Sustainability on campus
Every year we complete the Green Impact which is an accreditation from NUS. Where we showcase all the campaigns and schemes we use to promote green initatives and encourage people to live a little more sustainably.
As well as helping you lower your carbon footprint, save money and keep healthy, our campaigns and green swaps help students in becoming aware of the sustainable choices we offer including free bike hire, a campus link bus, our SHHH bus, and deals on hot drinks with your reusable cup.
We also work with several local charities who advertise a variety of green opportunities to get involved with. This includes gardening club at Wycombe Museum, food sorting at One Can Trust or local litter picks.
You also can help by donating any unwanted or unloved bras to our Bra Bank, so they can be recycled and raise vital money for pioneering breast cancer research instead of ending up in a landfill. You can also help Beauty Banks put an end to hygiene poverty with our Give To Refresh Campaign, in conjunction with the University. To donate bras and beauty products or recylce your batteries, visit our Donation Station on the ground floor, North Wing at the High Wycombe Campus.
If you're looking to pick up something new for your student flat, pop in to Bucks New Usage and help us create a circular economy on campus.
Sustainability is something our members are very passionate about which is why each year, we elect a Green Ambassador to help shape the way we think about sustainability as an organisation and to help raise awareness across the University. Your Green Ambassador for 2021-22, Sydney Owen, worked very closey with our Green Soceity. "My main mission while being Green Ambassador this academic year is to help the University in becoming more sustainable and be more conscious of the environment. I'll be working closely with the Green Society to create a more environmentally friendly campus by making small changes where we can."
This year we started the term with our sustainability survey and based on what you've said, we'll be aiming to campaign the University to reduce the amount of plastic cups at the water fountains and will be launching a 'Better Burger' campaign. So make sure you keep your eyes peeled on some of the exciting things we have in store for you this year to help us all tackle climate change together.
Green Spaces Survey results (Excel file)
For more information, or to get invovled in any of our green initiatives, please email volunteering@bnu.ac.uk.
Updates
This year our sports clubs got a new sports kit to compete and represent our Univeristy in. But what to do with the old kit? Well, instead of sending them off for landfill or to be recyled we partenered with the Wye Valley Zambia project to support students in Lusaka and give our old kits a second chance at sporting glory.
Your Green Ambassador, Sydney Owen, has helped shape the 'Bin it to Win it' campaign, which set out to raise awareness amongst our members and staff of what is and isn’t recyclable. This campaign also introduced the idea of taking it a step further and buying more environmentally friendly alternatives. So, instead of using facewipes to take make-up off and throwing them away, buy reusable make up remover pads.
Our Green week ran in March this year and was full of opportunities for all, including; refreshing donated items for Bucks New Usage, a hand cream making workshop, the Renew Eco Shop refill station and litter picking, tree planting and Spring clear outs with Chiltern Rangers.
On Saturday 26 March at 8.30pm we supported Earth Hour working with the University to switch off all non-essential lights.
We've introduced and have continued to encourage all our staff to prioritise Ecosia, a fantastic search engine. We will be working with the University to promote this amongst the wider staff and student population. Ecosia plant native species in over 30 countries, and restore and protect biodiversity hotspots. A big way to make a difference with little effort.
This year our sports captains have been wearing the rainbow armbands and laces as an ongoing pledge against discrimination within any sport. In addition, Rainbow Laces were sold at our Varsity event in March of which proceeds went to RAG.
During Student Volunteer Week, our Sports and Societies got stuck in with helping Chiltern Rangers cut down shrubs and plant trees, writing Post-Pal letters to children in hospital, and assisting in tidying up the overgrown hedges at Marlow Rugby Club.
Impact Assessment
Although it’s called Green Impact, it’s not just about planting trees or getting your recycling in order, sustainability is a lot more than that, touching on issues of equality, community, curriculum reform, campaigning and much more. Our vision is that through sustainability initiatives on campus alongside the content of the taught curriculum, students will graduate from higher education being equipped to deal with the global challenges we currently face.
This Impact Assessment was carried out for the start of the academic year and details the Union's most signficant environmental impacts together with a plan as to how we will minimise our impact over the course of the next 12 months.
Bucks Students' Union Aspects and Impacts register
BSU SMART Goals