Green Labs Initiative At The Neuro

08/12/2025

🍃THE NEURO LEADS THE WAY: The Neuro’s Green Labs Initiatives is proud to have pushed sustainability forward at McGill by helping to reduce plastic waste in research labs!

Since it was started in late 2023 by Neuro staff determined to make a difference, the Green Labs Initiatives have completed 7 donations of expired equipment, diverting 3000 pounds of ice packs and plastic waste from landfills, while supporting vulnerable communities.

This summer, founding member Philip Thorne spearheaded the collection of 800 pounds of ice packs from labs across The Neuro. These were donated to Mission Bon Accueil and used to distribute grocery items to food-insecure households across Montreal.

With the collaboration of the McGill Office of Sustainability, ice pack recycling has now been expanded university wide, with 5 bins near research labs across campus. And in another major step, McGill recently implemented waste segregation, allowing lab teams to recycle packaging that was not in touch with hazardous materials.

To learn more about this terrific initiative, visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/facilities/sustainability/waste %20&%20Reusing

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🍃 LE NEURO OUVRE LA VOIE ! Les initiatives Labos Verts du Neuro sont fières d'avoir fait progresser le développement durable à McGill en contribuant à réduire les déchets plastiques dans les laboratoires de recherche !

Depuis leur lancement fin 2023 par des employés du Neuro déterminés à faire une différence, les Labos Verts ont permis de faire sept dons d’équipements périmés, détournant ainsi 3000 livres de blocs réfrigérants et de déchets plastiques des sites d'enfouissement, tout en soutenant les communautés vulnérables.

Cet été, Philip Thorne, membre fondateur, a piloté la collecte de 800 livres de blocs réfrigérants dans les laboratoires du Neuro. Ces blocs ont été remis à la Mission Bon Accueil et utilisés pour distribuer des produits d'épicerie aux ménages en situation d'insécurité alimentaire de Montréal.

Avec la collaboration du Bureau du développement durable de McGill, le recyclage des blocs réfrigérants a été étendu à l'ensemble de l'université, avec cinq bacs à proximité des laboratoires de recherche sur le campus. Autre avancée majeure, McGill a récemment mis en place le tri sélectif des déchets, permettant aux équipes de laboratoire de recycler les emballages qui n'ont pas été en contact avec des matières dangereuses.

Pour en savoir plus sur les nouvelles normes en vigueur à McGill : www.mcgill.ca/facilities/fr/developpement-durable/matieres-residuelles



Green Labs Initiative At The Neuro
The Neuro
McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
McGill University Office of Sustainability

08/27/2024

Is this your year to become a sustainability leader?

Join the Sustainability Ambassador Program! As a volunteer with the SAP, you’ll lead engagement activities with the McGill community while using your skills and creativity to grow the sustainability movement at McGill. As a sustainability ambassador, you’ll receive sustainability leadership training, meet new people, and network with other sustainability leaders on campus.

Learn more about the different Sustainability Ambassador streams and apply by clicking the link down below! Applications are due by Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 11:59 p.m.

https://loom.ly/0VDVqrA

04/23/2024

What a fantastic day! Thanks to everyone who joined us today to honor the planet, chat about the challenges and potential solutions to make our institute more sustainable and our research even more successful! Happy Earth Day!

04/12/2024

Sign up now for the NEURO’s EARTH DAY EVENT 2024!

The Green Labs Initiative at The Neuro is inviting you to the NEURO’s EARTH DAY EVENT 2024 on April 22nd 2024 at the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre at The Neuro. The event starts at 11:30am.

The Green Labs Initiative is a volunteer group of students and staff aiming to improve sustainability in the diverse research and clinic environments at The Neuro.

Join us for a great program including representatives from companies showcasing green products, a seminar by McGill’s Research Sustainability Officer Kimberly John and a roundtable discussion of Neuro members discussing current opportunities and challenges to make our research and clinic environments more sustainable.

We like to thank Avantor AMEA who kindly provide not just lunch and giveaways but helped us organising the event to support sustainable research products and practices.

Please register for free by April 18th 2024 using the link to help us plan the event: https://forms.gle/1eMrKe7y37oFWEjX7

For questions or suggestions, please send an Email to the Green Labs Initiative at The Neuro: [email protected]

03/27/2024

Help us and McGill to navigate lab waste better. We want to hear from you about your experience as researchers.
P;ease fill out the survey!

Thank you for agreeing to take the lab waste survey! It will take about 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will help supporting units to understand the needs of McGill’s lab community and guide upcoming lab waste reduction and recycling strategies.

03/21/2024

Help McGill to tackle lab waste! Fill out the survey below and share your struggles and ideas on how to solve those issues

If you work in a lab, you know firsthand about waste materials moving in and out of your lab space.
McGill’s Office of Sustainability would like your help in understanding how much and what types of waste materials you encounter and how we can help to reduce, reuse and recycle lab waste.

Take the 10-minute online Lab Waste Survey down below between February 19 and March 22and be entered to win one $50 gift card per week.
https://mcgill.ca/x/Uyu

03/20/2024

We are very excited to work with Alex and the Clinical Research Unit - The Neuro to find a second purpose for unused items in clinical research! Many more impactful projects to come and make various research spaces more sustainable

The CRU is officially part of the Green Lab Initiatives at The Neuro! The program recognizes that scientific research comes with a heavy reliance on single use items.

In clinical trials, lab material for each patient visit is provided in kits, all items of which must be traceable. If patient visits are delayed, some items pass their individual expiry date, and the entire kit is scrapped.

“I have had to put too many unused sterile tubes in the trash, so I started collecting expired items for training ,” explains CRU lab tech Alexandra Shedov (left).

Alexandra assembled collection tubes, syringes and other items. The Green Lab team paired the CRU with the simulation program at the Ingram School of Nursing where course technician Augusto Alfonso Cuellar Diaz (right) was happy to receive items which will help train the next generation of nurses!

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L’URC fait maintenant partie des initiatives des Labos écolos du Neuro qui reconnaît que la recherche scientifique s'appuie très souvent sur des articles à usage unique.

Dans les essais cliniques, le matériel de labo pour chaque visite est fourni dans une trousse dont tous les éléments doivent rester traçables. Si les visites des patients sont retardées, certains éléments dépasseront leur date d’expiration et l’ensemble de la trousse devra être jeter.

« J'ai mis bien trop de tubes stériles inutilisés directement à la poubelle ! J'ai donc commencé à recueillir des articles périmés pour des fins de formation », explique Alexandra Shedov, technicienne de laboratoire à l’URC (à gauche).

Alexandra a assemblé des tubes de prélèvement, des seringues et d'autres articles. Les Labos écolos ont jumellé l’URC au programme de simulation de l'École des sciences infirmières Ingram, où le technicien de cours Augusto Alfonso Cuellar Diaz (à droite) était heureux de recevoir ce matériel qui aidera à former la prochaine génération d'infirmières !

McGill Nursing
The Neuro
McGill University Office of Sustainability

01/30/2024

Very excited to share the article about our efforts to improve sustainability in research labs at The Neuro! We recycle ice packs coming with numerous deliveries by donating them to groups that deliver food to communities in need around the city. Have ice packs at your institute you want to give another home? Please reach out, we are happy to help setting you up ([email protected])!

If you work in a lab and have ever felt overwhelmed by the waste created by the procurement of laboratory samples, you’re not alone. That’s how Philip Thorne and Theresa Degenhard, two researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), felt about the ice packs and Styro...

11/06/2023

McGill University Office of Sustainability organised a fantastic panel discussion as part of the Sustainable Labs certification launch this coming Wednesday. Come join Philip and Theresa, both from the Green Labs Initiative at McGill and the Green Labs Initiative At The Neuro who will share their experiences about sustainability in labs at McGill.