Canterbury has amazing recycling facilities in that they are able to recycle a variety of waste products for free for their residents. If you are able to recycle why not make the most of it in your student house, not only is it an active way to help protect the environment but it also means you’ll have far less rubbish sitting in your kitchen!
International Food and Culture fayre | One World Week
Make sure you head down to the International Food and Culture Fayre this Friday 28th Feb where SGOs Fran and Emily will be sharing some delicious vegan treats as well as a variety of dishes on offer from other societies 👩🏻🍳👨🏽🍳🌱🌺🌎🌯 🥗 🥘 🍝
why we should all be using a pressure cooker
It may sound a bit random and a little too wartime Britain but here is why buying a basic pressure cooker is probably the best student investment yet.
#actingtogether Eco-Conscious Local Businesses: The Veg Box Cafe
Welcome to my new blog series: Eco-Conscious Local Businesses! For this series, I have interviewed a few different local places where they have a sustainable element incorporated into their business.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and infrastructure
Industrialization is important for any developing country. It creates a stronger job market and improves the economic prospects for millions of people. The issue with rapid industrialization is its dependency on manufacturing techniques that creates unsustainable levels of carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses. In a world where climate change is rapidly becoming an ever-increasing threat how can emerging economies create a more sustainable industrial revolution?
The first step in the path to a more sustainable economy is a robust transport infrastructure that promotes the easy flow of goods, whilst not generating an increased level of carbon emissions. For the most part trade in developing countries in facilitated by an inefficient road network whilst using older haulage vehicles that produce a larger quantity of greenhouse gases than the more modern vehicles used in more developed economies. To improve the sustainability of trade within Africa the United Nations, in collaboration with Sustainable Transport Africa, are working on a joint venture to promote more modern and sustainable electric vehicles and infrastructure: this ranges from new electric mopeds to photo-voltaic charging stations for electric vehicles. You can find out more here
The next step in having sustainable industrialisation is to ensure that the power used by manufacturers and the growing commercial sector is from renewable sources. This requires joint effort from developing economies and expertise from industry experts to invest in, and introduce, new renewable energy production technologies to emerging economies. One such project is the Nigeria Electrification Project. This project aims to bring available electricity to around 80 million people across Nigeria. The electricity will be largely produced by Solar power, and will be supplied via a network of 850 mini-grids and through individual property systems. Much of the funding for this project is from the World Bank that has provided subsidies to private companies to build the new infrastructure.
The third step involves creating and implementing more sustainable manufacturing techniques that reduce the carbon footprint of the manufacturing sector. This is perhaps the hardest to implement as manufacturing in poorer countries is dependent on older machinery and technologies that produce large amounts of carbon emissions, and have damaging effects on local ecosystems. The Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental pollution (SMEP) programme is an initiative backed by the UK government, in collaboration with the United Nations, with the goal of reducing the environmental and social impacts of manufacturing in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This will be achieved by funding research into more sustainable manufacturing techniques.
Find out more about SDG 9 here
Sustainability: Your views
What did you have to say about sustainability and CCCU? What do you understand by the word ‘Sustainable Development’ and how does it apply to your university experience? Breaking down the results of the 2018/19 NUS Skills survey.
Surveys are a useful tool when establishing a wider consensus on issues and the NUS skills survey is no different. Let’s have a look at what the survey shows us about CCCU students and sustainability.
What do students understand by the term ‘Sustainable development’?
These word walls show how students views have changed over the year. Whilst in 2017/18 students understood sustainable development as impacting the future, students in the 2018/19 survey seemed to focus on how the future generations could go without if not for sustainable development. Generations didn’t even appear in the 2017/18 word wall but in 2018/19 it is one of the bigger words.
What does this mean?
Well, it could mean that students are more aware than ever of the impact that sustainability has on future generations, without it we could be denying them of a decent future. However, it could also show that students are planning for their futures and taking sustainability into account whilst doing so.
Over 80% of CCCU respondents agree that sustainable development is something which universities should actively incorporate and promote, and just under that figure think all courses should do the same. Over half of CCCU respondents say they want to learn more about sustainable development.
CCCU NUS Sustainability Skills survey 2018/19
This question showed with an overwhelming majority that students at CCCU want sustainable development to be intrinsically interwoven whilst studying at university.
Around the university, sustainability awareness is popping up; from posters explaining the UN’s Sustainable development goals, the reusable cup levy to recycling bins. Whilst some are obvious and others are more nuanced, sustainability is being interwoven with everyday university life. However, there is always more that could be done.
#actingtogether Make your Valentine’s most eco-friendly
Valentine’s Day is a big celebration where people give their partner/spouse gifts to represent your love for them.
The Great Green Wall
One region that is already feeling the catastrophic effects of climate change is the Sahel region at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. In recent years this region has experienced persistent droughts, and a degradation of agricultural lands. Because of the lack of water and fertile land this region suffers from an acute lack of resources which causes starvation and poorer living conditions for the millions which inhabit the area.
To fight back against the effects of climate change 21 African nations have joined together in a joint venture: this venture plans to build an 8,000 km wall across the width of Africa from Senegal to Djibouti. The joint venture is known as The Great Green Wall and it has already started to reverse the harmful effects of desertification in the Sahel region: in Niger over 5 million hectares of land has been reclaimed for agricultural purposes and is providing an extra 500,000 tonnes of grain per year, in Senegal over 12 million drought resistant trees have been planted meaning the land retains more water which creates a more fertile soil.
As well as tackling the effects of climate change the Great Green Wall addresses multiple sustainability related issues in the region fulfilling the criteria of 15/17 of the United Nations sustainable development goals. The initiative is only possible because of collaboration between nations and the communities responsible for growing the wall. This collaboration has also contributed to the decline in conflict in the Sahel region. For years the lack of resources in the area has meant that the Sahel region has witnessed increased levels of conflict as people fight for the remaining limited resources in the region. Because the Great Green Wall is bringing both agricultural and economic prosperity the availability of resources has improved which has meant that the cause for much of the conflict in the region has been removed. The increased economic income has also improved the educational prospects for millions of people as more investment is made in providing local schools and families are able to afford the extra costs of education.
The holistic approach that the Great Green Wall initiative has taken is the only way in which we can all really create a sustainable future. For long term environmental initiatives to truly work they also need to be both socially and economically sustainable.
To find out more about The Great Green Wall click here
#actingtogether Zero or Low Waste Snacks
I love snacking. I know people that live off of snacks. In recent years, snacking has become a big thing in our culture. I’m always conscious about how much waste snacking can produce, with production and packing. I thought I’d share some zero or low waste snacking ‘recipes’ to hopefully help to make you more aware of the amount of waste that snacking can generate.
new year new you | five little things you can do to make 2020 great for you and the planet!
1. Try and switch at least one room’s toiletries into sustainable products. Whether its reusing the same soap dispensers and buying refills or making your own cleaning sprays, one little change can have a huge impact on the environment.
2. Change your meat and dairy sources to a more ethical and sustainable source -eg spend the 10/15p (on average) more on organic milk rather than buying regular milk, not only is this better for the animal as they spend most of the year grazing outside (weather permitting) but there are studies that show that buying organic is much much better for your health.
3. Give meat free Mondays a go! This little habit can help you reevaluate your eating habits and can encourage you to eat more fruit and vegetables, it also reduces your impact on the environment.
4. Be more active, even if it’s just walking more than you would normally.
5. Remember to take a bag with you when shopping. This is simple but we all forget and it not only costs us in our wallet but it costs the planet too.