Research consumes more resources and produces more waste than offices and homes. UBC’s sustainable initiative in laboratories provides many resources summarized here.

Contents

UBC Sustainability

Green Labs Program

Sustainable practices in business

Committee

Tasks

1. UBC Sustainability

UBC is the first Canadian university to adopt a policy (#5) in 1997, and open an office dedicated to sustainability in 1998.  Find the resources available at UBC Sustainability for community, events, funds, and register for the newsletter.

2. Green Labs Program

With over 400 labs, UBC’s research activities require a significant amount of energy, water and materials. The Green Labs Program offers staff, faculty, and students sustainable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of research at UBC. Labs consume 40$ of UBC’s building’s space, 50% of UBC’s energy and generate 96% of UBC’s hazardous waste.

Find specific resources on the greenlabs.ubc.ca

• becoming a sustainability coordinator
• participate in events
  • catered events
  • campaigns
  • competitions
• financial support
• checklist
• toolkits
• register to a more specific newsletter.

The toolkits provide resources to:

• Dispose of hazardous waste
• Conserve energy
• Purchase sustainable supplies
• Conserve water (coming)
• Recycle

3. Sustainable practices in business

Use these resources:

• the Sustainable Purchasing Guide
• Reuse-it UBC!
• Fair Trade

4. Committee

Membership in the committee is voluntary. Each member volunteers different levels of dedication from passive to proactive. Please direct your questions to Delphine Rey at dmfrey3@alumni.ubc.ca

5. Tasks

The table below lists the committee’s tasks.