By Raquel Marques, Vice President Health & Education and Science & Technology

Hi everyone, I decided to write this blog post to update you on what we have been doing to make our university a more environmentally friendly place! As an organisation we are committed to environmental sustainability in theory and in practice!

One of our objectives for the year was to reduce the usage of plastic, such as straws, water bottles and coffee cups.  Working in partnership with the university, we were able to reduce the amount of straws by only providing them in case a student asks; to reduce the amount of water bottles by installing bottle dispensers, free of charge, that you can use at any time in the Quad and MDX House if you want a cold water, in the library if you want a hot water!

In the last referendum period we took a huge step towards reducing the amount of coffee cups on campus, when 319 students voted in favour of this motion!

Furthermore, as part of my attendance in the Environmental Steering Group, we were looking into how the green spaces around campus influence a student or a member of staff’s mental health. It was great to see so many students studying in the park when the sun was out!

You can tell us more how you use the green spaces around campus by filling in the 'Campus Living Lab' online survey via this link.

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“Freewheelers” is our free campus cycle hire scheme! This all idea started in January 2017 and ever since then it has been growing – we just got a new bike shelter and will hopefully get more bikes. Remember to use this scheme, initially because it is FREE, you are also helping the environment – since there is no toxic fuel involved in pedal power – and finally you are getting fit will cycle which has a great impact in your health. The more you use the scheme, the more it motivates us to get more bikes by convincing the university that this is having a great impact on students!