BiOrbic had a blast at the UCD Festival earlier this month. This annual free festival showcases the best of UCD and UCD-based research centres through performances, talks, hands-on science, interactive exhibits and more. At BiOrbic, our researchers got involved to teach the public a little more about the bioeconomy and sustainable daily choices. Those who visited the BiOrbic stand had a chance to play our sustainability games and enter a raffle to win a Dublin Zoo Family Pass!

BiOrbic had three stalls teaching the public all about sustainable living. At the Life of Plastics table, visitors competed to quickly and accurately sort different wast materials into the right bins. Based on the heated debates between family members, it seems proper waste management is an important issue to many in the public!

At Life of Food, visitors picked three random ingredient cards and used them to create a new a recipe. It was good practice for using up what’s left in the fridge rather than throwing food waste away. Culinary masterpieces were devised (melted cheese strawberry pie was our favourite). People also guessed the carbon footprint of different foods.

Finally, at Life of Pets, we shared sustainable options for biobased cat litter, recipes (and tasters) of vegan dog treats, and pictures of BiOrbic’s furry, feathered, and fishy friends.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out the festival this year, come along next summer. We’ll see you there!

Big thanks to Conor Haugh and Amanda Mathieson for organising and Prof. Kevin O’Connor, Michelle Savian, Ruairi Crawford, Shon George and Kate McKeever for helping out!