Post-Secondary Students in BC and MB Recognized for Their Efforts to Build a Greener Canada

CALGARY, Alberta, March 6, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Students at the University of British Columbia Okanagan are tackling food insecurity on campus through an initiative called Project Roots. The program repurposes food waste to increase students’ access to affordable and healthy meal options.

Similarly, students at Brandon University are increasing food security in the city of Brandon through Green Futures. The community garden project, run by students and volunteers, provides fresh produce to local food banks and food box programs.

Thanks to these initiatives, Enactus University of British Columbia – Okanagan and Enactus Brandon University have been named 2018 Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge Regional Champions. The teams were picked by Canada’s largest experiential learning platform, Enactus Canada, and program supporter Scotiabank.

“The innovation our students showcase through their environmental initiatives is incredibly inspiring,” said Nicole Almond, President of Enactus Canada. “They’re proof that when organizations and communities collaborate, we have the power to drive sustainable change.”

Through their Project Roots, Enactus UBCO has sold over 230 produce boxes and diverted over 3,500 pounds of food waste in less than six months.

Thirty-three families have benefited from Enactus Brandon’s Green Futures this year. With 5,000 pounds of produce grown, more than 300 lives have been improved as a result of the project.

“Congratulations to the Regional Champions of the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge,” said Sloane Muldoon, Senior Vice-President Prairie Region, Scotiabank. “Scotiabank aims to support organizations that are committed to helping young people reach their infinite potential. As the leaders of tomorrow, the winners play an important role in protecting and conserving our environment for future generations and we look forward to seeing how much they will achieve in Canada and internationally.”

The Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge empowers post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that teach viable solutions to relevant environmental issues. Since 2009, 7,864 Enactus students have helped conserve 35,604,157 litres of water, divert 534,920,168 pounds of waste, and introduce 9,488 organizations to green business practices.

On March 2, student teams demonstrated the impact of their environmental initiatives to panels of business executives as part of the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Western Canada, held in Calgary.

Enactus University of British Columbia Okanagan and Enactus Brandon will now move on to the national level of competition taking place May 14-16 at the 2018 Enactus Canada National Exposition, taking place in Toronto.

ABOUT ENACTUS CANADA

Enactus Canada, a national charity and the country’s largest post-secondary experiential learning platform, is shaping entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 3,300 post-secondary students led 275 community empowerment projects and business ventures last year in communities coast to coast, positively impacting over 26,000 lives.

As a global network of 36 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.

ABOUT SCOTIABANK

Scotiabank believes that every customer has the right to become better off. When customers succeed, businesses, communities, and entire societies benefit as well. Through our CSR strategy, Better Future, Better Off, we seek to create economic, social and environmental value that benefits every customer. Through our five commitments to Customers, Employees, Communities, the Environment and strong Corporate Governance practices, we aim to create a better future for both society and Scotiabank. For more information on our priorities and the impact we have made, please visit www.scotiabank.com/csr.

Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 24 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of over $923 billion (as at January 31, 2018), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @Scotiabank.