UBC Undergraduate Research

Climate action partnership : moving UBC beyond climate neutral Chan, Kit Yieng; Chan, Michelle; Chan, Oi Yan; Chan, Thomas; Chan, Tsz Mei; Chang, Sharon; Chau, Kenrick; Chelali, Tarik

Abstract

Working in conjunction with the UBC Food System Project, we, group 3, have conducted research to determine whether rooftop gardens at UBC would decrease greenhouse gas emission, help with climate change, and move UBC beyond carbon neutral. In the project, interviews with highly respectable and professional individuals, such as Ted Cathcart and Tara Moreau, were conducted and calculations were done to evaluate the carbon emission associated with the transportation of food. This allowed the group to determine if having edible landscapes at UBC would truly move UBC beyond climate neutral. It was found that edible landscapes could potentially assist with these goals; however, factors such as appropriate crops, suitable buildings and available resources would need to be carefully chosen and assessed in order to successfully include edible landscapes on UBC campus. Furthermore, preliminary calculations reveal that rooftop gardens, community gardens alike, will do very little to reduce the campus’ dependency on imported food. This report includes useful information regarding the building of edible landscapes and the carbon emission caused by transportation; furthermore, it also contains recommendations that promote further research, initiate sustainable practices, and include more local food sources. These proposals and recommendation set forth will help future AGSC 450 to effectively move UBC beyond carbon neutral. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada