Sustainability

Central Initiatives

Introduction of recycling facilities

Until recently the University only provided limited facilities for recycling paper and cardboard. However, when a new waste management contract was negotiated in July 2007 an opportunity was provided to introduce many more recycling facilities. Facilities now exist to recycle the following:

  • Paper
  • Aluminium & Steel Cans
  • Plastic
  • Paper cups
  • Cardboard
  • Aluminium Foil
  • Toner cartridges

Recycling stations are being set up across the University. For more details please contact Domestic Services on extension 2235 or visit our recycling pages.

Copier Paper

The University is currently trialling recycled copier paper in an attempt to find one that is suitable for our needs. The trial has indicated that staff can see very little difference between the 80% recycled paper and the standard paper that is made from 100% virgin pulp. It is hoped that this new paper will be introduced in the Trinity term. For more information please contact the Design & Print Unit on extension 2283.

Fairtrade

In 2007 Canterbury Christ Church University achieved Fairtrade status. in recognition of the University’s efforts to encourage staff and students to buy Fairtrade products the profits from which contribute to tackling world poverty. Full details of this may be found on the Hospitality webpages.

Green Transport - Reducing our Carbon Footprint

Guidance notes have been produced to suggest ways in which departments could reduce their carbon footprint when travelling for work-relates reasons. Although this is not officially a University policy it is recommended that environmental issues are considered whenever staff travel is discussed.

Energy

The University's Energy Policy seeks to formalise our commitment to energy efficiency following the Department of the Environment’s ‘Making a Corporate Commitment’ campaign, and the HEFCE Management Review Guide (May 1996) ‘Energy Management Study in the Higher Education Sector’.

The policy is devised to: reduce consumption of energy and water, with consequent reductions in expenditure; protect the environment and prolong the availability of fossil fuels whilst alternative sustainable energy sources are developed; and to raise awareness of the impact that the University has on the environment and to recognise the need to reduce that impact.

You can download a copy of the University's energy management policy from our Links & Downloads page.

Medway

The Medway campus is working hard with colleagues from across the CCCU campus network to move towards becoming more environmentally aware.

Along with other campuses, a new waste disposal regime has recently been introduced with much more waste being recycled with a much smaller proportion going to landfill. In addition, staff are being encouraged to use the double sided function on the photocopier and only print out documents when absolutely necessary.

The Sustainable Development Committee has recently agreed to part fund the introduction of a car share initiative for the Universities at Medway and it is hoped that this will be up and running very soon.

Funding has been requested for planting a natural species hedge. It is hoped that this will help off set some of the traffic emissions on the adjacent road and also provide a good habitat for local wildlife.

New Photocopier Fleet

The University has recently entered into a new contract for the provision and maintenance of photocopiers. The new supplier, Canon, were in part selected due to their excellent stance on sustainable development. They are ISO14001 accredited which means they have complied with a strict series of criteria which ensure their impact on the environment is minimised.

The new equipment that has been installed is very energy efficient in comparison to previous generations of photocopier. For example, a standard copier would use only 3 watts in standby mode compared with nearly 700 watts used by previous models.

As well as using more efficient machines the University has also arranged to set up all equipment to double-side all copies by default. Although users can still select single-siding if they wish to, it is hoped that this initiative could save over a two million sheets of paper a year.

For more information please contact the Purchasing Office on extension 2792.

Greening Student Teacher Transport to Schools

During the summer of 2006 a decision was made to encourage students to carry out teaching placements nearer to home addresses and to cancel the routine use of University coaches and minibuses for transport to schools. This has important environmental benefits and fits with the University’s policy of limiting the environmental impacts caused by its core activities. This has also led to a wider participation from our partnership of schools in Essex, Greater London, Hertfordshire and West and East Sussex. Students were invited to use accommodation provided in Hastings and London. Where possible, students with cars were placed so that car sharing was encouraged. Trains and buses were widely used for local and more distant journeys. More than 55% of students were placed within a ten mile radius of their chosen home addresses.

The benefits to both the environment and students have been good. Less time was spent travelling relatively short distances and opportunities to work in schools near home addresses increased their chances of obtaining teaching posts in areas of choice (e.g. Essex offered teaching posts to thirty one of our graduate teachers for September ’06).

The University has benefited tremendously from the involvement of our ‘new’ partnership schools. Our students have been good ambassadors in these schools since most have offered to host our students once more during this current academic year.

Although this arrangement has required University tutors to cover wider areas to assess and moderate our students’ progress in schools, every effort has been made to ensure that tutors work in schools as close as possible to their home areas.

This improvement in the “greenness” of our teaching placement policy relies heavily on the cooperation and good will of our students. Students have reported that they enjoy being able to walk or cycle to school placements. Students living in some areas have offered to car share to local schools; this only used to happen from Canterbury but it now occurs from Tunbridge Wells, Chatham, Ashford, Maidstone and Hastings.

Further developments need to be established to improve this evolving transport system. The costs of using public transport during the ‘rush hours’ are considerable. Currently, students have to pay large amounts of money on train fares at peak travel times. Perhaps it could be arranged that students on school placements use their rail card for reduced fares? Perhaps local bus companies would allow students travelling to school placements to obtain the £50 annual unlimited travel tickets that are available to local secondary school pupils?

Cycle to Work Scheme

The University is now part of a government scheme which can save you money on the purchase of a new bike to cycle to work. Full details on the scheme are shown on the Human Resources website.