The SU has achieved an ‘Excellent’ rating for the NUS Green Impact Award. The award measures how the SU has been working on sustainable initiatives throughout the year. Following our ‘Good’ rating in 2020, officers, staff and student groups have been working hard on a variety of campaigns and activities to improve this rating, including holding a climate protest earlier this year.
Some of our highlights from this year include:
- Donating 255 trees in Plant Your Vote
- Selling thousands of kitchenware items at the second-hand sale
- Successfully lobbied to make Ecosia the primary search engine on University computers
- Ran swap shops and a sport kit resale
- Ran volunteering projects planting trees, collecting litter and share and repair cafes
- Swapped disposable plastic cups with reusable ones in the bar and at Varsity and Summer Ball
- Ran a Green Week which was completely supported by student groups and Exec members
It’s not all about the rating. We are proud to be committed to sustainability and reducing the negative effects that we, as an organisation have on the planet. We are very fortunate to have passionate student leaders who are dedicated to achieving the same goals.
Green Impact said: “It's hard to summarise so many achievements but some highlights are: redistributing 45 crates of kitchenware in Fresher's Week, getting Ecosia to be the default search engine across campus, moving all merchandise to ethical suppliers and having meaningful community partnerships. This was obviously a team effort so a huge well done to all involved!”
SU Activities Officer, Viktor, commented “I'm delighted that the University of Bath Students' Union has been awarded 'Excellent' by the NUS Green Impact Award. We are so lucky to have so many groups interested in Sustainability. I want to congratulate all student groups, staff and fellow officers who worked toward this achievement. I'm looking forward to an exciting new year and many more sustainability campaigns to come.”
The SU will continue to work on sustainable initiatives this year to uphold our ‘Excellent’ rating, and most importantly, do our bit to save the planet.