Young Visionaries at CBU - Enactus CBU: Plans & Achievements

As a university, CBU has always been technologically & academically advanced. Students can also choose to become a part of a club hosted by the university. Some of the societies include math, music, nursing, education, gaming & technology, engineering, chemistry, etc. Today, we would like to share the details of the Enactus - Cape Breton University, society.

We have received the following submission from Mr. Tusharkumar Baraiya (Student of Post Baccalaureate diploma in healthcare management & President and chair of Enactus CBU)

ENACTUS is a community of entrepreneurial leaders who see business as a way to address social issues (Enactus Canada). Enactus is a global organization comprising of 72,000 students across 1730 universities in 35 countries, positively impacting the lives of 1.3 million people each year, guided by educators and supported by business leaders to help identify solutions to pressing issues in today’s world in order to build a better tomorrow for all of us (Enactus Canada). This association of different entities brings out innovative solutions and products to existing issues and has an impact on the community in general. ENACTUS helps students in universities to build solutions in support of a sustainable global environment by providing them with resources that include but are not limited to advisors, funding, exposure to several business competitions, and much more. This enables the students to get an understanding of their prototype and test their solutions and ventures under real-life conditions.

The ENACTUS Cape Breton University (CBU) is registered as a society, as well as a part of the Enactus organization. Its primary goal is to focus on issues within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) and aid in addressing them by providing sustainable solutions to help the community through innovative ideation. Currently, ENACTUS CBU is engaged in building efficient energy solutions towards issues like Greenhouse Gas Emissions, inefficient heating systems across homes, devices with rather large electricity consumption and water wastage. The student society started its first phase of project “HOME SWEET ECO-HOME” through their education campaign which involves educating the homeowners on energy conservation and will replace energy intensive devices like incandescent bulbs, electric ranges for efficient devices such as LED bulbs and air fryers in an attempt to advocate lower Greenhouse Gas(GHG) emissions. This year Enactus CBU projects a total environmental saving of 1.30 metric tons of CO2 and over $34,000 in household savings for the participants in the HOME SWEET ECO-HOME project.

The Enactus CBU is also working on their second project “ECO-OP” which will establish the first energy cooperative, and create the renewable energy generating grid in Cape Breton Unama’ki. The long term project will rely on community stakeholders to invest in the greener future.

The team is participating in the Regional Exposition- Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge organized by ENACTUS CANADA for the Atlantic Region to showcase how community outreach programs and suggested solutions would impact our community and the world in general. The Regional Exposition was held on March 2nd and 3rd next month in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

ENACTUS-CBU looks forward to participating in the Regional Exposition and representing the issues faced in CBRM and Nova Scotia with respect to building Green Energy solutions through partnership with institutions looking to build a greener tomorrow. The student society takes part in activities frequently to raise funds and support their business ideas. Fundraising events have also taken place in Sydney, NS, that has yielded fruitful results both in terms of exposure and achievements. The club was looking to raise funds to participate in the Regional Exposition and funding the project, for which they had sold 50/50 draw tickets and organized events in the university, which are regularly updated on the society’s Instagram page- “enactuscapebreton”. Do take a moment to consider supporting ENACTUS-CBU, and if you wish to join the society, please visit room CC-144, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center in the Campus Centre.

This Article contains submitted written work from Tusharkumar Baraiya, President and chair of Enactus CBU