March 2 at noon (online | free)
SDG Month Canada National Launch Webinar with SDSN

March 2 at 2 p.m. (online | free)
Transformative Pedagogies for Climate Education hosted by UBC Sustainability Hub

March 4 at 2:30 p.m. (online | free)
Human Rights in Action: turning SDG Advocacy into Policy Influence with SDSN and YouthCanSustain

March 10 at noon (online | free)
Your Career and the SDGs with SDSN and YouthCanSustain

March 11 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
(Fredericton, Student Union Building | free)
UNB Sustainability Free Store Pop-up

March 14 (Fredericton)
UNB Girls STEM Up Conference

Register now

March 17 at 7 p.m. (online | free)
Regional Realities Series: Adaptation in the Atlantic Region with YouthClimateLab and CLIMAtlantic

March 18 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
(Fredericton, Student Union Building | free)
UNB Sustainability Open House & Climate Resiliency Kits

March 19 at 1 p.m. (online | free)
Strategy to Impact: Mobilizing Business to Drive SDG Acceleration in Canada with SDSN and YouthCanSustain

March 20 from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
(Saint John, Oland Hall Foyer | free)
UNB Sustainability Open House & Climate Resiliency Kits

March 23 (online | free)
UNB Sustainability Literacy Assessment Opens

March 24 from noon - 2 p.m. (Fredericton, HIL Research Commons Fab Lab | free)
Fun with solar power: Mason jar light workshop

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March 24 at 2 p.m. (online | free)
National SDG Trivia hosted by the University of Alberta

March 26 from 3 - 4 p.m. (online | free)
Sustainable Food, Food Security, & Accessibility Round Table Event

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March 27 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
(Saint John, Ganong Hall Gallery | free)
UNB Sustainability Free Store Pop-up

March 30 from 1 - 3 p.m. (Fredericton | free)
UNB Sustainability – Fredericton Landfill Tour

Register now

Sustainability Month 2025 highlights

• 1073 event participants
• The UNB Sustainability Free Store re-distributed just under 1,000 pounds of gently used clothing and small household items to students and the community.
• UNB Mobility Day returned to both the UNBSJ and UNBF campuses with in-person micromobility demos in Fredericton, various research presentations and a roundtable on transportation.
• UNB ITS and UNB Sustainability partnered again to bring the E-waste recycling event back to UNB and share Cyber Security Awareness month information with community. A total of 511 pounds of electronic waste was recycled.
• Other events lead by various student groups and partners across campus include: Community Garden clean-ups, UNBSU Sustainability week events and Harriet Irving Library Research Commons FabLab workshop.

Sustainability Month 2024 highlights

• Over 1,100 event participants
• Our temporary Free Stores helped UNB re-distribute over 1,500 pounds of gently used clothing and small household items to students and the community.
• Our first UNB Mobility Day (with the UNB Community Transportation Research Lab and the UNB Urban & Community Studies Institute) brought together students, staff, faculty and community members to talk about transportation at our institution and in the province.
• Our first E-waste Recycling and Paper Shredding event (with UNB ITS) provided students, staff and faculty with a secure and responsible way to dispose of their personal e-waste and confidential documents.
• Over 120 peices of feedback were collected during UNB Sustainability Open Houses and Free Stores to assist with the development of UNB's next sustainability plan.
• Our student groups hosted several successful events, including sustainability trivia game, tote bag painting event, sustainability conference, virtual tour of the local landfill and more.

UNB Sustainability partners with the Residence team to host the Residence Energy Challenge (REC). The REC is a two-week competition between residences to reduce their energy consumption.

UNB Sustainability will track the energy consumption of each residence in the two weeks leading up to the REC to create a baseline for each residence. The residence on each campus with the largest percentage reduction from their baseline consumption will win a pizza party.

Effective tips for reducing energy consumption

• Turn off the lights and use natural light: One of the easiest things to do to reduce your energy consumption is to ensure all lights – your room, the washrooms and common rooms - are turned off when they are not in use. You can reduce your energy consumption further by only using lights when needed. Most residence rooms receive a significant amount of sunlight throughout the day, so try opening your blinds and taking advantage of natural sunlight when working and hanging out in your room.
  
  
• Turn off computers and set energy-saving functions: With the vast majority of students owning personal laptops and having a lifestyle in which they use their laptops for several hours a day, the energy needed to power the laptops in our residences is tremendous. Although using your laptop is often necessary, it is also important that you shut it off and set the energy-saving functions for when it is not in use. When energy-saving functions like sleep mode are set, laptops use approximately 84% less energy. Please also note that screensavers are not an energy-saving function; they actually use about the same energy as when the laptop is in use.
  
  
• Take shorter showers: Five minutes in a standard shower can use approximately 100 litres of water and it takes a large amount of energy to heat that water. Taking shorter showers and using less hot water can dramatically reduce energy and water use.
  
  
• Do your laundry using cold water: Most of the energy consumed by laundry machines is put into heating the water, so doing your laundry with cold water saves a lot of energy. Combining loads of laundry can also save energy and water.
  
  
• Use a drying rack instead of the dryer: A dryer consumes anywhere from 4 to 6 kWh of electricity, while using a clothesline or drying rack uses no electricity.
  
  
• Use small appliances less often: Small appliances like kettles and hairdryers are very energy-intensive, so try to use them less often when you can.
  
  
• Unplug your mini-fridge (as applicable): A mini-fridge can account for over half the energy usage in the average residence room. Therefore, one of the most significant contributions you can make to reduce your energy consumption is to unplug your mini-fridge when you aren't using it, such as on weekends or over reading week if you're heading home and won't be on campus. You could also consider teaming up with your neighbours and sharing a fridge.
  
  
• Talk: Talk with your neighbours about how you could save even more energy - you will probably come up with some creative ideas that are a lot of fun!

Code of conduct

• Do not tamper with motion detectors or other fixed building equipment.
• Do not do anything that will impact campus infrastructure or agreements.
• Do not remove any fluorescent tubes in hallway lighting.
• If you are found sabotaging others’ efforts, your residence will be disqualified.
• Remember your residence code of conduct and rules while participating in the challenge.

This code of conduct is to make the challenge fun while ensuring that safety standards and fair play are maintained.

• Sustainable Development Goals Month Canada is a national collaboration to increase awareness and engagement with the 17 United Nations SDGs on college and university campuses in Canada.
  
  
• SDG Month Canada is led by the Sustainability Hub at UBC, SDSN Canada, and Colleges and Institutes Canada.