2018 Sustainable Hawk Fund Winners

We are proud to announce all of our Sustainable Hawk Fund winners for the 2018-2019 academic year. 

In total, we had nine projects win funding through the Sustainable Hawk Fund. 

The first project was Building for Bees: Creating Habitat by Planting a Pollinator Garden which was lead by Jennifer Marshman and PolliNation lead by Monique Riendeau. PolliNation is a social enterprise developed through Laurier's Enactus chapter that helps the declining pollinator population and provides a solution to pollinator habitat loss. The PolliNation team will be collaborating with another SHF applicant, current Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Marshman, to improve pollinator habitat and food sources on campus. A pollinator garden will be created to provide for pollinator conservation and to educate university students and the larger community on the needs of pollinators. It will incorporate native plants, regenerate soil, and supports pollinators. 

The second project was Heat to Eat lead by Karly Rath which aimed to transform an existing greenhouse building on Northdale campus into a year-round community hub and a greenhouse filled with urban agriculture. A system will be implemented that will convert food waste into heat to grow organic produce for students and the community.

The third project was Ballot Bins by Kwabena Gyetuah which aimed to help keep the 4.5 trillion cigarette butts littered around the world annually, off the street. Ballot Bins are customizable ashtrays that present a question and two answers on each container. The person who smokes can vote by dropping their cigarette butt in one of the two glass slots. This incentivizes people who smoke to vote on a question rather than throw their litter on the street.

The fourth project was Sustainability Arts for Climate lead by Kai Reimer-Watts which aims to implement art installations and interactive programming to leverage sustainability on campus. The project will act an as awareness-raising tool that will link different themes including environmental, social and economic sustainability.

The fifth project was Sustainability in Cosmetics: Workshop with The EcoWell lead by Rosemary Brockett which served as a valuable opportunity for students to learn about the sustainability of the cosmetic products they use every single day. Students will learn how to make informed choices about what products to purchase, companies to support, and how to create their own products. This will allow students to position themselves in a sustainably-friendly mindset as consumers.

The sixth project was Diva Cups for Laurier Students lead by Brooke Dietrich which, in partnership with Diva International and the Shore Centre, this workshop aimed to educate students on alternatives to traditional menstrual products that are environmentally wasteful. It provided Laurier students with the opportunity to learn about Diva Cups, network with others, and receive their own reusable menstrual product (menstrual underwear, menstrual cup or menstrual pad).

The seventh project was EarthSuds lead by Marissa Vettoretti which is a social business that sells travel toiletries free from plastic packaging. This is done by creating solid shampoos, conditioners, and soap that exist in the form of a single-use, dissolvable strip which is packaged in biodegradable, recycled paper packaging. Visit earthsuds.co to learn more.

The eighth project LASTXX lead by Lauren Barnes is a sustainable clothing brand that collects and properly recycles 20 plastic bottles for every item sold. They collect bottles through corporate recycling programs, community events and school bottles drive.

The ninth and final project that received funding was Vertical Barrel Gardens lead by Kristen Gilmore which provides an opportunity for students to obtain accessible yet sustainable fruits and vegetables within our campus’ green space. Two to three self-maintaining vertical barrel gardens will be placed in pilot locations to supply space to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Thank you to all who applied and congratulations to those who won.

For those interested, the SHF 2019-2020 application closes on November 4th, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. so make sure to get your application in for the coming year!