In Summer 2022 in collaboration with Buildings and Estates and Green Towers Ireland UCC Library installed 3 aeroponic towers. The towers grow fresh nutritious food year-round almost anywhere, requiring much less space and less water than traditional methods. The aeroponic system is an advanced form of hydroponics, which involves growing plants without any substrate, using only water and nutrients. The plants are suspended in the air, and their roots are periodically misted with nutrient solution.
The towers are placed in busy user spaces in the library for maximum visibility and connection to the plants as they grow. Green Towers installed and maintain the towers, including harvesting every 4-6 weeks before full replanting.
On harvest days we set up a ‘farm stand’ and the freshly harvested produce is wrapped up in paper like bouquets and is given away to students and staff. The ideal outcome is that seeing the food grow from tiny seedlings to the full and leafy green harvest on ‘market days’ directly connects people to a more sustainable and tangible way of producing food rather than the disconnection of picking something up from a supermarket shelf, that same disconnection that contributes to massive amounts of food waste.
Some of the veg grown on the towers so far include various types of lettuce, chard, kale, cabbage, scallions, dill, basil, lemon balm, mint, kohlrabi and lots of other types of veg!
Keep an eye on the Library’s social media @ucclibrary on twitter and Instagram for updates on when harvest are happening.
For more information on how the towers work please check out Green Towers Ireland and if you have any feedback on the towers please email dlundon@ucc.ie
The Library E-Bikes were funded out of the Library’s energy savings and will be freely available to Library staff to use during the day, whether it’s to pop into town, to go to the Library stores or to go to one of our Branch Libraries.
(We must give a shout out to our recently retired colleague Ann Byrne who was instrumental in turning UCC Library into a Green Library.)
It is also hoped that the staff will take the opportunity to trial the E-bikes to determine if they are suitable mode of transport for them to get to / from work.
With staff commuting accounting for 5% of the Universities carbon footprint the @uccgreencampus team are hoping that E-bikes provide a viable commuting option for a large portion of a staff.
The Green Campus E-bike trial has seen over 100 staff members trial E-bikes and a number of staff members have ditched the car and switched to E-bikes. Hopefully the Library E-bikes can encourage some of the Library staff to make the transition as well.
Some interesting facts around the E-bikes.
- A full battery charge costs around 6 cent and will provide you with enough energy to cover 80 km of assisted cycling.
- The amount of energy to travel 1,300 KM in an e-car will give you 27,000 KM of assisted cycling
The Green Wall
The Green Wall in the Quad Reading Room (Fishbowl) was installed in June 2018 by local Cork company Greenveldt Ltd., who continue to maintain it. Paid for from savings made as part of the Saver Saves Scheme, this vertical garden, full of growing plants, has brought nature into this indoor environment. It improves air quality by absorbing C02 and reduces noise through absorption. It contributes to a more positive and healthy space for students particularly at exam time, when the room is heavily used.
New Gumdrop machine at the entrance to the Boole Library
Gumdrop Ltd., founded by Anna Bullus in 2009, is the first company in the world to recycle and process chewing gum into a range of new compounds that can be used in the rubber and plastics industry.
Gum-tec® is used to manufacture the Gumdrop and Gumdrop on-the-go, pink receptacles, like the one in the photo.
Once the Gumdrop is full, the whole Gumdrop along with its contents of waste gum is recycled and processed to manufacture new Gumdrops.
Read Cork News-Live article about this and other initiatives.
Students from UCC Green Campus and UCC Environmental Society setting up the new Book Swap Stop just inside Boole library.
Compost & Crisp Packet bins on the ground floor
UCC Environmental Society asked if we would have a recycling bin in the Library for Crisp packets. Of course we said yes.
An organisation called Terrycycle supply these bins and collect them when full.
Library Sustainability Survey, April 2019
On Thursday 18, April just before the Easter break, we asked our students to fill in a grid on our interactive Jamboard, in response to a number of questions about our sustainability campaign. Results can be seen here.
Suggestions/Comments Board
Our LOL suggestions board on the ground floor allows library users to leave comments and suggestions.
We do our best to act on these suggestions where we can.
