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2020 has certainly been a year like no other, we have all faced the challenges and impact of covid-19. Thousands of key workers, including students and staff at the University, have worked tirelessly to support and protect others against this virus and we want to express our gratitude to them.
In March, shortly after we began working from home, we wrote a short post about wanting to share positive content through Green Chester as a way to offer a much needed distraction to anyone that needed a break. The UK was about to enter its first lockdown and it was a time of uncertainty. Since then, it has been an ever changing situation, even halfway through writing this month’s warble there have been new developments with the start of a nationwide rollout of an approved vaccine. Since being announced, it is news that has dominated the media with many seeing it as the first stage of getting back to normality. Over the past ten months, you may have found yourself saying ‘when things get back to normal’. It is certainly something that we, the four of us in the sustainability unit, have said to each other as we’ve had our team meetings and catch-up calls. Getting back to normal will mean many different things such as being able to hug our family and visit friends, but what if we didn’t go back to some of our normal behaviours? What if instead of going back to a daily drive to the office, we switch up our journeys and try the bus? What if we continued to support and shop at our local grocers? As we go into 2021, it is a time for us to reflect on old behaviours that we can change and new habits that we can carry with us to make 2021 the year for positive change, not only for ourselves but for the planet.
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Looking back over the year
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At the beginning of the year, we shared our aims for 2020, here is how we have progressed with our aims and how we plan to continue working on them.
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1) Collaborate with the Students’ Union to host a Go Green Week of events and activities and encourage students and staff to get involved.
We collaborated with the Students’ Union and between us, we hosted 17 events and activities during Go Green Week 2020. Activities included a beauty workshop, film night and a quiz night. We visited campuses with a sustainability pop-up display and spoke with students and staff, asking for their ideas about what sustainability initiatives they would like to see at the university.
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2) Encourage students and staff to ditch the coffee cups and use reusable cups instead.
In September 2020, the catering department successfully ditched the disposables! If you buy a takeaway drink, they are now in a reusable cup for a £1 deposit.
3) To work towards the aim of 65% recycling rate by 2025.
The University has seen a very small rise in recycling rates during the 2019/2020 academic year compared to the previous one. The Waste and Recycling Officer is putting together a report which will include all information, including comparisons to the previous year regarding waste and recycling, which we will share in the New Year.
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4) To have 25 teams submit their green impact workbook in April 2020.
25 teams were registered for the 2019/2020 Green Impact programme and 17 teams successfully submitted their workbook and received awards during the annual Green Tie Awards at the beginning of June. At a time when teams are usually completing their final actions and uploading evidence to the workbook, we began working from home which meant for some teams they were unable to submit their workbooks. Knowing the challenges that teams faced has helped in the development of a new programme, Climate Action.
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5) To have 300 confirmed pledges made on Do Nation by students and staff.
854 pledges were made on University of Chester Do Nation leaderboards, 441 of which were confirmed. Many of these pledges were made during our ‘Three days, three pledges’ campaign for Earth Day 2020. During 2020/21, we aim to increase the number of confirmed pledges and increase the percentage of pledges that are confirmed from 52% to 65%.
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6) To implement the Bin the Bin scheme across the whole of the University estate.
There were plans to roll out the Bin the Bin scheme across the University, shortly after Go Green Week, and the Vice Chancellor had provided her support for the scheme. Unfortunately, the scheme had to be temporarily put on hold in March due the Covid-19 pandemic, however, we hope to roll it out in the future. You can read more about Bin the Bin here.
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7) Introduce food recycling facilities across all accommodation buildings at Warrington campus.
Unfortunately, the introduction of food recycling facilities was dependent on the installation of bin stores. Due to the uncertainty of the nature of operations at Warrington going forward, the installation of these bin stores has been put on hold for the time being.
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8) Introduce regular waste audits at all sites to engage with staff and students and help address contamination issues and the incorrect use of bins.
The University held its first Waste Audit at Kingsway Creative Campus during Go Green Week in February. The plan was to continue these across all campuses, but once again this had to be put on hold due to Covid-19. We are looking to undertake waste audits again during Go Green Fortnight in February/March 2021 which will be across all 8 sites.
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9) Plant 450 trees to create a woodland walk at Kingsway Campus.
Students, staff and local school groups planted 450 trees along the sports pitches at Kingsway Campus. The trees were planted across three days. Eco Council members from St Werburgh’s and Chester Bluecoat CE Primary School joined us at our community planting sessions, as well as children from Spinney Day Nursery.
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10) Create partnerships within the local community to take action to address the climate emergency.
Partnerships were created throughout 2020; links were developed with the Chester Sustainability Forum to create student projects and dissertation topics. The University is represented on the Cheshire West and Chester Sustainable Taskforce Group to improve travel options across the Borough, including for our students and staff. The Volunteering & Mentoring team continued to form links with Sustrans and Dig the Quarter through their student led Welly Wednesday volunteering group. At the beginning of the year, a group of film students created a 30 second video about the Climate Emergency which was submitted to be included in a longer film that was shown at the opening of the borough’s Climate Emergency summit.
11) Launch the University’s Carbon Management Plan.
The University has set a target to achieve net zero by 2030. The Carbon Management Plan is within its final draft stage with the aim for it to be launched in 2021.
12) Consultation with staff and students to inform the Sustainability Strategy.
We began consulting with students and staff during Go Green Week by asking for their feedback which helped highlight key areas to focus on. Building on this aim, we are looking into having a group of work-based learning students set up consultation groups with other students and gather ideas. We are also planning to work with outreach to set up similar groups with prospective students.
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- To work towards the aim of 65% recycling rate by 2025.
- Continue to improve recycling facilities for both glass and food waste across all campuses.
- Introduce regular waste audits at all sites to engage with staff and students and help address contamination issues and the incorrect use of bins.
- Identify ways to reduce specific waste streams, as well as identifying poor performing areas that may require more specific information or training.
- To continue to consult on the Sustainability Strategy during Go Green Week 2021 and host WBL students to conduct wider consultation with current and future students in partnership with Outreach.
- Reinstate a cross-university working group to lead Responsible Futures and conduct a review of all University programmes to determine where sustainability themes are included.
- Create a resource bank to support staff and students’ teaching and learning on sustainability.
- Baseline the University’s scope 3 emissions from procurement activities.
- Review our supplier’s commitment to sustainability through NetPositives and identify opportunities for development with the Business Growth Programme.
- Retain University Fairtrade accreditation.
- To have 15 teams (with at least one team in each campus) submit workbooks, as part of the new Climate Action programme, in July 2021.
- To have 500 confirmed pledges on Do Nation and a confirmation percentage of 65%.
- Regularly review the content and messages shared through Green Chester social media and events, acknowledging and addressing different themes of diversity and their links to sustainability and work to ensure that our events are inclusive and accessible.
- Adopt the Sustainability Leadership Scorecard to review how sustainability is embedded across the institution to identify gaps and inform the development of the strategy.
- Implement the University’s Net Zero Carbon Management Plan.
- Reduce energy consumption by 8% across the estate, compared to 2019/20.
- Reduce total University CO2 emissions by 10%, compared to 2019/20.
- Deliver co-ordinated campaigns to educate and raise awareness of staff and student responsibilities to reduce energy, waste and water.
- Increase the University’s electric vehicle fleet and install electric vehicle charging points.
- Procure 100% renewable electricity supply tariffs and increase renewable onsite electricity generation by 10%.
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How to have a greener Christmas
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Real vs. artificial
There are a number of factors to consider when thinking about the environmental impact of a Christmas tree, such as, where it is made/grown, how long it is used for and how it is disposed of.
If you opt for an artificial tree, it is best to buy a tree that will be reused for at least 10-15 years. When looking for a real tree, start local as it reduces the amount of miles the tree has travelled. Some trees can be replanted and kept in your back garden, ready to be reused for another year. Some local councils offer collection and chipping services with chips used for mulching or composting.
Decorations
Similar to artificial trees, decorations such as tinsel and plastic baubles should ideally be reused for many years. If you like to change the theme of your decorations, you may want to look into alternative decorations that don’t have a large impact on the environment. Paper origami decorations can be made with old pieces of paper such as magazines, newspapers or even wrapping paper. If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, have a go at making some edible decorations. Not only are they a festive treat but you can personalise them!
Food
The 1st November marks the end of Halloween and an overnight transformation in supermarkets, as Christmas themed food lines the shelves. Households start stocking up with mince pies and tins of chocolate, putting them at the back of the cupboard, only to be opened on Christmas Day! This excess of food comes at a cost, Christmas is the time of year where the highest waste of food happens. Here are some of our tips for reducing food waste:
- Stick to a shopping list
- Get creative with your leftovers
- Label your leftovers and put the food that needs to be used first at the front of your fridge/freezer as a reminder.
Gifts
Christmas is the perfect time to get creative and have a go at making gifts! Handmade gifts can be an easy way to save money and reduce the amount of unwanted presents ending up in landfill.
If you are buying presents and want to find out more about a company in terms of their impact on the environment and how socially responsible they are, have a look at the Impact Score App. The Impact Score app uses six measures: CEO pay ratio, CO2 emissions, gender pay gap, pay suppliers promptly, real living wage and UK tax paid to create a score for each company listed. The makers of the app worked with the Maths and Applied Sciences team at the University, who developed the formulas used. The app is free to download in both Google and Apple app stores. The app also allows users to register their discontent with a business and this feedback is taken back to individual businesses.
The Marriss House Climate Action team have created a list of Gifts that Give Back. The list includes 20 Christmas gift ideas where the purchase includes a donation to charity. There is a range of charities in the list who support homelessness, race equality, health, frontline services, wildlife etc.
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Our theme for December is energy and it comes at a time when we remind students and staff about switching off before Christmas! Before leaving your accommodation, make sure you have unplugged all appliances that do not need to be left on. Check your cupboards as well and make sure any food that won’t keep over the Christmas break is either taken with you, eaten, donated or if being thrown away, is put in the food waste bin (if you have access to one). If you are a member of staff working from your office, you should follow similar checks. Remember, don’t leave it to the last person to go home to do!
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What's On?
18th December ǀ Digital Climate Café
Join us for our last climate café of 2020! As well as being an open discussion climate café, we'll also have some fun quizzes!
1.30pm – 2.30pm
Make sure your following the Green Chester social media pages to keep up to date with events we have on! Email greenchester@chester.ac.uk for a link to join any of the events above or for more information.
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Best wishes,
Heather, Tammy, Phil & Sam
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Have you got any news and events you want to share in the next Warble? Just send them over to Green Chester. |
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