People in the News
Green Giants
Green Giants are individuals who lead by example and for whom sustainability is not a job but rather a compelling passion.
If you know someone who fits this description, please don't hesitate to contact Tom at
towen@tru.ca.
Dr. Penny Powers
Our Green Giant for 2010 is the winner of TRU's inaugural Environmental Achievement Award, Dr. Penny Powers, Professor of Nursing, who has been instrumental in promoting environmental sustainability at TRU and also in the broader Kamloops community
As a Senate member Dr. Powers was a strong advocate and a pioneer in ensuring that TRU’s strategic plan incorporated environmental sustainability. She played a leading role in establishing the Environmental Advisory Committee, a key component in making TRU the University of Choice for Environmental Sustainability. She also incorporates her passion for environment in her professional work: for instance, she developed a new course in Climate Change and Health, and was a member of the Canadian Nurses Association Environmental Issues Group.
Dr. Powers came to TRU from the University of Victoria School of Nursing in 2004. A nurse-scholar, she is the author of one book, the author or co-author of 15 peer-reviewed articles, and has presented 36 scholarly papers in Canada, South Africa, Iceland, Korea, the US, Norway, Germany and Switzerland.
Her off-campus environmental activities include advocacy for worm composting, including co-presentation with the City of Kamloops of a workshop for homeowners, and membership in the BC Sustainable Energy Association.
The TRU Environmental Achievement Award, a $1000 scholarship in the name of the recipient, will be presented annually to a member of the TRU community who has made an outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability at TRU.
Kristen Hamilton
Our 2009 Green Giant was Kristen Hamilton, a creative and talented individual who has taken our unnecessary reliance on plastic bags and created something useful and environmentally friendly.
To some of her friends, Kristen Hamilton is affectionately known as The Bag Lady, but she really doesn’t mind.
Why? Because the nickname is another reminder of the environmental and humanitarian effort she’s so passionately become engrossed in.
With the help of scissors, a crochet hook and a few hours, Hamilton transforms strips of plastic bags of all shapes, strengths and colours into sleeping mats for the homeless or those in need in Third World countries.
Mats range in size depending on whether they’re for an infant, child, youth or adult. A children’s version is about three feet wide by five feet long and weighs about five pounds. Adult mats are four feet by six feet and weigh about seven or eight pounds. It takes Hamilton about 10 hours to complete an adult mat and two to three hours less for a children’s.
PROVIDING A SAFE PLACE TO SLEEP “Basically what you’re doing is diverting bags from the trash or the recycle and you’re reusing them,” says Hamilton, explaining that, as odd as it seems, the plastic is a healthier alternative to more organic materials.
“You’re creating a safe place to sleep for people who need it. The plastic bags repel parasites and also serve as a moisture and temperature barrier,” says Hamilton, a research analyst with Institutional Planning and Analysis. “Often the people who sleep on these mats would be sleeping on an organic-material mat made of reeds, grass roots — or banana leaves in Haiti — or whatever. These organic mats aren’t healthy because they’re not washable because if they are washed, they will fall apart. As well, the parasites can come up through the ground, through the organic mats, and infect people. In children, that (parasites and insects) can cause developmental delays. The parasites are actually repelled by the plastic, so children who sleep on these mats have a much-lower degree of infection from the parasites,” says Hamilton.”
WORKING WITH BAGS OF ALL VARIETIES While grocery bags account for a good amount of her plastic, Hamilton also relies on a range of other bags. The thin packaging used to wrap toilet paper, paper towels and electronics is suitable. And as long as they’re cleaned beforehand, so are the bags for bread, buns, cereal, crackers, a host of other food products, and sandwich and storage bags past their usefulness. Even bags with rips or holes are useful. “We don’t want to encourage the use of plastic bags, but what we ARE saying is that we might as well do something useful with the ones we have. We’re not going to eradicate the use of plastic, but let’s at least do something with it,” says Hamilton.
SUMMER FUN MEANS A BOUNTY OF BAGS
Since embarking on mat making some months ago, Hamilton has developed a greater awareness of the extent that plastic has become part of our everyday life. To illustrate her point, Hamilton uses the summer season and it wealth of BBQs, picnics and camping as an example. As the temperature and daylight hours increase, so does our use of plastic — plastic wrapped around hamburger and hotdog buns and disposable plates, cutlery and cups.
IDEA CATCHING ON Hamilton’s efforts have caught the imagination of a growing number of individuals and groups in town. Some are collecting bags for her and others (including Ridgeview Lodge) have agreed to help with the crocheting. Re-Mat Project is the name for the local initiative.
A group of Kamloops firefighters also came aboard and volunteered to ship and distribute mats during their recent Operation Nicaragua relief trip. As part of Operation Nicaragua, a commercial-sized storage container is filled with a range of items like clothes, bicycles, and tools. The mats serve a dual purpose as packing material.
One of the local Rotary groups, Aurora Rotary, has joined in the distribution effort.
Hamilton is a member of TRU’s Environmental Advisory Committee and has won the admiration of Tom Owen, TRU’s Director, Environment and Sustainability. Hamilton’s actions are a glowing example of how starting out small and simple can lead to greater results.
“Anything that takes plastic out of the environment is good,” says Owen, “and anything that reuses it a creative way is a double benefit. Anything we can do is ultimately a benefit.”
LEARNING OF RE-MAT Hamilton first learned of making plastic bag mats through an Internet story in her home province of Ontario. Because knitting and crocheting was of interest well before reading the article, this alternative naturally piqued her interest.
“It sounded like a really cool project because I’ve been knitting and crocheting for years, and this focused on environmental sustainability,” Hamilton recalls of reading the Internet story. “The more I learned about it, the more I thought it would be a great fit because it combined a humanitarian effort and a movement towards environmental sustainability.”
EQUIPMENT The cost of equipment is minimal. A good pair of scissors and a large plastic crochet hook is all Hamilton needs. She prefers an 11.5 mm hook (also known as a P size) because the handle is thick, and that makes it easier on her fingers and wrists. The plastic strips, she says, would be more difficult to manipulate with a smaller hook.
A ROLE FOR EVERYONE Hamilton invites people of all abilities and levels of commitment to join the project, saying there is a role for everyone, whether it’s simply putting aside plastic bags to helping on the assembly line or crocheting entire mats. She believes this type of project can help unify a community around some common goals.
“People can buy into this because it’s concrete. They can see the environmental and humanitarian benefits of something like this.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Hamilton says she is more than willing to pick up bags. To donate them or to join in the project, contact Hamilton by email at rematproject@gmail.com or by phone at 250.318.3050.
-Written by Bart Cummins