What is Sustainability? 

Joel Rumson

The University of New Brunswick , positioned as the oldest English-speaking University in Canada, was established in 1785 and holds over 10,000 students from over 100 countries. 

Offering exchange programs in 36 countries, UNB provides students with opportunities to explore vast and diverse cultures, destinations, and experiences across the world. This results in increased waste, pollution, and consumption of goods which degrades our environment. Here lies the conundrum, do we as students seek professional advancement, even if we are actively degrading our environment through our consumptive actions? 

UNB Sustainability serves as an institutional response to this conundrum. 

To learn more about what UNB is doing, The Brunswickan interviewed Sedona Cluett, Manager of Sustainability of UNB Fredericton and Saint John Campus. 

According to UNB, sustainability works “to inspire and educate our people to become problem solvers and leaders in the world, undertake research that addresses societal and scientific challenges, and engage with our partners to build a more just, sustainable and inclusive world.”

The issue is, we live unsustainably. Think, we buy one-time textbooks, write papers we never keep, and order takeout instead of eating at the meal hall. 

To dive deeper, The Brunswickan asked Cluett what the footprint of students could look like. 

“Their footprints would include everything from how they get to campus [or] classes (do they drive an hour, or do they live in residence) to everything they consume on campus (food, other products from the Campus Store, etc.) to everything they do in their lives outside of school (do they frequently drive home to visit family in another city, do they frequently purchase items online that are being shipped from far away, do they use a lot of electricity and water at home, etc.), she said.” 

Combined, these small choices, repeated by thousands of students on UNB campuses, add up to a significant environmental footprint.

In 2014, UNB appointed its first Sustainability Coordinator. Later, they expanded the team with a Climate Change Officer and partnering with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), earning Silver ratings through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) program.

In 2022, the President’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (PACS) replaced the Sustainability Advisory Committee to prioritize environmental stewardship, climate adaptation, and reduced carbon footprints across the University.

The Brunswickan spoke with one student on what sustainability meant to them, “Sustainability means organizing society in harmony with the maintenance of Earth’s ecological systems,” they said. “Any truly sustainable society must abolish capitalist social relations of labour, as capitalism necessitates the continued exploitation of natural resources…any institutions that participate in the obfuscation of these root causes and perpetuate the fictions of sustainable capitalist development are complicit in the climate crisis.”

One other student simply added, “I wish my tuition money didn’t go towards investment in fossil fuels”’

So, it is clear some of us are aware of the effect our actions have on the environment. 

The question now lies, how do we translate awareness into action? 

According to Cluett, “the Residence Energy Challenge, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Month and Sustainability Month are just a few examples where students can actually take action and do something to become more sustainable. We also try to share external initiatives and events happening in Fredericton and Saint John to our students via our socials so they can get involved.”

UNB has indeed made significant advancements in the area of environmental stewardship to align themselves with the (SDGs) made by the United Nations — such as the solar panels, energy efficient buildings, waste diversion strategies, and climate action plans on campus. 

Yet, while personal habits contribute to the issue, the greater responsibility lies on UNB — an institution shaping thousands of students’ choices. 

Cluett mentioned the two biggest institutional barriers:  “Funding. It would be fantastic to have solar panels and technologies like that all over our campuses, but those technologies are quite expensive upfront, especially since our campuses are large so we would require a lot of them which adds to the cost, she said.” “[Secondly]  Priority. UNB is also a busy place, with lots of different projects going on, and sometimes the most sustainable options aren’t prioritized due to other factors, again, mainly because of cost.”

The reality is that sustainable choices often come with a financial burden that many of us simply cannot afford — including UNB. 

Consequently, in many cases, students do not get the luxury of ‘making the right choice,’ especially when they can barely afford to feed themselves or make rent.

As of 2025, UNB’s Sustainability Team serves as an institutional response to the barriers of sustainable lifestyles. 

Cluett spoke on their sustainable initiatives: “a lot of the time our sustainability initiatives are both environmentally friendly and financially accessible to students. For example, our Free Food Planters program is environmentally responsible — we have been reusing the same 10 planters for almost 10 years now, we purchase the soil and plants from a local garden center, etc. — and the food grown in them is free! Another example is our initiatives that encourage students to walk, bike or take the bus. Those are more environmentally responsible methods of travelling, and they are all cheaper than purchasing a vehicle, maintaining it, filling it with gas  — or even charging it if students can afford an electric vehicle — and paying for parking everywhere!”

A team of five works under UNB Sustainability and oversees projects across both Fredericton and Saint John campuses. The team includes: Tom Gilmore, Nikole Watson, Sedona Cluett, Lisa Rickard, and Bailey Saunders. 

The Brunswickan asked Cluett, “Is it difficult to manage both UNBSJ and UNBF campuses?”

“Yes, it’s a bit difficult,” she said.

“Mainly because my team currently does not have a staff member on the Saint John campus — we’re all currently on the Fredericton campus — so when we host events and things on the Saint John campus, we must plan it all from Fredericton and then get ourselves down to Saint John to host it.”

These professionals work to implement systemic changes ensuring that climate responsibility is built into UNB’s operations at an institutional level, rather than relying on student behavior alone.

When asked what it means to work with UNB Sustainability, Cluett mentioned, “Working with UNB Sustainability has been great. Every day is a little different, and engaging with students is always enjoyable. I’ve been working at UNB in my position for almost two years and we have completed countless projects; it’s difficult to pick my favourite one. Currently we are working on collecting data to submit to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)’s STARS program. We are hoping to receive another Silver rating for both campuses. We are also in the process of creating UNB’s 2025 – 2030 Climate Action and Sustainability Plan.