Update from the Sustainability team - January blog

We hope you are having a great start to the new year. This year we want to see more of how staff are embedding sustainability whilst they are on campus. Let us know what you are doing.

Sustainability Awareness Week

As the university is working towards the net zero target by 2035, we would like to encourage all departments to organise an activity/event for their staff or students to take part in during Sustainability Awareness Week. This could be a webinar, a campaign to reduce waste, a bake off, communication about sustainability initiatives to encourage others be more sustainable at home and on campus.

Sustainability Awareness Week is between 4-8 March, and we will be running several events for all staff and students to get involved. If you will be running something we would love to know, email us at sustainability@essex.ac.uk.

Furniture Reuse Project for Staff to use

We have a lot of furniture here at Essex for reuse from desks, tables, chairs to filing cabinets and more! As a team we have introduced a furniture reuse scheme to reduce the amount of furniture going into the waste stream which is in a good enough condition to be reused.

If you have furniture that is no longer required of or if you have any requests, please try the below:
• University-owned furniture (such as office items) can be advertised to other departments via Small Ads.
• If these items are not claimed they can be collected and sent to the storage facility.
• Damaged items can be removed by the Estates team. Please contact the Estates Helpdesk) in the first instance.
• If you are looking to buy new furniture please consider the need; there may be other items available elsewhere on campus. Please try a 'wanted' ad on Small Ads for ad-hoc requests, or the Estates team.
• A designated storage facility houses various pieces of furniture and we are working to make it easier to find and obtain used, but perfectly serviceable items on our campuses. Please contact the Estates Helpdesk in the first instance if you have a request.
Thank you to everyone who has used the scheme in the last year, 163 items have been reused. This has saved 3170kg going into our waste stream which is the equivalent of the weight of 3 polar bears!

Saving money on your coffee

Did you know that approximately 8000 disposable cups were served to Essex Food customers in one month, from just one outlet! – That’s a lot of waste!

From Monday 15 January 2024, a levy of 25p will be waivered at the till when you use ANY reusable cup, helping to reduce the use of disposable cups on campus.

Remembering to bring your reusable cup might be tricky at first but, if you do forget, we have reusable cups for sale in selected café outlets. Purchase a reusable cup for £5 and your first drink is FREE.

Plus, saving on average £10 a month, based on buying a hot drink a day, 5 days a week, is a good reminder!

SDG Teach In

The seventh annual international SDG Teach In is launching and will take place across the entire month of March 2024. The SDG Teach In is an annual international campaign delivered by SOS-UK which calls on educators to pledge to include the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) in their teaching, training, and learning throughout March. Educators can be trainers, lifelong and workplace learning facilitators, as well as formal and informal educators. The SDG Teach In is open to educators and trainers across all disciplines and levels globally, whether through case studies, debate, discussion, group work, team tasks, activities, or simulations relating to topics included within the SDGs. SOS-UK is inviting all forms of educators across the world to pledge now using the online form to incorporate the SDGs in their teaching, learning, training, workshops, etc. throughout the Teach In, and share with their colleagues.

Southend Sustainability Champions

Southend campus are looking for departmental sustainability champions. In terms of the role, it should be someone who has an interest in sustainability
• is willing to help raise the profile of sustainability within their department and identify actions to be taken forward
• is willing to collaborate with other teams to share and identify further actions
• can provide a voice for their department on sustainability
This role should not add to their workload or involve a big time commitment. If you would be interested in being a departmental sustainability champion then please email Sally.