(Submitted photo/TRU).

By Aaron Schulze

TRU the Coolest

TRU named Sierra Club’s top Canadian post-secondary institution for environment track record

Sep 19, 2021 | 2:15 PM

KAMLOOPS–Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is the only Canadian post-secondary institution included in the top 10 of the Sierra Club’s annual Coolest School rankings.

TRU placed third in the sustainability rankings of North American colleges and universities, the same position as last year. In 2019, TRU was at the top of the list as the No. 1 Coolest School.

The Sierra Club’s rankings are based on the institutions’ environmental track records. This year, Sierra received submissions from a record-breaking 328 schools across the United States and Canada.

Out of the 20 colleges and universities on this year’s list, and 328 submissions, only three from Canada with the rest based in the U.S.

Besides TRU, the other Canadian universities are both in Quebec: Université de Sherbrooke (11^th) in Sherbrooke and Université Laval (13^th) in Quebec City. Arizona State University came in first, while the University of California campus in Irvine came second.

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The Sierra Club honour comes as TRU launches its Campus Tree Program while marking the 10^th National Tree Day on Wednesday (Sept. 22), by planting 10 celebration maple trees. The Campus Tree Program is a one-year program supported by the Sustainability Office, Horticulture department and Grounds Maintenance department. It requires volunteers from the TRU community to plant and care for trees throughout campus.

“In addition to major projects we’ve initiated in recent years, we have launched programs for tree-planting and reusable cutlery. These might seem like small measures, but they tell our community that everyone can take steps to make a difference,” TRU Manager of Sustainability Programs James Gordon says.

The program gets volunteers from the TRU community involved in maintaining one of the planet’s most vital sustainability attributes: thriving and healthy trees. TRU staff or contractors will oversee activities around the program to promote the goals of planting, caring for and preserving trees on the TRU campus. The program will likely lead to academic and research opportunities, and TRU is contributing to the Canadian government’s goal of planting 2 billion trees by 2030.

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends of TRU are invited to sign up. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed, and volunteers work in teams of three to help with the planting and caring of a trees, and the preservation of one or more of the existing 1,600 campus trees.