Eco-responsible actions
Cleaning, digital archiving and office supplies donation
The transition to digital archiving saves paper consumption and improves ergonomics and office maximization.
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With this in mind, the CRIPA has saved its archives since 2006 and offered the office supplies that became available to research teams and university students. The surpluses were then donated to the Assomption public primary school, such as: binders and pads of perforated printer paper from the 80s and 90s. Children can use them for their work, drawings and crafts.
PUNK lawn
In 2022, we saw more and more municipalities recommending not to mow in May to preserve dandelions for pollinators; there is also growing pressure to reduce lawn mowing in general during the summer and some universities in Europe, such as the University of Mons, Belgium, have decided to stop mowing at all with the "Jardin Punk Challenge".
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CRIPA members therefore submitted a proposal for a punk lawn area to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Upcycling of science posters
During presential congresses, several laboratories print their work on plastic-coated fabric posters, washable and ironable, which after several years and advances in research have become obsolete.
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A CRIPA employee, Cécile Crost, gives them a second life by upcycling them into grocery bags, thanks to donations of old posters from CRIPA teams. M-O Benoit Biancamano, CRIPA researcher, participates in their sale.
The grocery bags thus produced tolerate washing in cold water and machine drying (conclusive home test) and were sold to the academic community in order to improve fundraising for an NPO organization the committee ''En Vert Et Pour Tous'' (EVEPT). This NPO works to improve the quality of the environment and to build sustainable development projects in the city of Saint-Hyacinthe. The surrounding markets are therefore conquered by scientific images, another form of positive promotion of research.
Logistics of CRIPA activities
During presential congresses, CRIPA aims to reduce the environmental burden to carry out its activities (used washable dishes, encouragement of carpooling and selection of places where the least number of multiple trips is required, composting of waste, food donations, reduction of use of paper, etc.).
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Presential activities are reserved for creating business collaborations, for other activities meetings in virtual or hybrid mode are preferred.
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CRIPA encourages faculty, staff and the next generation of students to work within the sustainable development committees of their affiliated institutions in order to support the ecological transition projects of each research institution. Thus the CRIPA community benefits from the spin-off of certain projects such as vegetables from a student vegetable garden, loan of bicycles, barter of clothes, etc.
