By Holly McGratten, University of Lincoln,
I was asked to represent the student voice on the Environmental Sustainability Committee via my voluntary work at the Edible Garden on campus. At first it was daunting, as most of the faces in the room were new to me, however the structure of each meeting ensured that each individual had their say and were part of the debates! I enjoyed being part of the committee and many discussions were had which I would have been unaware of.
As my time on the committee comes to an end I do believe a higher student representative in the committee would be hugely beneficial; and with the recently founded ECO Society I feel this will only improve the opportunities for student-led projects on campus and encourage the university to become more environmentally focused.
A few thoughts on becoming a “greener” University
I strongly believe that the university could work towards becoming less reliant on single-use plastics, particularly when it comes to hot beverages. From my observations the university sells huge amounts of tea and coffee each day, and this could be a perfect opportunity to raise awareness about the detrimental use of take-away cups and encourage students to bring re-usable cups.
It is important for both staff and students to take an active and productive role in attaining a sustainable world environment. They need to work together and with the local community to come up with new solutions.
But in the meantime I have three simple and easy requests:
- Take out the recycling,
- Go for a walk,
- And maybe choose cans over bottles!