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Holly Worrall
Green Impact
Green Impact is a United Nations programme designed to support environmentally and socially sustainable practices in institutions. Over 450 organisations have taken part in Green Impact, and have made lasting positive changes by adapting the flexible programme based on collaboration and teamwork.
By becoming part of the Green Impact team at the University of Essex, students gain the following skills throughout the year:
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Gain practical skills and experience through training approved by the IEMA and by leading Green Impact audits.
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Gain experience in project managing sustainability behaviour change across an entire academic year.
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Learn how large organisations deal with sustainability challenges and implement change.
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Develop key transferable skills including communication, team-work and time-management skills.
At the beginning of the 2018 academic year, I was given the Library to manage and in order to help the department reach Gold Standard at the end of the year. In order to achieve this, 21 criteria had to be met. Below are examples of the main projects that were undertaken throughout the year in order to qualify for Gold.
Printers
I brought up a question regarding what type of paper was used in the printers by the library. I was told that all plain A4 white copier paper bought by the team comes from sustainable sources, and at a minimum is from FSC certified forests. Where possible, the paper is made from 100% recycled material; otherwise, it is a minimum of 70% recycled content.
In collaboration with the department, we decided to trial 100% recycled paper in the office space before expanding into the rest of the library.
Initially recycled paper was unable to be used because it got caught in the printers, however, this was resolved as the printers were due to be updated and it was ensured the new models were compatible with recycled paper.
By the end of the year, recycled paper was being used by all staff and students in the library and is in the process of being utilised by other departments.
Fairtrade Bake Off
A fair trade bake-off and cake sale were carried out by the department raising 230.84 for charities Macmillan and Gain. All baked goods were made with fair trade ingredients and no disposable items were used.
Mini Project
For the mini-project, the library held a 'blind date with a book', which consisted of books being wrapped with recycled journal pages. Either a short explanation or series of reviews was written on each book to entice the reader to pick one up without judging the book by its cover.
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