect of a lot of small choices that will make a difference.” 

“That’s what’s exciting to see as a GO-Rep… I can help encourage others to make a small choice in the course of their day, but that it’s meaningful in aggregate.” 

Do you have a passion for sustainability? You can become a GO-Rep by contacting the Office of Sustainability. 

UM Today Staff