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Fairtrade

The University is committed to using, selling and promoting Fairtrade products through all its outlets. Fairtrade is all about getting better and safe farming working conditions, and for us high quality, ethically produced products. Check out our dedicated to learn more, and get involved with our annual  event, illustrating the importance of treating farmers fairly.

Ditch the Disposable

Did you know that 2.5 billion disposable cups are used every year in the UK? What’s worse is that less than 1% of them are recycled!

With an inner plastic sleeve, disposable cups are difficult to recycle and are a commonly contaminated item in recycling waste streams.  Individual actions do make a difference.

We have  at ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ; in Queen Mary (ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ) and Pilkington (Medway) and from 2018 plastic straws and stirrers were halted from circulation.  We are asking all students and staff to pledge to ditch their disposables and bring their own reusable cups. In total, we we go through around 250,000 disposable cups a year at ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ and with a discount (10p) our current reusable rate is 16% of total sales (the national average is under 10%).

Please remember to always bring your reusable cup. If you don’t have your own cup, do not worry, there is a variety to choose from at each outlet! Only £2.95. A couple of students also created an innovative idea, The , whereby the more sales in reusable cups, the bigger discounts for the collective.

Coffee Grounds

Don’t forget to check around the café, you may come across a small small signposted tray with bags of coffee grounds. Coffee grounds make excellent fertiliser for gardens, so please do take a bag or two. You can add the grounds to a compost bin or directly into the soil, and they can even help to keep the slugs and snails away. It may not seem much, but hundreds of bags will be used over the year, so this saves on waste and helps you to go organic in the garden.

Water Fountains

The University has water fountains installed around its campuses as well as free water stations in all catering outlets. Look at our campus maps for their location.

Campus Growing Spaces

You can ‘grow your own’ at Avery Hill’s Edible Garden. Students and staff and welcome to volunteer and learn how to grow fruit and veg, make friends get some exercise and fresh air. Interested? –  .

Our Stockwell Street building also has large fruit and vegetable gardens that are tended to by students and staff and is part of our .

We have beehives at all campuses with Avery Hill campus produced honey for sale at the Village Shop.

Look out for our orchard planted through support by the . It’s located across from the Edible Garden (below the tennis courts). Visit from July when the apple and pear and other fruits begin ripening. If you are interested in learning how to  then get in touch.

Make Your Change

As part of our  you can make a positive difference through actions to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the university’s catering. With the meat and dairy industry producing 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, cutting down on meat consumption can bring huge environmental benefits. Global meat consumption has risen by 600% since the 1950s compared with a 160% population increase.

A  carried out by Oxford University’s department of public health found that eating meat no more than three times a week could prevent 31,000 deaths from heart disease, 9,000 deaths from cancer and 5,000 deaths from stroke, as well as save the NHS £1.2 billion in costs each year.

If someone eating more than 100 grams of meat a day simply cut down to less than 50 grams a day, their food-related emissions would fall by a third. That would save almost a tonne of CO₂ each year, about as much as an economy return flight between London and New York.  ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ’s catering suppliers now provide a larger range of vegetarian and vegan options and partake in meat free days during Veganuary and Green Week.  So why not try a meat-free day and even that one portion will make a difference.