U of T Goes Green and TIFF Singles go on Sale

University of Toronto students are making the St. George campus a little greener and it has nothing to do with landscaping. Starting September, 2011 the St. George campus will begin to phase out the sale of bottled water.  The Mississauga and Scarborough campuses will follow suit and will be bottle-free within the next three years.

The University of Toronto is joining over a dozen other campuses that have pledged to be bottle water free. This has been a cause that students have been championing for the last three years. Not only do they want the administration to eliminate the sale of bottled water, but that are also calling for the implementation of water refill stations so they have access to free clean water.

St George Campus, University of Toronto image courtesy of utm.utoronto.ca

“This is a significant victory for the University of Toronto community,” says Clara Ho, Vice-President University Affairs of the University of Toronto Students’ Union. “Student pressure has led the administration to commit to making all three campuses more sustainable and to take a stance against the commodification of water.”

The three-year campaign shows how passionate students are about this cause. Not only is this a step towards making the campus and students more sustainable but it also makes financial sense. Bottled water is expensive and having free water stations available to refill reusable bottles is much more conducive to student’s ideals and budget.

“Our commitment is part of a growing movement across Canada to recognize that drinking water should be readily available on our campuses and should not be treated as a commodity,” said Dan DiCenzo, Vice-President University Affairs and Academics of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union. “The success of our Bottled Water-Free Campus campaign demonstrates that students can achieve positive social and environmental change when we work together.”

Grassroots efforts like the Bottled Water Free Campus campaign help mold students into responsible citizens. It demonstrates the impact they can have and may help make them more socially minded. The details of how the phase-out plan will work have yet to be released.

Congrats to the University of Toronto for taking the lead with their stance against bottled water. Hopefully its reputation as one of the more prestigious academic institutions in Canada will influence other universities to follow suit.

tiff image courtesy of tiff.net/

TIFF Singles go on Sale
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2011 runs from September 8-September 28th and with it comes more than 300 films from over 60 countries and a long impressive list of celebrity in attendees. Included in the list of attendees are actors Catherine Deneuve, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Jon Hamm, Glenn Close, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Ryan Gosling, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson and musicians include Neil Young, U2 and Pearl Jam. You can read a full list of attendees here.

Single tickets go on sale Saturday September 3rd, 2011.  Some interesting articles about Tiff  are 36 Things you Didn’t Know about TIFF and Toronto Life has a day-by-day schedule along with a variety of other TIFF related news.

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