DishZero, a reusable takeout container service, launches Jan. 16 at two university restaurants — It’s about to get easier for UAlberta students, faculty, staff and food vendors to cut waste from disposable takeout containers. DishZero, a reusable takeout container program, will launch on Jan. 16 at two restaurants in the Students Union Building (SUB): Filistix and The Daily Grind. A student-led initiative, DishZero has…

Webb Dussome describes the philosophy behind social marketing and discusses his course “MARK 455: Sustainability and Responsible Marketing.” — The same marketing strategies that motivate us to buy phones, deodorant and Justin Trudeau-scented candles can also be used to persuade us to change our behaviours, says Webb Dussome, an instructor in the Alberta School of Business. One of Dussome’s courses, MARK 455 — Sustainability and Responsible Marketing, covers the…

Rural communities are overlooked in research on soaring housing prices, but they’re suffering too, says human geography master’s student Erika Cizek. — By Riley Tjosvold The housing market in Erika Cizek’s hometown of Kaslo, B.C. has become hostile for people who have spent their lives in the community. In 2016, the average home in the 1,000-person village was valued at $266,568. By 2021, average home values jumped to $414,000.

The updated space will make Campus Food Bank operations more efficient and give clients more food options — Students using the Campus Food Bank (CFB) now have greater control over the types of food they receive. That’s because the CFB has switched from a food hamper model, in which students were given a pre-packaged food hamper with limited options to swap out items, to a grocery store model…

David Olefeldt’s research team, seeking to understand how much Canada’s peatlands will add to global greenhouse gas emissions, explores the diverse landscapes of Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories — Peatland regions cover much of northern Canada with mounds of vegetation, pools of stagnant water, sparse coniferous forests and ribbons of colourful mosses, shrubs, flowers and grasses. Peatlands have many names, including bogs, fens, marshes and swamps, and they are a primary source of peat, a type of dark, moist…

Farrah So’s master’s research sketches a roadmap for cutting food waste in the province. — By Riley Tjosvold Alberta food businesses have an appetite for novel food waste reduction strategies such as converting scraps to bio-based materials and animal feed. That’s according to a survey conducted by Food and Bioresource Technology student Farrah So as part of her master’s thesis. So surveyed over 100 restaurants…

Sustainability Council member Dr. Rhonda Breitkreuz discusses her role at the council, and how governments can improve the wellbeing of women and families — By Riley Tjosvold Before becoming an academic, Dr. Rhonda Breitkreuz spent a few years working with people in crisis — first as a support worker, aiding homeless men; then as a probation officer; and finally as director of a shelter for abused women and children. These experiences, she says, ground…

Rylee Maleski’s “river valley in a box” re-uses scrap materials to capture the green hues of Edmonton’s river valley year-round — By Riley Tjosvold The North Saskatchewan River Valley ties Edmonton in a “ribbon of green” for six months of the year, but vanishes into the same shades of white, grey and brown that engulf the rest of the city when winter arrives. For Edmontonians who need summer’s green hues in…

Maïlys Paccoud’s FURCA Award-winning research project explored culturally modified trees and the role they could play in Aboriginal title claims — All human societies leave fingerprints on the land. These can be as large and enduring as a city full of high rises, or as temporary as a forgotten path through the woods. Indigenous societies used — and continue to use — the land to sustain themselves, and the marks left…