The ‘Green’ League
I am impressed to read that Manchester Metropolitan University are making big steps forward towards reducing their carbon footprint. They have apparently jumped 24 places up the ‘Green University Tables’ following the implementation of a whole host of measures to get the Uni back on the sustainable track. Including:
- recruited a carbon reduction manager
- begun integrating sustainability learning into staff induction programmes
- spent tens of thousands on water conservation
- signed the national ‘Green Education Declaration’
- run a Zero Waste Week to recycle tonnes of items left in halls of residence
Very impressive and a pat on the back deserved! They also have plans for a new whizzy Business School/Student hub which they claim will the greenest building in Manchester when it opens in 2011.
A quote by Prof John Brookes the VC struck me as the point of all this and which I totally agree with: “Reducing our carbon footprint is not simply about recycling, it is about changing our culture,”
That is what we at JISC have to do, change our culture, if we are ever going to even begin to shave a few inches off the probably very big JISC carbon footprint. I hope that more Universities and likewise conference venues etc. start to think about the future in this way. Who knows, maybe the Green University Table might become something of great importance in the future and the ‘greenness’ of Universities starts to figure in the prospective students choice of institution. How green a University is will also surely help their credentials as the pressure of international competition turns on.
Incidentally Leeds Met tops the table, with Plymouth and Hertfordshire following in hot pursuit. The ‘Green League’ table was actually created by People & Planet a student action group campaigning against poverty, human rights and the environment. I am proud to say I was a member whilst a student! It actually makes interesting reading and I have to admit did not know that it existed: http://peopleandplanet.org/greenleague
Their main point behind the exercise is to try to get institutions, governments and businesses to take responsibility for their impact on the environment. If they don’t, they say, no matter what we do as individuals, we will never reduce our ecological footprint to sustainable levels. A scary thought. So come on all you institutions, pull your green fingers out! Shame on all those in the Fail category!
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