Green Crescent are ready to hit ‘submit’ on their Green Impact Bronze workbook. Progress dragged at first, but with the movement of the Governance Service Unit team into Estates H/Q came a new flush of enthusiasm and a well-stocked team. With regular meetings and the help of our trusty Green Impact noticeboard, we’ve finally got our twenty criteria completed. Pesterings, complaints of wonky Switch-Off stickers, cycling/recycling, composted (Fairtrade) banana skins and a personal heater amnesty later, and we’re ready to be audited.
It’s all about inclusion (and not taking up too much time!), so at our last Green Impact meeting it was decided to ask everyone for their thoughts….
1) What does Green Impact mean to you?
Karen Kelly: I am “making a difference”
Martin Toner: There’s an old Scottish saying: “many a mickle maks a muckle”. This translates as “a lot of little things can make one big thing”, and for me Green Impact is about making a lot of small differences in the hope that in the end they add up to a big difference. The more people who get involved the bigger impact we can make.
Stephen Talboys: Green Impact is for me the embodiment of the often used “Think globally act locally” or in our case think corporately but act locally. I am pleased that we have shown that we can take lots of small, local, important green steps within people’s areas of direct control and influence and that these really do add up to begin to change attitudes and culture…
Tony Blendall: Saving money; saving jobs; serving students
Annette Cooke: Having recently moved to a new office, one unanticipated benefit is that I have met more colleagues in the new office through green impact discussions.
Graeme Holland: Just basic common sense: you would not leave things running for no reason at home so why would you do it here? Please switch off when not in use or leaving.
Matteo Littera: Other people taking an interest in what I do!
Matt Stephenson: Green impact is all to do with those little things which collectively make a difference. Since I signed up I’ve found myself sorting rubbish, reusing paper, switching off lights and even buying fairtrade bananas. We all notice that each other is doing their bit, be it marking the locations of the lights on the switches or turning off lights in unused meeting rooms: each action making a difference … it may be a small difference but a difference nevertheless and when multiplied across the 20,000 members of the University community it all adds up to a big change.
2) Have you noticed any positive (or negative) changes around the office?
Karen Kelly: How much food we used to throw away!
Martin Toner: I think most if not all staff have embraced the ideas behind Green Impact and hopefully we will soon see the results in terms of reduced energy and resource usage. The chocolate fairy was also very welcome!
Tony Blendall: Yes ! ! Energy awareness
Annette Cooke: I have noticed that many of my colleagues are very enthusiastic about their green impact. My suggestion to start composting our food waste in the kitchen has also been put into practice!
Matteo Littera: The nicest thing I noticed is how many people actually care about the subject who are generally “lone-warriors” – it promoted a lot of talk on various subjects and I also believe it helped quicken the integration of GSU
3) Has Green Impact changed your behaviour at work/home and if so, how?
Karen Kelly: I already did a lot at home but I am much more focused when out and about now
Martin Toner: Yes I am much more conscious of how much paper, electricity, water etc I use and I try to minimise use as much as possible.
Tony Blendall: No ! ! I already operated to the highest standards – my money or University money
Annette Cooke: I now turn lights off in rooms when not in use and turn off the office printer at the end of the day.
Matteo Littera: Not really, I like to believe I was pretty hot on these things before!
Thank you everyone!
On Friday 10th March staff and students gathered together to take part in the National Union of Students’ Blackout campaign. After a brief training session and donning their Blackout t-shirts, the volunteers split into teams and went to audit non-essential lights and equipment in their allocated areas. The teams noted down the total number of each type of equipment and the number left on unnecessarily, whilst also switching off certain items such as lights and computer monitors.
Analysis of the data collected shows that 35% of computers, 30% of monitors, 15% of projectors and 37% of manual lights were left on unnecessarily in the areas audited. Assuming that this is the case across the whole University, there are opportunities to save £72,869.60 and 393,931 kilograms of CO2 a year if these computers and monitors were switched off over weekends. That’s the equivalent of emissions from 83 passenger cars driven for one year! Savings would be even greater if lights and other equipment were also taken into account and if items were switched off on weekday evenings too.
