"Green Pledge"

[lancashire lass]

My employer has been promoting green alternatives and sustainability in the workplace for about 10 years now (maybe more) reducing waste going to landfill, encouraging recycling and reducing water (especially in laboratories which now use recyclable chiller units, "findensers" (a water free condenser) and water purification systems instead of flushing 1000s gallons of tap water down the sink every day) and and electricity (lights power down when the room is empty though sometimes if you sit still at a computer for too long you have to make a wave to power it back up LOL, but also the Christmas fortnight is when every electrical single item not required to kept on (some things have to be left on especially in laboratories) are all shut down. Even tea room fridges are switched off and emptied) as well as ensuring new buildings and refurbishments reduce carbon emissions during construction and maintenance.

Perhaps to make people more aware of the current environmental situation both at home and at work, they have taken the initiative to encourage staff and students to sign up to a sort of "Green Pledge" - things like avoiding one use plastics (have a re-usable mug / water bottle / not accepting plastic cutlery and so on), use food waste bins for composting (each tea room / kitchen has a mini bin for depositing fruit & veg skin/cores, tea bags and coffee grains etc), recycling, using public transport regularly (or cycling/walking) instead of using a car ... and so on and so forth. There are lots of categories to sign or opt in to and every week an email is sent to remind you to tick targets met and points are awarded. There are also one off activities which you can be involved in such as setting up a blog about a particular topic such as alternatives to plastic, or being a volunteer in community projects or tree planting. Some activities have more points than others. I don't know how long the scheme will be running but at the end of each month, the points are tallied and those with the highest score receive a £20 shopping voucher.

Well I have signed up and opted in to a few categories so I'm pleased to see points building up already although if the leader board is anything to go off, my total score doesn't even get ranked I guess no shopping vouchers for me this month. Still, it's a nice idea and fits in well with my own personal goals to reduce plastics and carbon emissions and feel like I am participating in something when I see the points added.

[Mo]

Does this thread count as a green activity?

[lancashire lass]

well I suppose it does in that it's a form of promoting green issues to others but I personally don't get any points for it.

[Freeranger]

I definitely think it does count: yes.

It's an example of someone being involved in the thought processes behind green living and it also suggests ideas that others could suggest for their own workplace.

It's such an important subject that I don't think we can afford to be picky about what does and doesn't count.

[Meanqueen]

It's all very well promoting environmental and green issues, we all need educating on saving the planet, but this sounds like big brother gone mad. I would not put up with my employer telling me how to run my life outside of work. How can they check that everyone is doing what they signed up to do? Plenty of opportunity to tell a few porkies to get a voucher.

ilona

[Mo]

You have a point there MQ.
On one side, it needs to be something 'everyone' does / is thinking about. So this brings it into awareness.
On the other, if people see it as 'Big Brother' or like some of the American & Japanese corporate loyalty trick, or think others are cheating, it will be counterproductive.

[Gwenoakes]

It sounds like a good idea to me, but only if people do not cheat.
I presume you do not have to sign up to this, LL and are not thought any less of if you don't.

[lancashire lass]

It sounds like a good idea to me, but only if people do not cheat.
I presume you do not have to sign up to this, LL and are not thought any less of if you don't.

It's all very well promoting environmental and green issues, we all need educating on saving the planet, but this sounds like big brother gone mad. I would not put up with my employer telling me how to run my life outside of work. How can they check that everyone is doing what they signed up to do? Plenty of opportunity to tell a few porkies to get a voucher.

ilona

On one side, it needs to be something 'everyone' does / is thinking about. So this brings it into awareness.
On the other, if people see it as 'Big Brother' or like some of the American & Japanese corporate loyalty trick, or think others are cheating, it will be counterproductive.

1) it is totally voluntary - you opt in to what you feel you can make changes (or are already doing) so no-one is telling you what you can or cannot do. The scheme has been drawn up by the Environmental department (whose main role is to ensure the employer complies with legislation for waste and energy efficiency and how to reduce it) so there are no penalties if you don't decide to join.
2) it is educational and highlights some things people probably didn't know about and want to change or what they could do instead of current trends.
3) as for checking - some of the opt ins with the highest points are easily checked (if you come to work by car, you have to have a parking permit as Nottingham has a workplace parking levy scheme which charge employers for each parking space they have on their premises which is passed on to the employees who use it) But the ones like how many days did you use a reusable mug or bottle or whether you had a meat free main meal that week are small so is more about being honest with yourself than trying to win the vouchers (£20 to shop in one of 4 selected stores, winners cannot win again for at least 6 months .... hardly worth it)
4) as a university, our customers are the students - they will be dealing with the future ramifications of doing nothing and to be fair, they are the driving force of asking for changes to current policies.

The scheme is based on the Sustainable Development Goals to which 193 countries of the UN General adopted.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (or Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the 17 Global Goals, the Global Goals or simply the Goals) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly: "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". That has been shortened to "2030 Agenda". The goals are broad and interdependent, yet each has a separate list of targets to achieve. Achieving all 169 targets would signal accomplishing all 17 goals. The SDGs cover social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, global warming, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice

Some of those goals are part of the pledge to opt in if anyone feels they can contribute:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being for people

"Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages."

Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy

"Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all."

Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities

"Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable."

Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

"Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns."

Goal 13: Climate action

"Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy."

Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals

"Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.“

Most of the categories are work-related but as individuals we can have an impact when lots of people participate. Take single use plastics for example - students in particular have campaigned for alternates and now re-usable mugs are accepted when buying coffee at any of the cafetieres on campus, the number of water stations in buildings have increased to encourage everyone to fill up bottles and drinkers, plastic cutlery and and crockery replaced with re-usable. Local shopping (we have a weekly market on campus) and fairtrade are also high on the list of things the students were keen to see. Waste streams are better signed of what you can or cannot put into recycle bins, there are now food waste bins for composting, there are volunteer schemes to plant trees and so on.

[Mo]

Sounds good. I know Keele University is doing things to make a greener campus.

[lancashire lass]

Sounds good. I know Keele University is doing things to make a greener campus.

Keele is currently ranked 31 in the table of 154 universities by the People & Planet (full table on the link) The next round is due this spring so it may climb up the table.

People & Planet’s University League (see table below) is the only comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities ranked by environmental and ethical performance. It is compiled annually by the UK’s largest student campaigning network, People & Planet.