2020 Promotions/Competitions

In 2020, life went online, and so did the Green Labs and Office programs. The Sustainability Office took this opportunity to make more use of online formats and engage reps from home.

In Semester 1, Green Office representatives played Sustainability-at-home Bingo. The grid’s actions encouraged reps to make small, easy changes while working from home, such as cooking a vegan meal, watching a sustainability documentary, or setting up a soft-plastic recycling bin. Christine McCoy was our winner, not only filling out the entire grid, but a separate grid full of yummy, vegan food she had eaten during the bingo!

Christine McCoy’s entry into the Green Office bingo competition in Semester 1

Entries into the bingo competition from Sue Weir (left) and Julia Finnane

Later in the semester, Karen Hendrickson (who joined the GO Program in 2020) ran her own office bingo competition with the same grid and received fantastic entries from her colleagues within the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research).

While the Green Office bingo was taking place, the Green Labs reps were treated to a waste seminar. This seminar focused on waste initiatives being implemented at other universities, like swapping unused lab equipment and leftover chemicals. The GL reps in attendance enjoyed brainstorming and discussing the ideas over Zoom.

Semester 2 saw a slow increase of in-person events. During Sustainability Week, we ran the Green Labs’ Freezer Challenge. This challenge, held almost every year, is a reminder that ULT freezers use an intensive amount of energy to run, and regular maintenance ensures energy efficiency. During this challenge, labs are also encouraged to “chill up” ULT freezers, setting the temperature from -80 to -75 or -70, which preserves the integrity of the samples while using less energy.

Cleaning and de-icing freezers make them last longer. Photo credit: Suzanne O’Hagan

During Sustainability Week, Green Office had their very own challenge: the Film Series Challenge. Throughout the week, five eco documentaries were promoted, including 2040, River Blue and Chasing Ice. These are freely available for staff and students via the Library’s Kanopy subscription. If GO reps watched one of the documentaries, and then discussed with their friends or colleagues, they would go in the draw to win a prize. If you’re keen to watch eco documentaries, Kanopy is accessible here.

Overall, a fantastic effort from the Green Office and Green Labs representatives to stay involved this year, remain active from home and pursue better sustainable practices from wherever they were.