The MACgreen Potluck, taking place Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m. in Faculty Hollow, will mark the beginning of a promising year for campus sustainability initiatives.

With creation last spring of two new MSU services promoting environmental sustainability  MACycle Co-op and MACgreen  and the formation of the much-awaited McMaster University Environmental Committee, the time is ripe for making changes that will decrease the ecological footprint of campus.

An ecological footprint, a term coined by University of British Columbia professor Bill Rees, is a quantifiable measurement of the environmental impact resulting from individual actions or institutional operations.

MACgreen will be educating students about how they can make small changes in their lifestyles that will help them reduce their ecological impact. This might include reducing consumption and waste, and choosing alternative forms of transportation. A number of events are also planned for the year, including a Sustainability Fair on Oct. 28, which will raise awareness about various on- and off-campus initiatives, and will feature a guest speaker from the Canadian Urban Transit Association and the Revolution Wear Fashion show (clothes designed entirely from reused materials). MACycle Co-op, a co-operative on-campus bicycle repair shop, has already sold more than 100 memberships, and is gearing up for a busy year.

According to fourth-year McMaster arts & science student Dan Freeman, “There are lots of great environmental initiatives, and it's important to keep the momentum going.” Freeman worked with the Alternative Commuting and Transportation office in the summer, and is currently MACgreen's, Alternative Transportation co-ordinator. “There is a lot of potential, but we have to stay very focused to ensure that initiatives, like the University's recycling program and the carpool program, gain the support and co-operation needed for success.”