SFU students wasted no time in building their vision of a sustainable university at Embark’s Student Sustainability Summit, an SFU2021 partner event.

The event brought together 45 students from a wide array of disciplines, taking part in ranging discussions about different facets of sustainability. Their ideas and conversations will be used to build a Student Sustainability Vision which will help shape the university’s new sustainability strategic plan that will carry on until 2021.

“We got an overwhelming response,” Embark’s Executive Director Josh Cairns said, speaking to the enthusiasm of the participants. This summit was a continuation of the discussion that Embark started in November of last year. They surveyed over 400 students in the hallways of all three campuses, asking, “What does a sustainable SFU look like?”

One of the challenges of the event was addressing a topic as complex as sustainability. Cairns explained that “everyone defaults to the idea that sustainability is turning the lights off when you leave the room,” but the topic is far more multifaceted. SFU’s Sustainability Strategic Plan has six facets: energy and emissions, consumption and waste, mobility and travel, learning and discovery, society and equity, as well as risk and resilience.

Embark, formerly Sustainable SFU, has been promoting sustainability since 2003. The organization offers  programs and events all year long. Students with their own project in mind can apply to use one of the $12,500 worth of grants Embark offers every year. Some of the projects include aerial imaging of agricultural land, and funding a competition for sustainable business practices.

One of Embark’s recent initiatives was a petition to encourage SFU vendors to switch from styrofoam to more sustainable materials. As of April 19, 2015, any SFU vendor renewing their lease will have a new set of food packaging guidelines, instructing them to use recyclable or compostable packaging only.

This kind of pressure on businesses to reduce their waste production is catching on in Vancouver as well. The city is currently considering a ban on single use coffee cups and plastic bags to reduce garbage.

For those skeptical that SFU students have any say in university policy, Cairns said, “if you give students the opportunity to be involved [. . .] you’d be surprised how much input they have.” He also added that because SFU was readily approaching Embark for student involvement, he is “confident that the ideas students brought forwards [will be seriously considered by the] university.” Embark is planning on submitting their vision statement to the senior sustainability council at the end of March.

Although the Summit is over, there are still ways for students to get involved with SFU2021. “One way is to convene a community conversation with friends and submit your thoughts and ideas as a group,” Cairns said, explaining that the SFU website has a guidebook titled SFU 2021 to help organize this kind of event.

Schools Building Schools levy referendum

The board discussed a motion to approve a referendum question that will accompany the 2016 SFSS General election regarding funds that are given to Schools Building Schools (SBS). Currently, the SFSS collects one dollar from every full-time student to go to SBS, a non-profit organization that aims to expand educational access in Uganda.

This follows concern that SBS was not submitting to the board “satisfactory details regarding the precise activities of the organization of the uses made of that financial contribution [to] the SFSS.”

A representative from SBS was on hand to answer questions from the board. She echoed concerns from VP University Relations Brady Yano that the proposed referendum question was leading students to answer one way. She also said that many students are unaware of the levy and the fact that it is optional through an opt out on the SFSS website, a fact which the referendum question doesn’t mention.

VP External Relations Kathleen Yang stated that the financial statements available on the website ought to be audited by an external source. She also noted that since the SFSS contribution constitutes a majority of their funding, if funding were to be pulled, it would impact the operation of their program. A report from the Advocacy Committee, of which Yang is chair, cites a lack of response from SBS representatives about concerns regarding how funds were used as part of the reason they recommend the SFSS stop collecting the levy.

Faculty of Arts Representative Arr Farrah moved to postpone the vote on the referendum question until the next meeting since many board members had not read the package circulated before the meeting. Said Yano, earlier in the meeting, “Board members, do your homework.”

SFU student Claire Sieffert is petitioning for a national eating disorder policy the old-fashioned way: one postcard at a time.

After receiving positive feedback for her UnmaskED project, a photography project featuring intimate portraits of individuals who have a history with eating disorders, Sieffert has launched the PostED project through the Post Your Change organization, which she founded. The PostED campaign is focused around individuals creating postcards to send to Canadian politicians, urging them to create a comprehensive national eating disorders strategy.

In an interview with The Peak Sieffert shared her thoughts on how the healthcare system deals with eating disorders currently: “I think it’s pretty abysmal. [. . .] We’re always comparing ourselves with the US, and on healthcare, that’s something we’re proud of. I think eating disorders is a department where we can’t be proud of our healthcare system.”

The campaign takes a hands-on approach by asking participants to either write or illustrate their answers to the questions, “What does a community that supports people with eating disorders and mental wellness look like to you?” or “What positive change do you want to see so that people with eating disorders are supported in Canada?” onto a postcard, which they then hand to Sieffert and she mails off to the MPs in House of Commons at a rate of one postcard a day, until May, the month’s first week being Canada’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

“This way is [one way] for the community to connect by actively going hands on and making this postcard and sending it to politicians. I think that shows a real willingness for change,” Sieffert stated.

Sieffert cited her partnership with the National Initiative on Eating Disorders as an important source in helping her understand Canada’s current policy, and thinking of changes and improvements the both of them would like to see made, which are written on the back of each postcard.

Some of these proposals include increasing medical professionals’ training on eating disorders, allocating more funding for eating disorder treatment, upholding a commitment to universal care, and establishing interprovincial information sharing on eating disorder statistics and best practices.

The cause is especially personal to Sieffert, who was diagnosed with an eating disorder when she was a teenager. Through this project and first-hand experience, she also is trying to frame eating disorders as a mental health issue, rather than simply a “need to eat more.”

“A lot of it isn’t even tied up in body image,” Sieffert said. “I think that’s a dominant misconception [. . .] Eating disorders, at least for me, can be a coping mechanism for stress. It’s a way of when you can’t control anything else, you can control food.”

Sieffert explains, “Unlike alcoholism, where to deal with your addiction, you go sober and you don’t drink alcohol again, [with an] eating disorder, the addiction is controlling food, but you can’t just go off food. You have to face food every day.”

In regards to future plans for the project, she says that for now she’s waiting to see how it further develops before making any long term plans.

Said Sieffert, “We’ll have to see how it is goes. It really is an ongoing effort to break the silence around this issue, so the more conversations we have, the greater the impact of this project and to me that’s pretty profound.”