Submitted by Peter Lumb on Fri, 2019-09-27 11:30
This year sees the eighth year of the Green Impact scheme at the University and we’re hoping to keep on growing with more participants on board than ever – last year saw record levels of participation! Whether you’re a staff member or student, if you’re looking to make a positive environmental impact then Green Impact could be for you…
It’s been a big few months at the University of Cambridge for climate change and environmental sustainability. On the same day as the UK’s all-time temperature record was broken at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, the University committed to a ‘science based target’ of zero carbon emissions from energy use by 2048, becoming the first University globally to do so. Just weeks later the University Catering Service hit national headlines for its ground-breaking and successful work to cut carbon emissions from catering by 33%, demonstrating that every part of the University can contribute to a more sustainable future.
Growing interest in the environment
It’s clear that levels of public awareness over climate change and environmental breakdown are growing. This is reflected within the University, with 66% of staff saying they’d like to do more at work to help the environment. However only 16% of staff feel confident to contribute their own ideas and expertise to create action on sustainability issues at the University. So what can staff do to support their workplace in becoming more sustainable?
Green Impact supporting change
While the University’s Environment & Energy Section provides a range of advice, guidance, resources and training to support staff in improvements across a range of areas, the top way staff say they would be influenced to improve their environmental performance is through action within their own department or institute. That’s why the University runs a popular ‘Green Impact’ competition which supports local-level sustainability action. Last year 50 awards were presented to departments, labs and Colleges who took part in the initiative, a record high, and feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive:
Positive feedback
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“Green Impact gave us a lot of ideas for ways to improve our performance. It was interesting to see how many we could complete.” |
| "Our department is heavily lab based which is very energy intensive. Joining Green Impact has greatly improved our energy usage since we started." |
| “Green Impact gave us a clear framework to organize our sustainability actions and track our progress. Bringing colleagues together to work as a team has been fun, it's a worthwhile goal to work towards." |
| "Having a part in something bigger made us feel good. Having a project to set up, see through and see the success of it all was exciting and fun." |
| "The best bit about Green Impact was being involved in positive change within the department, getting to know people outside of my work team, and seeing the results of changes that I have been personally involved with." |
| "Through Green Impact, students were able to cooperate with staff members, thus spreading awareness and driving positive changes both within the student community and the faculty." |
| “I really liked taking part - I felt it gave a validity to ‘being green’ at work. I always have recycled but now we’ve got 'Green Impact' behind us, I feel more supported in trialling green initiatives in my workplace.” |
Find out more at the Green Impact launch
Green Impact 2019/20 will be officially launched at the Sainsbury Laboratory on 22 October, and we’d love to see as many of you there as possible – over 100 staff and students have registered for the event already! Register now and ensure you don’t miss out on hearing more about the University’s new ‘zero carbon’ target, finding out about the information and support available through Green Impact, and getting a chance to meet with colleagues who have taken action already.