Keep cozy and carry on. The TRU Sustainability Office is hosting its annual TRU Sweater Day on Feb. 15 from noon to 3 p.m. in Old Main Student Street.
From Feb. 15 to Feb. 18, the Sustainability Office is encouraging the TRU community to wear their sweaters while temperatures across campus, with few exceptions, will be lowered by a maximum of one degree Celsius. According to the TRU Sustainability Office, temporarily decreasing the university’s thermostat will reduce its energy consumption by approximately ten per cent.
“We live in a climate–no pun intended, where discussions around sustainability are quite a lot of doom and gloom, and perhaps that’s appropriate,” said Kei Massalski, a Special Projects Assistant and Co-op Student at the TRU Sustainability Office. “But I think in all things in life, we all as individuals have to take things one step at a time, so there’s always merit in working on things with small steps. And not only that, but it can be fun.”
This event involves a sweater portrait photo booth and contest that will be judged in three categories: Coziest, Ugliest and Animalistic (e.g., leopard print, lion graphic, etc.). Participants will be offered hot chocolate and cookies baked by the TRU Culinary Arts department and will be entered into the draw for a Patagonia toque.
The sweater contest winners will be awarded the Ultimate Cold Relief Kit, which includes a heated blanket, thermos, hot chocolate, mittens and other items. Students can enter this contest by sending their photos to sustain@tru.ca or visiting the photo booth.
“We’re trying to lowkey shame the people who are wearing t-shirts and shorts to the office in the middle of winter, cranking up their thermostat,” Mackenzie Warner, a Marketing and Communications Co-Op Student in the TRU Sustainability Office, said. “We’re encouraging people to dress according to the season, [instead of] wasting energy by heating things that don’t need to be.”
TRU Sweater Day is sponsored by Fortis BC and supported by Value Village, which contributed 100 mugs for serving hot chocolate and 30 sweaters.
Those who engage with the TRU Sustainability Office’s table in Old Main Student Street may keep their mug and take a sweater, which will be provided on a first-come-first-served basis. They recommend participants bring their own mug since single-serve cups will not be provided.
While cookies and hot chocolate will be given out, participants are being encouraged to give back as a clothing donation station for those who wish to donate clean and gently used clothing to support those in need, will be on-hand.
“It’s about small, practical things we can all do to affect the climate crisis that affects all of us,” Massalski said. “And we do so in a not-so-doom-and-gloomy way. We can have fun with it and be optimistic.”