Green Impact 2017 report - Leeds Beckett University

In our third year currently, we have managed to slowly increase our presence and spread the word to colleagues throughout the university. We have got 6 students involved in 2016 and 11 in 2017 to volunteer as student environmental auditors to audit the teams' toolkits after their submission. Writing from my position (Sustainability Student Placement), the best part of my job is the interaction I have with so many members of staff from all over the university. As a student, I didn't necessarily realise the amount of work it takes to run an institution like ours. And it's an absolutely fantastic feeling now to see that there is a growing enthusiasm to make our university greener. 

Tangible costs and carbon savings were included in the report. 
Using calculations based on the Carbon Trust Empower Tool, Green Impact is creating some pretty significant changes, not just a team level but also to carbon emissions and financial cost. Some of them are as follows:

1. Reduction in paper consumption has resulted in 25,056 kgs of carbon saving and £9,280 in costs saving.

2. Hundreds of staff have been reached to ensure they are turning off all personal PCs, potentially saving 14,355 kgs of carbon and £2,250 in costs. (assuming everyone put in practice)

3. After summing all costs saving and carbon saving, we reach the amounts of £14,675 in costs and 47,660 kgs of carbon savings.

We have also received some fantastic feedback from Student Environmental Auditors. The student auditors were able to develop transferable skills such as team-working, communication and observation in their IEMA-approved training. Student auditors also noted how exciting it was to see environmental actions being undertaken at the university first-hand. Some quotes from student auditors at Leeds Beckett this year are below: 

“I felt so proud to be studying in a university where the staff goes the extra mile (volunteering their time) to care about the environment. That's really inspiring.” 

“It makes me feel good to know that there are efforts like the green impact to teach and encourage us to be more green. I enjoyed the experience and hope there are more who would participate.” 

Not to forget the memorable Green Impact Awards dinner where teams received their prizes. We hosted the event in a private event-venue at Aspire in town.