One of the things I do when I'm not doing my actual PhD research (which probably occurs more often than it should), is form part of my research institute's 'Green Impact' team.
Green Impact is an environmental accreditation and awards scheme run by the UK's National Union of Students and involves over 100 unions across the UK. Our team at the Grantham Research Institute was awarded gold for the 2011-12 year, but we were determined to work harder and come top and get the platinum level. However, only one department per university can be awarded platinum and LSE's Estates team had won it every previous year, so we had a lot of work to do!
However, throwing our dignity away, we did all sorts of things like silly videos about recycling and not wasting water (too embarrassing to be published here I'm afraid), donning trackpants and gloves and spending time gardening and pulling weeds as part of a community engagement project, and a running and pedometer challenge to reduce our energy footprint.
And it worked! We won platinum and beat Estates, and also won the award for best energy saving idea. That was my idea for a challenge to inspire people to turn off their computer monitors overnight, and so we now have a £30 voucher for a local vegetarian restaurant to spend - yum!
So, a bit of a skite, but it's really rewarding to get recognition for all our hard work.
Green Impact is an environmental accreditation and awards scheme run by the UK's National Union of Students and involves over 100 unions across the UK. Our team at the Grantham Research Institute was awarded gold for the 2011-12 year, but we were determined to work harder and come top and get the platinum level. However, only one department per university can be awarded platinum and LSE's Estates team had won it every previous year, so we had a lot of work to do!
However, throwing our dignity away, we did all sorts of things like silly videos about recycling and not wasting water (too embarrassing to be published here I'm afraid), donning trackpants and gloves and spending time gardening and pulling weeds as part of a community engagement project, and a running and pedometer challenge to reduce our energy footprint.
And it worked! We won platinum and beat Estates, and also won the award for best energy saving idea. That was my idea for a challenge to inspire people to turn off their computer monitors overnight, and so we now have a £30 voucher for a local vegetarian restaurant to spend - yum!
So, a bit of a skite, but it's really rewarding to get recognition for all our hard work.
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| Grantham's Green Impact team with the LSE School Secretary |
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