The Strand: Why is sustainability at Vic important to you?
People who attend university are going to end up in places where they can make a really big impact. I’ve been impacted by sustainability at Vic; I’ve become so much more passionate, so much more involved, and I’m definitely going to take that forward. What people learn here is going to be taken on further in life.
Can you talk about your experience on the Sustainability Commission, and your experience as Co-Chair?
I’m going into third year, and I’ve been involved in the commission since my first year. In my first year, I was a general commission member, and then Director of External Relations. This year, I was the Co-Chair. As a Co-Chair, you are a member of VUSAC, and you see the operation side [of things]. I had never previously been around so many people so knowledgeable about policy making, legislation, and the bureaucracy at Vic. [Being a member of VUSAC] was certainly an experience that will be pertinent going forward.
What is one thing that you are proud of that the Commission did this year?
I am proud of how we got so many guest speakers to come in. Guest speaker talks are typically on the smaller side in terms of attendees, but they are the most meaningful events. Everyone who shows up is very engaged and interacts with the speaker. The speakers we got to come this year were amazing. I’m very proud of that. Going forward, I want to continue having guest speakers from local grassroots organizations.
Can you elaborate on your plan to connect students to nature?
It falls on the Sustainability Commission to do education programming, and while that is very important, and I do want to continue that, I think it’s also very important to reconnect students with nature. Examples would be beach clean ups, park clean ups, hikes, and photo walks—when the weather permits. We could also have photo galleries: an art show that centers around nature and animals. We talk so much about having people prioritize the environment, but if they don’t feel connect to [the environment], how likely is it that they are going to want to protect it?
There are millions of things that we — as students and a university — can do in our current environmental crisis. What is your top priority?
As students, vote. I get very frustrated at times; I see people who are passionate about climate change, and do daily acts to mitigate their carbon footprint, but then vote for a candidate who has no climate change policy. Showing that you support climate change action and climate change justice at every single level is incredibly important. The biggest change is going to be at the governance level.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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