Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Wed, 2017-05-24 16:04
On 3 May we held the hectic yet fun annual event – the Green Impact audits! This year 36 teams of staff and students from across the University took part in Green Impact, the University’s environmental awards scheme, and all teams needed to be audited to verify what they have achieved over the last academic year.
Sixteen student auditors from a range of courses and colleges participated in an intense morning of IEMA accredited training which equipped them with the knowledge and skills to go out and audit teams and departments. Auditors only had an hour to quiz staff, check buildings and review evidence of whether the Green Impact criteria had been met. Powered by a Nanna Mexico lunch they completed the task with great efficiency, travelling nearly 100 miles between them around Cambridge, visiting the many departments and Colleges.
What did they find?
On arriving at each department or College, most of the auditors were offered a drink. With many departments looking to cut down on waste, washable cups and glasses were the order of the day – here are Geography’s and Madingley Hall’s stylish water bottles on show!
It was part of the auditors job to check that equipment installed as part of Green Impact was functioning. Here Churchill College demonstrate the efficiency of their Combined Heat & Power (CHP) unit, while the Geography Science Labs demonstrated the efficiency of lab equipment.
One of the key elements of Green Impact is communication, communication, communication! Departments used labels, posters, emails or meetings to make sure that colleagues are engaged in reducing the environmental impact of their places of work or study. This photo from the audit at Disability Resource Centre shows the clear labelling of light switches, while the impressive display at CRUK highlighted the team’s achievements in Green Impact throughout the year:
A key issue for many Green Impact-ers is making sure that waste is recycled correctly. Auditors were therefore on the look out for well labelled bins, just like these picture-perfect bin setups in Disability Resource Centre and Philosophy!
The auditors also fed back on a number of innovative ideas that teams had trialled. In Churchill College a box was used with ‘bags for life’ for staff and students to borrow for their shopping! At the Disability Resource Centre, a team trike had been introduced for ferrying staff and small deliveries around the city – a great idea to save on car and taxi mileage!
The auditors fed back positively about the experience, with one saying "the auditing has been a great way for me to gain both training and practical environmental auditing experience”. It was also a great chance to see behind the scenes in a range of different departments and Colleges. In the words of one auditor: “I got to visit parts of the University that I may never otherwise see!".
