Okanagan College
SustainOC Newsletter
September 2026 · Issue

New Term,
New Habits.

Five practical ways to start the term lighter, from the sorting boxes to your morning commute.

Waste sortingCommutingBack to campusWaterOrientation
In this issue
  • 1Know Your Pink, Grey and Blue
  • 2Move In Without the Mountain
  • 3Leave the Car One Day a Week
  • 4Go Easy on the Water
  • 5Power Down at Orientation
A commuter bicycle locked to a rack beside a paved path through dry Okanagan grassland, with the lake and golden hills behind
Image: AI-generated
Orientation
Sep 8
Come find us
Drought Alert

You are arriving in the driest valley in BC.

The Okanagan is rated Level 5, the most severe category the province uses. Lakes have fallen below the range recorded between 1991 and 2025, and some groundwater wells are at their lowest levels on record for this time of year. Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm all draw from a basin under the same strain.

Okanagan drought ratingLevel 5 of 5
Top of a scale that starts at Level 0 · reported August 7, 2026
Stage 2
Kelowna outdoor watering restrictions, in force since August 6, 2026.
20%
The cut in water use the City is asking residents to make.
Check your watering days →
A cracked, dried-out lakebed in the foreground with the water line receded far back toward dry Okanagan hills
Image: AI-generated
70,000
Households with new pink & grey boxes
24%
Of flexible plastics captured province-wide
3.13 t
Paper diverted by OC's Paper Trail
7.04 t
GHG emissions diverted by the same project

From the Sustainability Office

Welcome back, and welcome for the first time if this is your first term. September is the month when habits get set. Where you put your recycling, how you get to campus, how long you leave the shower running in residence: whatever you do in week one, you will probably still be doing in April.

Two things changed over the summer that are worth five minutes of your attention. Curbside recycling across the Central Okanagan gained two new boxes in May, so the sorting rules are genuinely different from last year. And the valley is sitting at the province's most severe drought rating, with Kelowna on Stage 2 watering restrictions since early August. Neither is a crisis you personally caused. Both are things a few thousand people doing small things differently can measurably improve.

Come and say hello at Student Orientation Day on September 8. We will be at the Sustainability booth with answers to whatever you want to ask, and with the Power Down Pledge and its prize draw, which are open to students only. Here are five things worth doing this month.

The Okanagan College Sustainability Team

5 Actions for September

What we can do, right now, across all four campuses.

1

Know Your Pink, Grey and Blue

Curbside recycling in the Central Okanagan changed on May 1. Two new boxes joined the blue one, and the rules are different from whatever you sorted last year.

  • →Put flexible plastic and wrappers in the pink box.
  • →Put non-deposit glass jars and bottles in grey.
  • →Stack the grey box on top so nothing blows away.
  • →Find your building's sort station in week one.
Local Tip

The pink and grey boxes reach about 70,000 Central Okanagan households across Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland and Lake Country. Apartments are not included, so check with your building.

2

Move In Without the Mountain

Move-in week is the single biggest waste spike on campus all year. Most of it is packaging and things people already owned.

  • →Reuse last year's binders, tabs and lab coats.
  • →Buy used textbooks or borrow through the library.
  • →Unpack into bins you keep, not bags you bin.
  • →Take unwanted furniture to reuse, not the curb.
Local Tip

Okanagan College students won the 2026 Canadian Tire Environmental Sustainability Challenge national title for Paper Trail, turning used books into fire breaks. It diverted 3.13 tonnes of paper.

3

Leave the Car One Day a Week

The trip you choose in your first week is usually the trip you keep for eight months. Sorting it now costs one evening of planning.

  • →Trial your bus route once before classes start.
  • →Find a carpool match on OC Commutes this week.
  • →Ride your bike route once while it is still warm.
  • →Pick your car-free day and put it in your calendar.
Local Tip

Routes 1, 4, 8 and 12 serve Kelowna, 2, 4 and 15 serve Penticton, 6 and 90 serve Vernon. Salmon Arm has no listed campus route, so carpooling is the practical option there.

Get OC Commutes
4

Go Easy on the Water

The valley is in the most severe drought category the province has. What you do indoors matters more than usual this month.

  • →Keep showers short, especially in residence.
  • →Run dishwashers and laundry only when full.
  • →Report dripping taps and running toilets promptly.
  • →Water on your assigned days only, if you water.
Local Tip

Kelowna moved to Stage 2 restrictions on August 6, 2026. Odd numbered addresses water Tuesday and Saturday, even numbered water Wednesday and Sunday. The City is asking for a 20 per cent cut in use.

5

Power Down at Orientation

The Sustainability Office is running a Power Down Pledge, a two-phase energy campaign starting at Student Orientation Day on September 8. This one is for students only.

  • →Students, find the Sustainability booth on September 8.
  • →Scan the QR code and take the 30 second pledge.
  • →Enter the student prize draw while you are there.
  • →Residence students, watch for phase two.
Local Tip

Open to Okanagan College students only. Employees are not eligible for the pledge or the draw. Three students are drawn to receive a 50 dollar gift card each. Phase two turns the pledge into a friendly energy-reduction competition between residences.

SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE

One Action This Month: Leave the Car

Bus, bike, or carpool at least one day a week through September. One day, four times, is a real change you can actually keep. Pick the day now, before your timetable hardens around the car.

  • →Ride the bus to campus one day a week
  • →Bike or walk in while the weather holds
  • →Carpool with a classmate or colleague
  • →Pick your day and put it in your calendar
Take the pledge →

Local & BC Sustainability Updates

Illustration of a low Okanagan lake shoreline with exposed banks under a hazy summer sun

Kelowna Tightens to Stage 2 Watering Restrictions

Ongoing dry conditions and rising demand moved the City to Stage 2 on August 6, 2026. Outdoor watering is now limited to two set days a week by address, and the City is asking for a 20 per cent cut in use.

Illustration: SustainOC

Check the schedule →
Illustration of the three Central Okanagan curbside recycling boxes, pink, grey and blue, side by side

Pink and Grey Boxes Are Now Rolling

Recycle BC took over Central Okanagan curbside collection and added two boxes: pink for flexible plastic, grey for non-deposit glass. Collection began May 1, 2026 and runs every two weeks alongside your blue bin.

Illustration: SustainOC

Read more →
Illustration of a stack of used books beside a green tick, marking a diverted-waste win

OC Wins a National Sustainability Title, Again

Okanagan College took the 2026 Canadian Tire Environmental Sustainability Challenge national title for a second consecutive year. The winning project, Paper Trail, turns used books into wildfire fire breaks.

Illustration: SustainOC

Read the release →

For more up-to-date news, upcoming events, and sustainability initiatives, please visit:

www.okanagancollege.ca/sustainability
Scan to visit okanagancollege.ca/sustainability
Scan me

Vaibhav Patel (Energy Specialist)

vpatel@okanagan.bc.ca

Campus Planning & Facilities Management,
Okanagan College | Kelowna Campus

Rob St. Onge (Sustainability Manager)

rstonge@okanagan.bc.ca

Campus Planning & Facilities Management,
Okanagan College | Kelowna Campus

Department enquiries: sustainoc@okanagan.bc.ca

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Okanagan College SustainOC Newsletter · September 2026