The SustainabilityAction group was formed by Vicki Friesen and Paul Grogan in 2019, and has included Diane Orihel, Kristen Lowitt, and Kyla Tienhaara, as well as many graduate and undergraduate students from Biology, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Policy Studies etc. Essentially, our aim is to serve as a catalyst to promote and enact more environmentally sustainable practices on Queen's campus and beyond, and so we rely on individuals coming forward with specific ideas that as a group we can help to make progress on.
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community" (Aldo Leopold, 1949). This important and widely cited dictum is generally interpreted as referring to other organisms in our environment. We believe that humans would live more sustainably if instead of tending to consider ourselves as separate from nature, we fully acknowledged that we're merely a part of Leopold's "biotic community". In other words, sustainability is at least as much about social justice as it is about environmental issues.
Upcoming events:
Dear 350 Kingstoners, There are two important local water issues with significant dates coming soon: The need to prevent amalgamation of Conservation Authorities by Ontario Bill 68, and the need to keep Kingston's water under public governance.
Check out this great article in the Whig-Standard (and KingstonThis Week) that talks about how Bill 68 goes against the founding principle of the 1946 Ontario Conservation Authorities Act: 'Conservation for the People by the People'. A walk to raise awareness of the issue is planned for Lemoine Point, Saturday Jan 24, 2026, at 1 pm. Meet at the South Parking Lot. Bring a written message about what your Conservation Authority or Conservation Areas mean to you. We will collect them and send them to the Ford Government and Cataraqui Conservation. Please sign the LeadNow and Ontario Nature petitions at the walk or now using these links:
(to Doug Ford)
(to the Minister of the Environment (McCarthy) and your MPP)
Submit your Comments to Kingston City Council on
selling our water to a Municipal Services Corporation by Jan 19.
Both Kingston and Ontario are suggesting changes that could privatize our water. Kingston has proposed to create a new Municipal Services Corporation that would take over water and sanitation from Utilities Kingston. Check out this excellent in the Kingston Crow by Dr. David McDonald, Queen's researcher, an expert in the field. Then fill out the GetInvolved Kingston Survey: Read the business case, see questions from citizens, and share your feedback before Monday, Jan. 19th, .
Please write a letter to warn the Ford Government not to privatise our water without any local say.
The newly adopted Water and Wastewater Public Corporations (part of Bill-60) Act paves the way for risky water privatization. From the Environmental Defense Newsletter:
The provincial government now has the power to assign water and wastewater management to “public corporations”—without local consultation or consent. This new law doesn’t mention public ownership at all. That means private, for-profit ownership is possible at any time. Entrusting local water management to for-profit corporations would threaten to erode transparency and accountability. It could make it easier to bypass local water protections, sell water for profit, and weaken public control over a truly invaluable gift—clean, safe water.
You can write a letter .
It is a complex issue and the Ford Government is changing the rules faster than you can blink an eye. KeepWaterPublic has a good short . Ford denies these recent bills are about water privatisation, but experts say History also reveals a track record of failed attempts to privatize water management. Since the 2000s, hundreds of attempts worldwide have failed, including in , ON, where it led to disastrous environmental and financial consequences. Hamilton has since remunicipalised its water and seen much .
Climate Change is making water management more important than ever. Local, public experts can do that better than anyone else.
- Jude for 350 Kingston
Here are some of our ongoing and past activities since Fall 2023:
- Green labs initiative to promote more sustainable lab practices across Queen’s
- Working with Joyce Hostyn to promote Little Forests on Queen’s campus and neighbourhood
- Growing food plants on campus (e.g. outside the greenhouses in the Phytotron)
- The need for a secure bike facility close to Biosciences
- Over-use of salt and ice melt on Queen's campus paths
- Installation of window dots on campus building glass to reduce bird injuries
- Improving research and teaching lab waste management by promoting diversion of appropriate clean plastic from the land waste stream to recycling
- Promoting availability of more sustainable food and beverage options on campus
- Ensuring that recycled printing paper is used by the Dept administration, and also that it is stocked in the main office as an option for pick-up by individual labs.
- Writing letters of support to external agencies on various environmental issues (e.g. opposing pro-development changes to the Ontario Endangered Species Act; opposing the reinstatement of Sandhill crane hunting licences)
- Communicating upcoming sustainability/climate action-related events to faculty, staff, and graduate student members of Biology and Environmental Sciences
Earlier activities:
- Project Drawdown talk by Chad Frischmann (Senior Director, Research and ֱ for Project Drawdown) March 23, 2020. (Initiated and hosted by grad student Hayden Wainwright) .
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Improving the ecological footprint of on-campus food catering services, including promoting local food supply, healthy choices, and reducing packaging and food waste.
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Queen’s recyclable lab waste report. Hayward, K., Baker, S., and Grogan, P. 2020. Lab Waste Disposal at Queen’s: The potential for significantly reducing materials that are unnecessarily going to landfill and hazardous waste by diverting them to the recycling stream. (PDF)
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Raising awareness among scientists of the environmental impacts of doing their research, and potential avoidance/reduction/mitigation options.
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Grogan, P. 2021. Raising awareness of science’s environmental footprint. Guest editorial. 19(3): 143. (PDF main article) (PDF Supplementary file
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Grogan, P., Buckeridge, K.M. and Priemé, A. 2021. Declare how you are limiting your environmental impact. Nature (Correspondence) 596: 35. (PDF)
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Grogan, P., and Wood, D.A. 2023. Author declaration: Did you take any specific actions to minimize the environmental impacts of your science study? ArcticNet 2022 and Queen's Northern Research symposium posters (PDF)
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What can Biology tell us about our Future 5.6? Public talk by Paul Grogan for the ֱ Sustainable Living Series (hosted by Marlow Benson, April 13, 2023). .
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Promoting the inclusion in the Department of Biology's graduate and undergraduate thesis writing guidelines that students should consider including some explicit acknowledgement of the environmental impacts of completing their thesis research, and any mitigation/avoidance/reduction measures they utilized.
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Previous events associated with SustainabilityAction's goals:
DRAW THE LINE: 20 Sept parade to speak out about Climate and Justice. As part of a day of action across-Canada and internationally, there’s a major parade/demonstration planned for Saturday, Sept 20 in Kingston’s Victoria Park from 1.30 pm to speak out about Canada’s involvement in global warming and social injustice. For more details, watch this Draw the Line: for Climate, for People, for Peace. .
Upcoming Events with Indigenous Land Protectors
Indigenous youth and community leaders from Treaty 9 (Northern Ontario) will be visiting Kingston and Queen’s at the end of September. They are coming to inform the Kingston community about the impacts of recently passed Ontario Bill 5 on their land and Treaty rights.
Raising Our Voices – A Community Concert Sunday Sept 28 at 7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30)
The Spire, 82 Sydenham St. Featuring music, short talks, and theatre! With Special Guests: Ramon Kataquapit, musicians Kakaow and Sarah Harmer. $25 or pay what you can |
Indigenous Perspectives on Bill 5 – A Public Lecture and Film Screening. Monday Sept 29 at 6:30 pm. Isabel Bader Centre, 390 King St. West, Kingston, Ontario
Climate Change Disinformation teach-in: Learn why Canada needs to phase out fossil fuel production in a just and equitable way. March 21st, 2024, in Biosciences complex at 5.30 pm. For full details see poster. Full video
What can Biology tell us about our Future? Biology Department seminar by Paul Grogan (1.30pm on Tuesday March 12th 2024 in Biosciences 3110). Abstract
SDG Week at Queen's March 4th-8th, 2024.
The Office of the Principal and the Vice-Principal (Research) Portfolio are hosting two networking events for researchers, students, and staff to meet, share information and opportunities about research, and celebrate our collective progress towards the SDGs. The first event on March 5 is focused on SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities with the second on March 7 highlighting SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. There will be opportunities to make connections for collaborations and learn about advancing the SDGs at Queen’s.
Global Climate Strike on Friday November 3, 2023, at 11 am, location yet to be finalized. The theme is: demand that our leaders Power Up the renewable energy revolution! More info to come from us and also you can check . Contact Gavin Hutchinson Kingston 350 (info@email.actionnetwork.org) for details.
Global Climate March Sept 15th, 2023 - Fridays for future strike demonstration (Kingston event at ֱ/Union street junction)
Mobilizing Kingston with Action-Ready Answers to Create the Climate Future we ALL want:
Special talk to Kingston audience by Dr. Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of the world's leading resource for climate solutions. Wednesday May 3rd, 2023. .
Useful resources:
The Environmental Responsibility Framework: A Toolbox for Recognizing and Promoting Ecologically Conscious Research ()
webhosting provider
- Network of Sustainable Science and Green Lab Enthusiasts
- How to be more efficient with lab cold storage
- Promoting lab research practices that achieve the highest possible social and environmental sustainability standards
- International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (specific lab waste program at )
(UC Santa Barbara, U.S.)
Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework () (UC London, U.K.)
(Kingston)
Conservation/Sustainability local groups on Queen's campus (prepared by Kim Parno)
Last update: 21 January 2026