MISSISSAUGA, ON (March 10, 2023): Student teams at Fleming College, Wilfrid Laurier University, and University of Ottawa have been named 2023 Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge Regional Champions by Canada’s largest experiential learning platform, Enactus Canada, and proud program supporter, Scotiabank.
To reduce the air pollution and increase the fertility of soil, Fleming College’s Paddy Waste to Income project collects paddy waste from farmers and sells it for alternate purposes including feeding cattle, protecting crops, and providing bedding to dairy farms. To date the project has diverted 99 tonnes of paddy waste from just under 100 acres.
Students from Wilfrid Laurier University created Safi, a simple solution that aims to help the 80 per cent of farmers in East Africa that do not pasteurize their milk, putting many people at risk of life-threatening diseases. Safi is a portable easy-to-use pasteurization device that kills harmful pathogens in milk without compromising taste. They’re currently working with 73 milk cooperatives and positively impacting approximately 400,000 small scale farmers in Rwanda.
The University of Ottawa launched Poly, a social enterprise that manufactures, sells, and operates small-scale plastic recycling systems, allowing anyone to turn plastic waste into brand new products. This year alone, the team has generated $14,000 in revenue, diverted over 6,000 water bottles worth of plastic, and saved 270 pounds of oil.
“The amazing work of today’s winning teams is proof that when like-minded leaders come together for a worthy cause, they truly have the power make a real, lasting change,” says Allyson Hewitt, President of Enactus Canada.
The Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge empowers post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that teach viable solutions to relevant environmental issues. Since 2009, Enactus students have delivered over 1,100 environmental projects that have diverted over 600,000,000 liters of water, more than 450,000 tonnes of CO2, 200,000 tonnes of waste, and directly impacted the lives of over 300,000 people.
“We congratulate this year’s Enactus Canada regional champions in the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge,” says Kim Brand, Vice President and Global Head of Sustainability at Scotiabank. “We all have an important role to play in the transition to a low-carbon, more resilient future and we are impressed with the creative and innovative contributions submitted by each of the regional champions.”
Student teams demonstrated the impact of their climate action projects to panels of business executives on March 10 in Mississauga as part of the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Central Canada.
All three teams will now move on to the national level of competition taking place May 1-3, 2023 at the Enactus Canada National Exposition in Montreal.
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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 3,000 post-secondary students led 188 community empowerment projects and business ventures last year in communities coast to coast, directly impacting over 30,000 lives.
As a global network of 33 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 is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: “for every future”, we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success 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 over 90,000 employees and assets of over $1.3 trillion (as at October 31, 2022), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @Scotiabank.
Media Inquiries:
Jennifer Falzon
VP, Programs & Marketing
Enactus Canada
jen@enactus.ca | 416.315.2099
Katie Raskina
katie.raskina@scotiabank.com
Enactus Fleming College students celebrating at the 2023 Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Central Canada
Enactus Wilfrid Laurier University celebrating at the 2023 Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Central Canada
Enactus University of Ottawa celebrating at the 2023 Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Central Canada