FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SFUO MAKES MAJOR STRIDES IN SUSTAINABILITY

OTTAWA, October 10th 2013 Every year the Student Federation presents innovative events and new initiatives during 101 Week. This year, the SFUOs Sustainable Development Centre is pleased to announce a major improvement to sustainability throughout the busy orientation week in which over 5,000 students participate and volunteer. Over the summer 2013, the SFUO was able to dramatically reduce its bulk purchasing order, which includes a variety of promotional items like school supplies, accessories, t-shirts, re-usable bottles and much more. Among other improvements, the Promo Team has calculated that there was: A 46% reduction of T-shirts (Fair trade certified providers); A 57% reduction of buttons; A 75% reduction of Mugs (recycled plastic); and A 25% reduction of Pens (recycled plastic).

These reductions provided significant cost savings across the Student Federation and its Federated Bodies (faculty associations), as well as reduction in the amount of swag that some students might have thrown away over the days following 101 Week 2013. A majority of Federated Bodies also had online registration and 101 Kit sales available in order to save paper. Bottled water is not allowed on the University of Ottawa campus and this extends to 101 Week. So large reusable water jugs were used at all SFUO events, including concerts. None of the performers complained. Recycling and composting units were available at all SFUO events and a group of volunteers even sorted through the waste bins to ensure that any recyclable items did not end up in the trash. As a result of these collective efforts, the environmental footprint of the SFUOs 101 Week has declined significantly over the past few years. The SFUO has not received any complaints about a shortage of materials and the organizations intention is to continue working to reduce the bulk purchasing order, until an reduction of 70% across the board has been achieved. - 30 For questions please contact: Sustainable Development Centre: sustainable@sfuo.ca, 613-562-5800 x4898 Promotions Team: promotions@sfuo.ca, 613-562-5800 x4578