UWS Green

In Academic Year 2022/23 the University has launched our Green Campaign which will run across all campuses and throughout the academic year to encourage all staff and students to make everyday changes to be more sustainable.

This webpage will provide information and guidance throughout the academic year to support the campaign. Please check back here on a regular basis to see the latest guidance and focus of our campaign.

STEP 1 – ‘TURN IT OFF’

We are living in uncertain times and a key factor, both at work and in the home, is energy.

It will not be a surprise to be told that not only are energy prices rising rapidly, but they are also unlikely to fall any time soon. This affects us all, both in the University and at home. As there is a large overlap, we have pulled together some hints, tips, and suggestions. We urge you to think about energy, use these tips, and share any other tips.

It’s worth remembering that saving energy has two big benefits:

It saves money! That money can be then used for other things.
It reduces Greenhouse Gas emissions. This even applies when we are saving energy from renewable sources.

We should try to look at energy across work, study, and at home. Most of the things that we can do to save energy apply across all of these.

The primary approach is to use very simple thoughts and take some easy steps.

Are we using energy that we don’t need to?

When you are the last person to leave a room, check that lights are off. Check that equipment is off or in standby/sleep mode.
Set automatic timings for electrical equipment to turn off if left unattended.

For example, when sitting paused with the screen on, a 55” flatscreen TV will use roughly 80W, a 22” flatscreen computer monitor 20W, and a laptop 75W. In ‘standby’ each will use about 0.5W, in ‘sleep’ or ‘hibernate’ 0.1W. eg. A TV ‘paused’ for 2 hours a day uses about £20 a year.

Have we got heating and ventilation under control?

In the University if a room is too cold, or too hot, contact estates (fmhelpdesk@uws.ac.uk). They can help address the cause. At home, look carefully at how you have set heating etc. (See the tips section for help).
If you have doors or windows open when the heating is on, the energy is heating a lot more than the room.

Are we properly insulated?

Use layers of clothing to keep warm when it's cold. Curtains and blinds add extra layers of insulation to windows and can significantly reduce heat loss.

Look up and use the tips that are posted online

Be sensible, look at multiple sources and rely on people you can trust. Governments, charities, energy companies, and reliable media outlets are a good place to start. If you are unsure contact the Universities sustainability team at netzero@uws.ac.uk

STEP 2 - SUSTAINABILITY ON CAMPUS

Reusable cups: Avoid the charge, make the change.

From Monday 6th February 2023 the catering team at UWS will be re-introducing the 25p disposable cup charge.

This initiative was extremely successful prior to Covid-19 pandemic, and we are now in a place where we can re-introduce this as part of our catering sustainability drive. Between Feb 2019 and March 2020 over 57,000 hot beverages were sold in re-usable cups and up-take was excellent.

We also have a range of re-usable cups to purchase from our outlets and shops across the campuses for £6.50 (RRP £12.95) and if purchased before Monday 6^th February includes a free hot beverage.

To avoid the charge, customers will need to bring their own reusable cup.

Coffee recycling boxes

You may also have noticed that the coffee recycling boxes are re-appearing across our campuses.

As a refresher:

Empty the cup and, if possible, rinse it out (prevents smells from remnants). Then place the empty cup in the recycling box, the plastic lid in plastic recycling, and other rubbish in appropriate bins.

Drinking water

To ensure that staff and students remain hydrated, there are fresh drinking water dispensers located around the campuses.

We encourage the use of refillable water bottles to eliminate unnecessary waste. If you don’t have a bottle, they can be purchased from UWS and external outlets.

KEEP UP-TO-DATE

We will continually update this section of the webpage with the latest information around sustainability - check back for the most up-to-date news.

Carbon Brief report - 'State of the Climate'

Carbon Brief (a UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science) have published their annual ‘State of the Climate’ report. The report shows just how much the climate has changed in the last 200 years. You can view this report at the link below:

state of the climate

UWS Student at Managing the Environment Summer School | University of the West of Scotland

UWS SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

Strategy 2025 commits UWS to becoming a stand-out university committed to tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as a leader in climate change and resilience through research and enterprise activity. The University’s long-standing commitment to sustainability is shown through both the commitment to be net zero in operations by 2040 and through the signing of the Sustainable Development Goal Accord which commits UWS to reporting annually on work towards embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals through learning and teaching, research, leadership, operations, and engagement activities.

FIND OUT MORE

TIPS

There are a vast range of helpful hints and tips online that can help you to save money on energy costs. A selection of these are below. We will continue to update these as more useful resources become available.