Switch to a renewable energy provider

Look into the possibility of switching to a renewable energy provider. Snap a picture of your switching confirmation or the lack of providers for your area.

Save water

You can save water at home on the following activities:

1. Brushing teeth
2. Showers
3. Doing dishes
4. Laundry etc

Use chemical free laundry detergent

You can try using Soap Nuts or chemical free powder for your laundry. Great for your skyn and for the oceans! Snap a picture of your replacement. Not sure what Soap Nuts are? Watch this:

Reduce your waste volume

You can do this by shopping without packaging, repurposing and donating. Snap a picture.

Compost

Show us that you compost your food scraps. There are a few scenarios that can take place here:

• Your concil does collects the food
• You have your own compost in your garden/allotment
• You are using a shared compost facility (neighbours or community gardens)
• You have a wormery
• You have tried everything but can`t find anywhere to take your compost to :(

Prevent food waste

Show us that you are mindful about food waste and are taking steps to make sure that this kept to a minimum. You can do this by making shopping lists in order to avoid impulse buying. You can also use apps like OLIO for your surplus food. Take a shot of your way of preventing food waste.

Declutter

"Clutter is bad for your physical and mental health" Lynne Gilberg, professional organizer. Can you donate or sell the items you are no longer making use of? I use a very simple rule: If I haven`t used it in a year, it`s definitely going! Before and After pictures will work great here. Have fun! If you`re not sure where to start, whatch this for inspiration:

Grow your own

Do you grow any veggies, berries or herbs? Show `em off! Pottet herbs are great for any kitchen, big or small, and will end up much cheaper too!

Buy in Bulk

Can you find shops that sell bulk items? You can start off by using the Bulk locator app Buying in bulk reduces packaging waste and there`s a whole movement on this subject called: Zero Waste lifestyle. Thousands of people are aspiring to this lifestyle and it`s all about avoiding packaging. You can easily start off with Farmers Markets, Lush and Wholefoods shops +many others. Show us your finds.

Refuse plastic straws

"Can I please have a gin and tonic, no straw please!" Show us your glamorous cocktails or soda ;)

Refuse plastic bags

Make a habit of taking a tote bag anywhere you go - you never know when you`ll be tempted to pop in a shop. Can you take a pic of your groceries in reusable bags?

Tap water

We are blessed with drinking water here in the UK and should be grateful for it. Show us how you avoid buying bottled water. Check out the vide below:

Offset flights

Are you a frequent flyer? Did you consider offsetting your flights? One solution here but many other options out there.

Let your colleagues know that you are a Sustainability Rep/Champion

Communication is key. Make sure your colleagues know that you are a Sustainability Rep/Champ and that you should be their first point of contact on anything environmental related. You could send a departmental email, announce it at team meetings or put up a poster (kitchen noticeboard, near the printer etc)

Mini induction for new colleagues

When someone new starts in your team/department, make sure to introduce yourself and explain your role as a Susty Rep. Go through the recycling and switiching off basics (computer, monitors and lights) and any upcoming events. Ask if they`d be interested in becoming a rep themselves.

Promote the Jewellery Recycling sheme

We are collecting old/broken/unwanted jewellery for recycling with the Friends of the Earth charity. Details can be found on their website: https://www.foe.co.uk/page/recycle-old-jewellery

Promote the recycling of small, personal electronics

A collection bank for small electronics is located on the side of Russell Sq Park, opposite IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)

Energy Fairy Campaign

The Energy Fairy (you) will reward colleagues who turn off their monitors at the end of the day. This can be done on Fridays for maximum savings. At the end of the day, you will go round and check on the monitors of colleagues who left. If the monitor and computer are off, leave them a candy/chocolate on their desk (maybe with a note to say thank you for turning off). While you`re at it, you can of course turn off anything that was left on.If you`d like a bit of help or have any questions on how to run this, please get in touch. We can help sourcing some chocolate as well!

Promote Cycle Scheme staff benefit

Find out from HR what Cycle Scheme/s do we have in place and promote this with colleagues or keep the information handy in case anyone wants to know at some point.

Create a team - Lead a Green team

Can you create a team of people that will help you run/promote sustainability events/initiatives? If you represent a small team, maybe you can join forces with other teams near you.

Host a stationery amnesty

Surplus of stationery is a common issue in most departments (for us it`s envelopes!). Items that are no longer needed or have been out of use for a while could be posted on Warp-it (the re-use network for universities). BBK and LSHTm are using this network already. SOAS could rehome these items through SU - students are quite happy with free stationarey. Get in touch with any questions.

Discourage personal printers

If you`ve ever had a personal printer, you might have noticed how tempting it is to just print stuff out without thinking too much about it. All departments that have given this up and switched for a big communal printer have seen reductions in printing. Can you convince colleagues who still have personal printers to give them up?

Promote the good stuff

If your department is doing very well already and you feel there`s not much that you can improve on, then let`s focus on the great things you already do. Come up with ideas to promote and encourage the efforts your colleagues are putting in. Get in touch, I`m sure we can help!

Departmental events

Ensure that any departmental events (Xmas party, conference etc) have sustainability embeded into their organizing and planning phases. Examples can include:

• no disposables to be used for serving food/drinks
• seasonal fruit and vegg
• make the defauls option vegetarian with opt in for meat
• order a bit less food than number of particiapants

Promote the energy saving targets in your department

This can be done through emails, meetings or posters. Support and resources will be provided.

Recycling campaign

Conduct an internal audit of your bins and waste segregation (ideally over a week). A few questions to ask yourself:

• Do we have enough/too many bins in our area?
• Is it clear how waste should be segregated?
• Is the recycling contaminated? -by what? (eg. food)

Food waste

If food waste collected separtatelly? If yes, that`s great! - just check the food caddie regularly and make sure there is no contamination. If not, email your estates team and/or waste manager and ask what are the plans for this to be introduced.

RE-use schemes

Promote the re-use schemes such as Warp-it (BBK and LSHTM). SOAS to find alternative solutions for re-use of items.

Sustainability events

Sustainability team will run events throughout the year. Get involved in the organization of these, help out on the day and promote the events in your team/department.

Greenthing brand

Engage with the Greenthing brand online (Website and Twitter) and help us by sharing any relevant content for the intranet and newsletters. You can do this by sharing information in your department, putting up posters and interacting with us on social media.

Let your colleagues know that you are a Sustainability Rep/Champion

Communication is key. Make sure your colleagues know that you are a Sustainability Rep/Champ and that you should be their first point of contact on anything environmental related. You could send a departmental email, announce it at team meetings or put up a poster (kitchen noticeboard, near the printer etc)

Mini induction for new colleagues

When someone new starts in your team/department, make sure to introduce yourself and explain your role as a Susty Rep. Go through the recycling and switiching off basics (computer, monitors and lights) and any upcoming events. Ask if they`d be interested in becoming a rep themselves.

Promote the Jewellery Recycling sheme

We are collecting old/broken/unwanted jewellery for recycling with the Friends of the Earth charity. Details can be found on their website: https://www.foe.co.uk/page/recycle-old-jewellery

Promote the recycling of small, personal electronics

A collection bank for small electronics is located on the side of Russell Sq Park, opposite IALS (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)

Energy Fairy Campaign

The Energy Fairy (you) will reward colleagues who turn off their monitors at the end of the day. This can be done on Fridays for maximum savings. At the end of the day, you will go round and check on the monitors of colleagues who left. If the monitor and computer are off, leave them a candy/chocolate on their desk (maybe with a note to say thank you for turning off). While you`re at it, you can of course turn off anything that was left on.If you`d like a bit of help or have any questions on how to run this, please get in touch. We can help sourcing some chocolate as well!

Promote Cycle Scheme staff benefit

Find out from HR what Cycle Scheme/s do we have in place and promote this with colleagues or keep the information handy in case anyone wants to know at some point.

Create a team - Lead a Green team

Can you create a team of people that will help you run/promote sustainability events/initiatives? If you represent a small team, maybe you can join forces with other teams near you.

Host a stationery amnesty

Surplus of stationery is a common issue in most departments (for us it`s envelopes!). Items that are no longer needed or have been out of use for a while could be posted on Warp-it (the re-use network for universities). BBK and LSHTm are using this network already. SOAS could rehome these items through SU - students are quite happy with free stationarey. Get in touch with any questions.

Discourage personal printers

If you`ve ever had a personal printer, you might have noticed how tempting it is to just print stuff out without thinking too much about it. All departments that have given this up and switched for a big communal printer have seen reductions in printing. Can you convince colleagues who still have personal printers to give them up?

Promote the good stuff

If your department is doing very well already and you feel there`s not much that you can improve on, then let`s focus on the great things you already do. Come up with ideas to promote and encourage the efforts your colleagues are putting in. Get in touch, I`m sure we can help!

Departmental events

Ensure that any departmental events (Xmas party, conference etc) have sustainability embeded into their organizing and planning phases. Examples can include:

• no disposables to be used for serving food/drinks
• seasonal fruit and vegg
• make the defauls option vegetarian with opt in for meat
• order a bit less food than number of particiapants