Kyrke Gaudreau (UNBC, Course Instructor), Mojegan Sadeghian (Zaffron Cuisine, Owner/Manager), Lindsey Wells (UNBC, Student) and Justin Serpa (UNBC, Student) – photo submitted

Prince George, B.C. – Students at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) are doing what they can to help local businesses go green.

The course is called: “Carbon Management: Sustainable Business in a Carbon-Constrained World,” and it’s allowed them to provide a carbon footprint analysis for eight local companies.

It’s the continuation of a two year old partnership between UNBC and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.

Participating businesses volunteer their utility bills, information regarding their employees commutes, and their paper consumption to take part.

Barbara Otter, project coordinator with the Chamber, was pleased with the results.

“It was very interesting to see how engaged the students were able to be with the businesses. And the businesses really appreciated the pointers on how they could save their costs as well as reduce their use of fossil fuels.”

Course instructor Dr. Kyrke Gaudreau notes it’s up to the businesses whether or not they plan to follow through adding there are opportunities for those that do.

“So there’s obviously a question of brand. If you’re a business that really puts sustainability first, tries to buy local, reduce waste, uses renewable energy, people, especially young people, tend to notice that and they want to identify with those types of brands.”

Gaudreau adds everyone involved in the course – businesses, students, the Chamber, and himself- have benefited from it.

“It’s really lead to a lot of interesting conversations and a lot of self-reflection. Everyone involved is now thinking about what steps can I take, what are the impacts that my actions have, and how can I think about the future.”