News in brief: June 30, 2010

Laurier successfully challenges commuters

In a week-long competition in early June among workplaces across Canada to reduce carbon emissions through commuting in more sustainable ways than driving, Wilfrid Laurier University placed in the top five nationally in its size category and first in Waterloo Region.

121 Laurier staff and faculty participated in the Canadian Commuter Challenge by walking, biking, taking public transit or carpooling to campus. In its ninth year of participating in the challenge, the university’s efforts avoided the production of over 3000kg of greenhouse gases, a sharp increase over last year’s result.

Among local universities, Laurier fared especially well – the University of Waterloo had only 14 members of its workforce participate while 23 individuals from McMaster University and 77 from the University of Guelph took part.