Overview:

In the spring of 2011, the Arts & Science 3BB3 class, taught by Dr. Michael Egan, teamed up with the University Library and the Office of Sustainability to find ways to decrease waste and conserve energy in Mills, Innis and Thode.

Report 1: Energy Usage in McMaster Libraries
Report 2: An Excellent Thing to Mind: Findings of the Waste Group

In the news:

No essays, just a greener library
Coffee Cup Castles

A message from the students:

With thousands of people going through the doors each day, McMaster libraries are some of the most utilized buildings on campus and therefore also generate a lot of waste and use a lot of energy.  In response, the Arts & Science Technology and Society class has launched a service learning initiative, with the goal of researching and raising awareness about these issues, ultimately reducing both physical and energy waste in the libraries.
 
The first stage of this project involves data collection with respect to current patterns in waste production and energy usage in Mills, Thode and Innis libraries on campus.  The waste data group will be mapping receptacle usage, analyzing waste composition, researching waste disposal and processing at McMaster, analyzing historical waste trends and investigating waste-related costs.  Similarly, the energy data group will be completing a room-by-room energy audit, and investigating laptop usage and plug-in trends.

In support of these data collection teams, a promotion and reduction campaign has also been launched.  The purpose of this campaign (dubbed the “Library Energy and Waste Reduction Campaign”) is to communicate the findings of our research, as well as to encourage staff and students to reduce waste and energy consumption.

Our campaign is already underway and will continue as we head into exams and the libraries get even busier. You may have already seen our coffee cup castle and “meme campaign” of reduction-themed meme messages on computer monitors throughout the library system.  As we move forward, look out for information tables, posters conveying our findings and messages on computer monitors throughout Mills, Thode and Innis.  Check back often for updates on our research and campaign, as well as how you can get involved. Get involved and make a difference!

~Students of Arts & Science 3BB3

Implemented initiatives :

• Coffee Cup Castle (including video footage of the building process)
• Eco-Memes
• Info-Graphic Posters
• Results of research

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Coffee Cup Chaos

Mills Library - March 23, 2011

Click here to view promo video

“Number Crunching”: Coffee Cups in Mills Library

• Total number of coffee cups to make the Coffee Cup Castle (3/5 of Mills daily total): 1,146
• Number of cups generated in Mills in one day: 1,146 x 1.66 = 1,902
• Cost of a coffee refill at Union Market: $1.25
• Cost of large coffee in a single-use cup at Union Market: $1.40
• Average fl. ounces in one large cup of coffee: 14 oz.
• Total (average, approximate) volume of coffee consumed from library cups each day: 14 oz per cup x 1,902 cups =  26,628 oz.
• Enough coffee cups thrown out in Mills Library each day to fill 7 garbage bags
• Every day, $190.20 that could be saved by using reusable coffee mugs are instead spent on paper cups
  taken into Mills (based on a 10 cent discount at Tim Horton's)
• This could buy 17 large pepperoni pizzas from Gino's
  • OR 488 packages of ramen noodles at Metro
• The CN tower is 21,780 inches tall
  • All coffee cups thrown out in Mills over the course of a day (~5730), if stacked, are 9,512 inches tall
  • This would make a day's worth of coffee cups thrown out in Mills almost half the height of the CN
    tower when stacked (~44%)...
  • OR the length of almost 5 Olympic-size swimming pools (~4.8)
  • OR about 2.6 times the height of the Statue of Liberty
    
• Remember that the number of cups being used in the library display is THREE FIFTHS of an average
  day's worth of cups thrown out at Mills!

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Eco-Memes

Mills, Thode, & Innis Library

Click to view more Eco-Memes

January 31, 2012