The PGSSec Committee

1
The PGSSec Committee

• Who are we.
• What is our mandate.
• Our activities.

2
PGSSec 2005

• Chair plus three members
• No Budget
• Few activities

3
PGSSec Today

• Budget gt 1000
• Chair plus 5 members
• Stipend for Chair (now called environmental
  commissioner)
• Number of activities

4
Green Night

• First time PGGSec was part of PGSS orientation
  week
• Free environmental information
• A sustainable selection of food
• Other environmental groups
• Speakers

5
Quinoa

• Cultivated up to 400 feet
• Undemanding
• Protein filled

6
Different Colors of Carrots
7
(No Transcript)
8
Other PGSSec Activities

• Here on Earth speaker series
• Green Drinks Montreal
• Projects

9
"Climate, Weather and Energy" - the Relationship
between Climate, Weather Forecasting and the
Energy Market.
10

Bees A Buzz About Sustainability
...because - bees carry out roughly half of
all animal-mediated
pollination. - bees improve crop yield
and product quality. - bee products have
considerable nutritional and medicinal
value. - bee numbers are declining
worldwide. Contributing factors may
include increased pollution, habitat loss,
pesticide levels, parasites and diseases.
Domesticated and wild populations are
both affected.
Photo Adam Makarenko www. www.adam-makarenko.co
m
11
The Potential of Grasses as Biofuels
12
Not All Biofuels are Equal

• Comparison of methods of generating energy from
  reed canarygrass
• Energy Gasoline (ethanol) Net GHG
• Method outin or coal (direct
  reduction
• combustion) g CO 2 e-C
  /MJ
• displaced
• 
  MJ m-2 y-1
• Direct 20.4 34.77
  2604.59 Combustion
• Ethanol 4.43 4.88 100

13
Other speakers

• Retreat of Andean Glaciers, a Threat for Peruvian
  Water Resources"
• Green lessons from Ghana
• "The West Nile Virus in Quebec What you really
  need to know"

14
Green Drinks

• "Tourism, Air Transport and Climate Change"
• "Waste Diversion in Ontario"
• "Solar Buildings"
• "More Super Green Savings, Less Greenhouse Gas
  Emissions"

15
Bike Loan Program

• Fall survey 1) 61.8 of respondents would use
  5-15 times per year
• 2) 75.4 of respondents would
  pay to use it
• Application to Mary H. Brown endowment fund

16
Bike Loan Proposal Budget

• 3 bicycles 1800
• 3 secure locks 200
• Incorporation 1200
• 3 helmets 200
• Total 3400

17
Bike Loan Proposal

• 1 per use to help defray costs
• Signed waiver once a year
• April to November
• Use of bike repair coop on campus
• Possibility of PGSS money
• Further work

18
PGSSec website

• Goal to get more graduate students active in
  the environmental movement at McGill and to
  market sustainability
• Contents calculation of carbon imprint, sections
  on recycling and composting, environmental
  trivia, write-ups on speaker series topics and
  other areas of interest
• Website would be fun and informative

19
Green points program

• 12 million Canadian households invested a total
  of 24 billion dollars into a collective fund
  dedicated to reducing Canadas 486 Mt of green
  house
• Super Green Points Card Program
• Points for choosing a green purchase
• Changing existing points (9 billion unclaimed
  points)
• Tax credit for choosing green