Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Research
Designing Out Waste research initiative
Designing Out Waste is the culmination of the inaugural Scholar-in-Residence program at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. The resulting publication from the initiative outlines the design of a workflow in which existing concrete building waste can be robotically processed and up-cycled for use in transforming an outdated building design.
The Canadian Centre for Advanced Supply Chain Management and Logistics
The mission of the Centre, hosted through the Haskayne School of Business, is to develop and disseminate world-class knowledge on supply chain strategies and practices through education, research and community engagement, with a focus on issues relevant to Alberta, including energy, logistics and sustainability.
Teaching, learning and student experience
Hunter Hub Solutions Lab – Zero Waste Challenge
Undergrads, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars from 10 faculties gathered virtually to help solve a problem at UCalgary: how to reach the ambitious goal of becoming a zero-waste campus by 2030.
Campus as a Learning Lab – reducing single-use plastics
Plastic is polluting our rivers, lakes and oceans, harming wildlife and generating microplastics in the water we use and drink. In response to the Government of Canada’s 2030 Plastic Ban, researchers at UCalgary are working with food vendors from the MacEwan Student Centre to find solutions for reducing plastic waste produced from disposable single-use plastics like cups, cutlery and takeaway food containers. Contributing to the development of the university's Recycling & Waste Management Zero Waste Strategy Plan, this work will help us meet the federal government’s plastic reduction targets.
Plastic alternatives on cardiovascular system development
In 2010, the Canadian government declared Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used to manufacture some hard-plastic containers and toys, a toxic substance and banned its use in baby bottles and baby formula containers. These substances disrupt the endocrine system and are potential contributors to chronic diseases. They remain largely understudied, with few studies looking into the potential impacts the substance may have on developing fetuses.
Campus and community impact
Campus
UCalgary Eco Club is committed to making the community more sustainable by raising awareness of practical and cost-effective actions that can reduce our environmental impact. Through hosting zero-waste pop-up stores on campus and educating about waste-reduction initiatives and ethical consumerism, this club embodies the principles of responsible consumption and production.
Local
Environmentally focused agricultural company Ceres Solutions Ltd. is thriving with help from the entrepreneurial programs and business networks offered by UCalgary's Creative Destruction Lab Rockies. The homegrown Albertan venture up-cycles spent grains from beer-brewing processes that would typically be discarded and repurposes them into gourmet mushrooms and protein-enriched livestock feed.
National
UCalgary’s School of Public Policy published an article about how employing a circular economy approach to Canada’s agri-food supply chains could help improve food security, environmental health, socio-economic status and the quality of the products being produced.