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Sustainability Week: Responsible Consumption

This year’s Sustainability Week focused on the theme of UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption.

Activities throughout the Week (and beyond!) encouraged staff and students to consider the social and environmental impacts of the items they buy. It explored the complexities and challenges associated with consuming responsibly, such as ‘Can fashion be sustainable?’ and ‘Is all plastic bad?’. 

Looking to support Responsible Consumption on campus? Here’s 5 great ways that you can make a positive difference:

1. Get a reusable water bottle: Save on single-use plastic bottle waste by carrying your reusable bottle with you. There are dozens of places on campus for you to top-up for free. Find these on the Refill app.
2. Sign up to Too Good To Go app: We were the first University in the UK to sign up to this app which let’s you find cafes on campus (and beyond) who have leftover items. Pick them up for a minimal price to help save these items from going to waste.
3. Support charity with your unwanted outfits: Got unwanted clothing, books, or even crockery...? Donate them to the British Heart Foundation via one of the red donation banks around campus. You can find these in each of our student halls as well as in the Students’ Union. These items are resold by the charity, saving them from the bin and generating life-saving funds.
4. Buy second-hand: In need to a new outfit or maybe even a bike? Look out for the vintage clothing sales and second-hand bike sales taking place on campus throughout the year. Need something before the next sale? There are loads of great apps to help you give something unwanted a second life.
5. Try meat-free: Reducing the amount of meat you eat can make an enormous difference to your carbon (and water) footprint. Even just a change once a week can be a positive start. Check out the meat-free Plantilicious range available in our cafes on campus – delicious (and good for the planet!).

Bike Week 

To encourage active travel and make cycling more accessible, we organised two Bike Week events this year—one during Freshers’ Week and another in May. During the events, we sold refurbished bicycles with prices starting from £75, provided free Dr Bike safety checks and carried out minor repairs.

We also ran a drop-in bike maintenance workshop, giving staff and students the opportunity to learn basic maintenance skills and receive practical advice on fixing common issues such as punctures.

All activities were offered free of charge thanks to funding from Cycling UK. We’re pleased to announce that the next Bike Week will also be supported by Cycling UK through the Big Bike Revival Programme.