What does it take to become zero-waste? What motivates small businesses to adopt sustainable practices? How can I help pollinators on McGill’s campuses?
Discover the answer to these questions and more at the Sustainability Soirée, during the McGill Sustainable Futures Festival.
This evening of knowledge-sharing and networking is an opportunity to discover sustainability-related research, initiatives, and student groups at McGill. Hosted by the McGill Office of Sustainability and the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative (MSSI), this event will feature teams whose initiatives have received support from the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF), as well as students working on MSSI-funded research.
The SPF and the MSSI encourage McGillians to explore solutions – big and small – to some of the most challenging issues of our time. The SPF, the largest fund of its kind in Canada, builds a culture of sustainability on McGill’s campuses by providing seed funding to any McGill community member looking to kickstart a sustainability project. The MSSI seeks to mobilize McGill researchers across all disciplines around sustainability challenges and equip the next generation with the skills needed to address some of the world’s most complex issues.
Check out some of the projects you’ll have the chance to explore at the Sustainability Soirée on September 14.
Buy Your Own Bulk
With the closest grocery store more than a kilometre away, students and staff on the Macdonald Campus have limited access to low-waste food options. Enter Buy Your Own Bulk (BYOB), an SPF-supported student-run bulk food store open on the Mac Campus. Meet the project team to learn how they worked to increase food security for the McGill community.
Tackling energy poverty in Bridgewater, N.S.
Who is most impacted by energy poverty in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia? Researchers are looking into just that with the support of the MSSI’s SSH-Ideas Fund, which provides seed funding for bold sustainability research in the social sciences and humanities. Their work will help inform the implementation of a municipal program to ensure residents can access reliable and affordable energy services while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Labs Initiative at McGill
Research is integral to McGill’s mission of creating and disseminating knowledge, but as much as half of the university’s energy consumption comes from its labs. The team behind the Green Labs Initiative at McGill has shown that this essential work doesn’t have to come at the cost of the planet. Chat with the students and staff who kickstarted a sustainable labs movement on campus to learn how to implement eco-conscious practices with the support of the SPF.
A new way of assessing air and noise pollution
Thanks to the MSSI’s Innovation Fund, epidemiology researchers are developing a new device that could be used to reduce air and noise pollution in urban areas by giving public health officials a low-cost way of acquiring timely data. This is just one way the MSSI Innovation Fund is accelerating the development of ideas or technology toward widespread societal adoption.
Explore sustainability at McGill at the Sustainability Soirée, part of the Sustainable Futures Festival, on September 14, from 4 pm to 7 pm at the Thomson House Ballroom (3650 rue McTavish, Montreal, H3A 1Y2). More details.