Sustainability

Your SU is committed to maintaining and encouraging sustainable practice in and around the Ravensbourne community. We are committed to work with our students and the Institution to reduce carbon usage of the building and minimise use of plastic materials. Read our Sustainability Policy to find out more!

In 2013 and 2014 we were awarded the Gold Award in Green Impact from the NUS. In 2015 we progressed to be highly commended in our Green Impact Excellence by the NUS.

RSU is committed to being a sustainable and forward thinking union. After surveying the student body we found out that students do want to be sustainable but they do not know how. We asked them about what issues they would like to see a change in and that is how we have come up with these three areas to focus on.

The survey helped us determined the following priorities and come up with a SMART plan.

Waste

Reduce the amount of waste produced at Ravensbourne and increase the amount of waste which gets recycled. This is an ongoing project which requires taking measures to reduce the waste produced and improving the recycling facilities while collaborating with the students.

Plastic Usage

We have started campaigning to increase knowledge around the amount of plastic that the building uses. Both staff and students are guilty of this, from our coffee cups to the water fountain. While working with the Cafe we are trying to reduce the amount of cups being used for coffees by offering discounted coffee if you bring your own cup as well as going out and talking to students about the benefits. We are working closely with Ravensbourne to give out free water bottles to reduce the usage of disposal plastic cups.

Collaboration for Climate Change

We will continue working closely with the Greenwich Ecology Park this will be beneficial for both Ravensbourne and the Ecology Park. It will give us an opportunity to work with different people while helping the air quality around the peninsula by gardening and building homes for the local animals. To sign up to volunteer come talk to us in the office or email sustainability@ravesu.co.uk for more information.

Cycle to Ravensbourne

Both staff and students are encouraged to bike into Rave and take use of the bicycle parking and showers. Most students and staff use bicycles as their primary method of transport into Ravensbourne.

Reflection

As responsible as we try to be, we know we are not perfect. We still produce a lot of waste around the building from posters to having plastic cups at our events. We are trying to fix these matters by only printing if it is absolutely necessary. As a team we are thinking about how our events and projects will affect the environment during our planning stages. We have also started getting fully compostable plastic cups to help with the issue while still trying to reduce the amount of cups being used by students and staff year-round.

Find out more about the cups that we use here.

Please contact our Vice President of Sustainability, Nayonica Ghosh, for more information on how you can get involved: n.ghosh@ravesu.co.uk

You can also contact us through sustainability@ravesu.co.uk