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Environmental Activism at Mount Allison

Mount Allison has been a centre for student and campus environmental activism for nearly a decade. In the mid 1990's, Mount Allison students helped to found and lead the Friends of the Christmas Mountain, a group working to protect New Brunswick's last stand of Old Growth Forest.

Through public demonstrations and education, the Friends rallied citizens from across the province in support of protecting this special place. Some of these same students, now alumni, have since gone on to found the Sierra Youth Coalition, Canada's only national youth environmental network.

Left and below: attendees at the sustainable residence seminar, a series of presentations by 'green' architects, organized by Mount Allison students.

The generation of students that followed the Friends turned their attention to improving environmental awareness and practice at the university, itself. A student environmental group, the Blue-Green Society, was formed and has generated efforts on a variety of fronts. Determined efforts of members of Blue Green resulted, for example, in the design and formal adoption of a comprehensive, university-wide environmental policy in 1999. From this came the Mount Allison Environmental Committee, composed of student, faculty and staff representatives, which convenes regularly and advises the university administration on environmental matters. As well, students have been hired during summer months to perform comprehensive, biannual environmental audits of the university's operations.

Students at Mount Allison have continued to make waves off campus as well. Four participated in demonstrations at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization in 1999, and nearly two dozen made the trip to Quebec City in the spring of 2001 to voice concerns over the proposed Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. Students from Mount Allison also created the Climate Change Caravan in 2001, biking across Canada to inspire individuals and communities to take action on climate change.

Other exciting, student-driven initiatives are now beginning to taking shape at the university. Students have, for example, drafted a proposal to develop a Sustainable Residence Initative for the university. As well, members of the Blue-Green Society are now extending their reach off campus and working with members of the local community under the newly formed Tantramar Environmental Alliance. Plans are also in the works to establish a local chapter of the Council of Canadians.

Each new generation of student activists builds on the momentum of those before it. With the inception of the Environmental Studies Program, students at Mount Allison with environmental interests are able to advance their passions simultaneosly inside and outside of the class room.