BSU ENVIRONMENT NEWS

Why recycling worksSee the journey our recycling takes to go full circle

Crazy for compost Find out why we’ve bought a Rocket

Green Focus Challenge Join our new campaign to make a difference!

Tony Dewberry Memorial AwardNew award for student environmental projects

Oct 2010

Going crazy for compostWe have to admit we are now total composting converts. This is all due to the delivery of our brand spanking new super-composter called the Rocket!

The Rocket is a magnificent machine. While the pile of leaves in your garden can take months to tranform into useable compost, the Rocket churns out lovely highly nutritious material in just two weeks.

The Rocket is taking all the food waste from @Moreton’s kitchens, which used to get flushed down our drains. Now instead it can be put to good use right here onsite.

Once the food is inside, the temperature is kept at 60-70oc, whilst a mixing auger turns once an hour, acting like a giant wooden spoon. The rest of the process is left to nature, with aerobic bacteria breaking the food down.

Because the process is fully enclosed (called in-vessel composting, or IVC), we can even include cooked foods and meats, and there are no problems with pests or vermin.

The stable temperature is key to making sure the food is broken down enough to destroy any pathogens - this makes it safe to spread on the ground, and ensures we comply with the Animal By-Products Regulations.

With the Rocket we expect to compost around 45 tons of food waste a year, increasing recycling rates and also saving approx 25 tons of CO2 compared to landfill disposal.

“Food waste composting represents a great step towards real sustainability”

Recycling worksWe separate materials in clear bags to keep them clean, ensuring they can be reliably reprocessed and are a valuable product.

If we mixed everything together it would spoil the quality of some recycling (e.g. baked bean juice all over the cardboard), causing‘contamination’ and meaning the recycling may have to go to landfill.

You can recycle:•Paper•Cans & tins•Glass•Plastic bottles & cups•Cardboard•Clothing•Batteries•Tetrapak drinks cartons

We our currently recycling over 60% of our waste - help us raise it to 70% this year.

Memorial award creates lasting legacyThis year sees the launch of a new award for student environmental projects, in memory of Tony Dewberry, the much-loved Deputy Vice Chancellor who passed away earlier this year.

Tony was passionate about protecting the beautiful environment at Bath Spa, and the memorial award carries on this legacy. Open to all students, the £5000 award fund will support three student-led environmental projects which will have a lasting impact on the environment and local community.

Students can submit applications for projects which:•involvestudentsinthedelivery;•benefittheUniversityorlocalcommunity;•havelong-lastingenvironmentalbenefits;•promotetheUniversitypositively.

Enterprising students should also look out for the Bath Spa Environmental Solutions Awards. Aimed at teams of students, this will reward creative and imaginative ideas for addressing important environmental issues.

Students involved in either award will have the opportunity to explore issues surrounding our negative impacts on the environment, be creative, and develop their teamwork skills.

InterestedstudentsshouldcontacttheSUorvisitwww.bathspasu.co.uk/eco for details of how to take part.

New express bus ‘Spa 2’ Those of you who catch the bus to Uni should take note that from the start of term the buses are changing. The traditional 418 service will now be called ‘Spa 1’, and will follow the same route through Newbridge, Lower Bristol Road and Lower Oldfield Park.

The ‘Spa 2’ replaces the 419 and is an express service running directly to the city centre along Lower Bristol Road. Both services will call at bus stops near to Waterside & Charlton Courts - the Spa 1 at the Windsor Bridge stop, and the Spa 2 at the Lansdowne View stop on Lower Bristol Road itself.

ThetimetablehasbeendesignedtofitinbetterwithUniversityschedules,sothatbusesshould arrive in good time for morning lectures. Buying a season ticket can save money on dailytickets–seasonticketsareavailablefromtheSUshop,andthere’sa£10discountonthe autumn term pass. Ticket prices have also been frozen at last year’s level - Hurrah!

You’re our green superstars

You have been telling us about your great ideas to reduce your environmental footprint. Here are just a few of them:

The newly refurbished library at Newton Park now has photocopiers that can print double-sided. This will be cheaper than printing two single sides, making it a bonus on every level - reducing paper use, reducing waste, and saving students money.

Student Support Services have managed to drastically cut their paper use simply by making small changes. This has saved the department over £17000, which we think you’ll agree is not to be sniffed at.

The School of Art and Design have been issuing student handbooks on reusable memory sticks instead of paper for a while now. With around 200 students joining each year, that’s saved 3000 sheets of paper.

The School of Music and Performing Arts introduced an online equipment loan system last September to replace the rather antiquated carbon-copy paper system. With the online system they don’t use any paper, and as they had 2500 loans over last year, they’ve saved 5000 sheets of paper!

“We are thrilled to have had such a positive effect, not only in increasing efficiency but also saving lots of trees!”

And finally, by putting payroll slips onto the Hub instead of on paper, Finance no longer need to print out over 600 pay slips each month, which adds up to over 7000 sheets of paper a year.

Keep up the good work, and read on to see how the Green Focus Challenge can reward your efforts...

Making paper a thing of the past in MPA

Roll up for the Green Focus Challenge!

We are on the verge of launching an exciting new scheme designed to reward staff for taking simple actions that help our environment.

The ‘Green Focus Challenge’ will run from October to June each year, and will give everybodythechancetomakeadifferencetotheUniversity’senvironmentalimpacts.The eight steps in the challenge will encourage departments to make improvements, and reward actions they’re already doing. The early steps are easier, and some teams will be able to tick these off straight away. For others it will show how simple it is to get involved.

Departments that make it all the way to the top will be rewarded with a share of a prize fund to use as they wish, either to invest in resources for their department or other areas ofinterestintheUniversity.Thefundwillbeallocatedfairlybetweendepartmentsofdif-fering sizes.

We will also have a ‘league table’ on our website for all those who have signed up to the challenge, allowing you to bask in the glory, and encouraging those who haven’t yet signed up to join us. Further details about the challenge, how to register, and the support and training on offer will be emailed to all staff later on this month.

Brilliant BREEAM buildingsDid you visit the exhibition of the proposed redevelopment at Newton Park? Then you’ll have seen the plans to make the Phase 1 academic building BREEAM Excellent. Which means, erm......what exactly?!

BREEAM is the most widely used standard for measuring a buiding’s environmental performance. It sets best practice for a range of sustainability criteria, with points attained in each area adding up to an overall score of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent or Outstanding.

We have set our sights on achieving the Excellent standard, which means addressing the following issues during the design stages:

•Health&wellbeingofoccupants;•Efficientenergyuse;•Encouragesustainabletransport;•Minimisewateruse;•Materials used and waste produced

duringconstruction;•LanduseandEcology;•Prevent pollution.

Reaching this high standard isn’t going to be a piece of cake. Its not only about limiting the negative impacts a building could have, but taking opportunities to enhance the positive. Such measures will reduce the environmental impact as well as make the building a pleasant working environment.

TheUniversityhasrecentlyadoptedabenevolent approach to waste disposal, donating a large amount of furniture it no longer needs to local schools.

It has always been difficult to find a sustainable disposal option for furniture – charities are usually only interested in home furnushings – and inevitably large amounts had to be sent to landfill.

For most of us the scale of this waste is of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but the Domestic Services team get to see it all…and they decided enough was enough.

Through an inspired idea by Mick Tarran to contact the procurement manager at BANES, we have been able to donate over 25 chairs, 33 filing cabinets/shelves, and 25 desks to primary schools at Wellow, Widcombe and Widmore, as well as Ralph Allen and Culverhay. This was of course after offering the items to others departmentsinBSUviatheWiki.

Giving local schools a helping hand

We have also re-homed over 75 computers with local charities. An upgrade of the computers in the open access rooms will ensure that students have access to the fastest and most up-to-date facilities, but it left us with a problem ... what to do with all the old PCs?!

When we contacted local charities to see if they would be interested, they bit our hands off.

Julian House and Bath Alcohol & Drug Advisory Service have been amongst the first recipients, and we hope to help out many more charities in future as more PCs are upgraded.