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Sustainability at Concordia
August 2024 Newsletter
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We still have another month of summer to enjoy but soon (perhaps too soon) the new term will be starting. This means back-to-school shopping season is on the horizon.
Did you know? Amazon’s annual plastic packaging waste could circle the world 800 times! Before you buy everything from unsustainable options like Amazon, Shein, and Temu, consider the following sustainable offerings:
- The Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR) diverts materials (and school supplies!) from Concordia’s waste-stream and offers them to the general community for free.
- Concordia Re-Tech diverts e-waste from landfills by repairing, refurbishing, and repurposing electronics, also offering them to students for free.
- You can borrow laptops, tablets, cameras, accessories, and other equipment from The Technology Sandbox. It's also a great community space!
- Find clothing swap events near you! Montreal is also home to a clothing swap store called Schwap Club.
- Buy used whenever you can!
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Concordia research examines 18 to 35-year-olds’ motivation to swap clothes on a large scale
The fashion industry is responsible for nearly 10%of global carbon emissions and is the second largest polluter in the world, after oil and gas.
As consumers become more aware of the environmental impact of fashion, they are choosing to participate in collaborative consumption activities like swapping clothes.
Over the years, swapping clothes has evolved from an individual activity to a more collective practice. This shift is challenging traditional notions of resource allocation and transforming how people behave, according to a new article published by Concordia researchers in the Journal of Consumer Behavior.
The article, “Is it fashionable to swap clothes? The moderating role of culture,” was co-authored by Farah Armouch, MSc 23, as part of her master’s thesis with supervisors Michèle Paulin and Michel Laroche, both professors of marketing at the John Molson School of Business.
Read the story >
- SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
- SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production
- SDG 13 Climate Action
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Gina Cody School secures $1.58M from Natural Resources Canada to explore oil-spill response and low-toxicity cleaning agents
As one of the world’s largest oil producers, Canada faces environmental challenges in managing spills. To address these challenges, Natural Resources Canada has awarded $1,581,000 to Concordia’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science for two research projects under its Multi-Partner Research Initiative (MPRI).
Set to run from 2023 to 2027, the projects respectively aim to enhance oil-spill response and develop low-toxicity surface washing agents for shoreline cleanup.
Chunjiang An, the principal investigator leading the projects, will be supported by co-principal investigators from the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering: Zhi Chen, Catherine Mulligan, Samuel Li, Maria Elektorowicz and Biao Li.
“Oil-spill response is critical for protecting our coastlines and ecosystems,” says An, an associate professor who also holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Spill Response and Remediation.
Read the story >
- SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation
- SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- SDG 13 Climate action
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Get involved
Find Urban Nature with F.U.N. Montreal
Ongoing throughout the summer
Finding Urban Nature (F.U.N.) will once again be providing hands-on outdoor science education to city day camps, run public participative science events such as Bat & Firefly Walks, as well as conduct green space research in NDG. If you would like to contribute to FUN this summer, the team is actively seeking volunteers to help with day camp activities on Wednesdays, and research throughout the summer. An opportunity for anyone who loves science, working with kids, nature, or all of the the above!
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Volunteer for our campus gardens
All summer long
Discover the student-led initiatives on our campuses that connect the community to experiential learning, food security, and sustainable food options. This summer, join our plethora of gardens at our Loyola Campus, from mind.heart.mouth, Hamidou Horticulture, and Cultivaction, to support urban agriculture and gain new skills.
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Support the community bike shop
All summer long
Come volunteer at the community bike shop at Loyola Campus! We're open all year round. No bike mechanics experience required!
During shifts, volunteers can assist with:
- Dismantling and building up bikes for resale
- Developing storage and organization solutions
- Assisting shop visitors with bike repairs
- Managing the Point-of-Sales system and assisting with social media
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Donate your gently used clothes to the first Professional Clothing Pop-Up
Donations may be dropped off in-person until August 16
Do you own any professional clothing you no longer need? Are you looking for a meaningful way to clean out your closet? Do you want to support Institute students looking to build their professional wardrobes in an affordable and sustainable way ahead of interviews, internships and networking events?
The Institute for Co-operative Education is accepting donations of gently used professional clothing (such as suit jackets/blazers, slacks, shirts/blouses, dresses and more) to make available to Institute students for free during our first ever Professional Clothing Pop-Up in late August.
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Get your fresh, local products at the Concordia Farmers Market
Weekly, Tuesdays, 3-5 p.m., ending August 27th
Concordia Farmers Market - near the Loyola Chapel, 7141 Sherbrooke
Established in 2014, the Concordia Farmers’ Market is the main provider of fresh local, direct-to-market products for the 40 000+ daily eaters on campus. Come visit us next market day and sample what’s on offer by the many incredible growers and makers in the Concordia community!
Come learn about sustainability at Concordia
Tuesday, August 20 @ 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., 4th Space, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
We'll be tabling outside of the 4th space all day on August 20. Come learn how to live and study more sustainably, together.
Too Good to Waste exhibition
Monday, July 22 – Friday, September 6 @ 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., 1515 St. Catherine W. Room FOFA Gallery EV-1.715
Too Good to Waste inhabits the York Vitrines and includes artworks by Adam Basanta, Ari Bayuaji, Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, and Kelly Jazvac. Curated by FOFA Gallery’s Director Nicole Burisch, the exhibition brings together four artists who incorporate repurposed materials or scraps, proposing new ways to value what is usually considered waste.
Each of the works presented here intervenes at a distinct moment into the usual cycle of production-consumption-disposal, rethinking the very idea that anything can be thrown "away." Using hands-on processes that bring care and attention to the materials they use, together they ask us to think more carefully and more creatively about the resources and systems we rely on.
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Opportunities
Learn how to embed education for sustainability in higher education courses
Discover the essence of education for sustainability and its integration across disciplines. This book offers a beginner's toolkit, evidence-based insights, and best practices to inspire and guide faculty, while also showcasing the latest trends for those already championing sustainability in teaching.
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Indigenous internship program now recruiting for fall 2024
Calling all First Nations, Metis and Inuit students at Concordia! Looking for a paid internship in the fall? Want to contribute to Indigenous-led and -serving organizations in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal? Check out our Indigenous internship program, apply by August 9th!
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Become a 2024-25 Student Sustainability Ambassador
The Sustainability Ambassadors Program (SAP) provides students with leadership experience, engagement opportunities, skills, and competencies that support a culture of sustainability on campus. Applications for the 2024-25 cohort are being accepted on a rolling basis until Monday, September 2 at 11:59 p.m.
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Carbon capture: Why does the fossil fuel industry love carbon capture and storage (CCS)? Because this technology serves mainly as a PR tool designed to help delay the energy transition and distract us from what we really need to do right: phase out fossil fuels and deploy more effective climate solutions. Learn more about CCS here or watch The Juice Media's parody ad about it.
Advanced recycling: Watch out! Big Plastic’s “advanced recycling” ads are a scam. They're not trying to sell products. They’re trying to sell consumers a utopian idea: that plastic consumption can continue as is, without irreparably damaging public health and the planet.
Climate-friendly beef: Thirdly, this greenwashing tactic comes from Tyson Foods. “Brazen Beef,” America's new climate-friendly beef, is better for the environment than regular beef because it emits 10% less greenhouse gas. How? Unclear, given 67 out of 106 pages of the scientific data about Tyson’s beef emissions have been redacted because it is a “trade secret.” Sustainability requires transparency.
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Office of Sustainability
Concordia University | FB-801
1250 Guy St.
Montreal, Quebec
H3H 2T4
Send us an email
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