SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Three of the 19 projects that now are receiving funds from the university’s environmental fund are run by employees and students of Sahlgrenska Academy. The three projects will make it possible to repair bicycles at Medicinareberget, reduce food waste at Lyktan and increase the use of the eco-friendly menstrual cup.
The internal climate fund is a way for the university to compensate for the CO2 emissions caused by employees’ air travel. Employees as well as students can apply for money from the fund for various projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the university’s activities. This year allocations from the fund amounting to about SEK 2.4 million have been announced, and almost half of the applicants received funding.
Less food will be discarded
Henriette Philipsson, senior lecturer at the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, is coordinating the project that will reduce food waste in Restaurang Lyktan at Medicinareberget. The project is being carried out in a collaboration involving the restaurant, Sahlgrenska Academy’s Environmental Council and the Dietitian Program. As part of the project, absolutely first-rate, leftover food will be sold in portion size at a discounted price. A special food sealing machine and a refrigerated display counter are being purchased for the project.
Fix the bike yourself
At Medicinareberget employees and students soon will be able to make simple bike repairs, such as tightening wheel nuts, changing tires and brake pads and adjusting brakes. There already is a bicycle pump outside Lundberg Laboratory at Medicinaregatan 11, and the site will now be complemented with a bicycle repair station. The project is being led by Mats Sandberg, professor in the Department of Medical Chemistry and Cell Biology, and is being carried out in cooperation with the Environmental Council at Sahlgrenska Academy and Akademiska Hus. The project also involves establishment of a so-called “bicycle kitchen” in the Zoological building, entrance from the back. The bicycle kitchen makes it possible to carry out more comprehensive bicycle repairs indoors. In addition, workshops will be offered for both employees and students on safe biking and the benefits of biking for the climate and for health.
A eco-friendly hygiene product
A menstrual cup can be used for ten years, which corresponds to 2,500 sanitary pads or tampons. Nevertheless, the menstrual cup has not caught on in Sweden. Three University of Gothenburg students are behind this project in collaboration with Chalmers Students for Sustainability: Lovisa von Scheele, who is studying media, aesthetics and cultural entrepreneurship; Niki Vaghti Chalusi, a psychology student; and Matilda Jerkeman, who is a medical student. The project is receiving SEK 100,000, which mainly will be used to purchase 300 menstrual cups to be distributed in connection with a seminar or panel discussion on the topic for students within the university.
Seals as ocean observers
A total of 19 climate projects now are becoming a reality since the vice-chancellor decided to give them funding from the university’s climate fund. One of the projects carried out at other faculties involves the use of seals as natural, energy-efficient observers in the western Antarctic. It is being implemented by Karen Assmann at the Department of Marine Sciences. The goal of the project is to reduce the climate impact in hydrographic observations by using seals. The seals will provide data that can be used to assess the rising sea level at the South Pole.
Here is where you can see the complete list of projects that are receiving funds in this year’s announcement of allocations from the climate fund (in Swedish): https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/digitalAssets/1673/1673476_e-2016-550-tilldelning-av-medel-ur-gus-interna-klimatfond-f–r-genomf–rande-under—r-2018.pdf
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
