Drea Pedersen (commerce)
When Drea Pedersen learned that the Canadian healthcare industry produces up to 87,000 tons of waste each year and accounts for up to 4.6% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions, she decided to tackle the problem head-on.
The UVic commerce student spent two co-op work terms working as an environmental sustainability co-op student with Island Health, where she blended her passion for sustainability with her incredible leadership skills.
A UVic changemaker award recipient
Drea is one of the inaugural recipients of the UVic Changemaker Awards, which celebrate co-op students who have made significant contributions to their workplace, community and/or to their own personal learning.
Drea was awarded the 2024 Sustainable Development Award, which recognizes students who have actively contributed towards the during their co-op work term.
Addressing waste in the health care industry
“There is so much that can be done, from research to action,” says Drea about her work term. This included leading a research project that looked at Single-Use Plastics Regulations for the healthcare industry, launching a campaign that uses circular economy principles to reallocate assets between facilities and departments and divert them from landfills, and developing procedures for a new Green Revolving Fund, which allows for energy-efficiency and clean-energy projects.
“The most rewarding project was probably the ProPASS campaign, where I measured emissions from employees’ work commutes and promoted public transit incentives. This was my first solo project and we received data from more than 1,400 employes.”
Drea also helped remove more than 420 pounds of debris from local waterways during a paddleboard and beach cleanup on Earth Day.
Advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
Each of these initiatives were fueled by Drea’s passion for contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainble Development Goals.
“So much of this work is at the intersection of SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 13: Climate Action. The scope of my work explored the environmental impacts of healthcare and engaging with staff to transition towards a more sustainable delivery of care.” Environmental sustainability also calls for better materials management practices, supporting SDG 12: Responsible Production and Consumption.
Leveraging leadership skills
“Working with Island Health has been so incredibly fulfilling of that underlying passion to lead projects with tangible environmental benefits,” says Drea.
“In an organization so complex, we will probably never run out of processes to fix or refine. I think that's what I need—a near-endless amount of ways I can create real impact. The Environmental Sustainability team has given me that.”