Imagine sitting on campus on a bright sunny day at a picnic table with charging ports for your laptop, cellphone and even an e-bike. Better yet, imagine this picnic table was made from waste plastic composites that would last for decades. Now imagine the entire picnic tabletop is a solar panel in disguise, featuring components developed by a Western team.
That's the vision put forward by professor Joshua Pearce and his colleagues in the Free Appropriate Sustainability Technology (FAST) research group in their proposal for support from the Western Sustainable Impact Fund (WSIF).
Their pitch was successful, along with 33 other on-campus projects receiving funding from the WSIF this year. This was the final round of funding for the $1-million initiative, which launched in 2023 with a mandate to invest up to $500,000 a year for two years.
Using a combination of technologies the FAST lab and its partners previously developed, including nanogrid electronics designed for developing communities, "funding from the Western Sustainable Impact Fund is allowing us to develop and deploy solar-powered charging station picnic tables in an easy-to-understand demonstration that will help popularize sustainable technologies," Pearce said. "The primary sustainability objective will be to teach everyone who visits Western's campus that solar can now look like anything and hopefully pave the way to make us leaders in the building integrated solar industry."
Growing a culture of sustainability across Western's campus
The WSIF is allocated by the President's Advisory Committee on the Environment and Sustainability (PACES) to support on-campus projects that align with the sustainability goals outlined in Western's strategic plan, Towards Western at 150. Last year the fund seeded 30 efforts.
"It's amazing to support these innovative projects through the impact fund and see them come to life," said Laura Mantz, engagement coordinator for Western Sustainability. "They reflect Western's growing culture of sustainability and show how community-led initiatives are creating meaningful change across campus."
With support from the Western Sustainable Impact Fund, Tropical House will undergo repairs and rejuvenation to increase engagement and teaching and research capacity. (L to R): Horticultural specialist Aixia Wang, biology lab assistant Blanca Mora Alvarez and horticultural technician Samantha Locking. (Christopher Kindratsky/Western Communications)
Greenhouse opens door to Western community through rejuvenation project
On a recent visit to campus, Myra Wang found a quiet place to watercolour, drawing inspiration from the lush plants inside Tropical House, one of Western's biology department greenhouses. With a mango tree overhead and cactus at her feet, the space offered the perfect backdrop while she waited for a friend who attends Western.
It was also a pleasing sight for Aixia Wang, a horticultural specialist who's been working in the greenhouses for more than 20 years, growing and maintaining the plants used in up to 15 biology courses and by other faculties across campus.
Now, thanks to funding from the WSIF, she's hopeful more members of the Western and broader community will enjoy the beauty of the plants and appreciate the important role they play in helping our planet thrive.
"We really want to open the door to the community, sharing services and knowledge about how to grow and manage plants. We hope to connect with people and help educate them about biodiversity, composting and other issues that affect our natural environment," Aixia Wang said.
The beauty and biodiversity of the greenhouses has captivated biology lab assistant Blanca Mora Alvarez since she started working at Western in 2016. As greenhouse community liaison, she spearheaded the WSIF submission, with a goal to make the space more accessible to the campus community and to provide Wang and horticultural technician Samantha Locking with the tools, supplies and resources to make it happen.
Besides funding promotional materials to increase public engagement, the WSIF grant will also support repairs to the more than 60-year-old building, reducing energy and water consumption, and freeing up growth rooms lost to storage space over the years.
"The greenhouse currently operates with a small budget to cover basic functioning," said Mora Alvarez. "Repair and rejuvenation will add significant value to the teaching and research it supports and will add the resources we need to host more tours, workshops and plant sales, helping us become more economically efficient."
Other projects funded by WSIF in 2025 include a second bike repair station, an autonomous delivery drone and a sustainable approach to sports turf management. Read about all the grants here.
