Celebrating a Green Impact across our campuses
Wendy Raeside
University of Kent :
Kent has celebrated the sixth successful year of its Green Impact programme - a milestone described by Environmental Adviser Dr Catherine Morris.
Our sixth anniversary was celebrated at a ceremony in April attended by over 70 students and staff, who have made a positive shift towards environmentally responsible behaviour in the workplace.
This year, we had 31 Green Impact teams, reaching over 850 staff and completing almost 1,500 actions. Twenty six students have also been trained to help teams with their greening activities as either Green Impact project assistants or auditors.
For the first time, teams had complete freedom to pick and choose actions from the online workbook, covering topics such as Waste & Recycling and Energy Saving. Awards were gained by accruing points from the workbook, based on ease of implementation and potential benefit. Fifty points were needed to achieve Bronze, 100 for Silver and 150 for Gold.
Green Action Week
Dr Jonathan Friday, Master of Darwin and Woolf Colleges, with Laura Heintz – Sustainable Behaviours Assistant – Estates
Most departments taking part celebrated a Green Action Week in early February with each day themed around one of the sections of the workbook. Sustainable Behaviours Assistant Laura Heintz came up with fun ways in which teams could fulfil the criteria during the week.
Schemes such as Secret Plant-A, where people swapped desk plants, and meat-free Monday picnics proved especially popular and many teams were able to achieve Bronze and even Silver in just that one week.
Excellence Projects
‘Tree of Life’ – Estates Logistics Team
A bonus 30 points was available to any team who designed and began implementing their own ‘excellence’ project. Teams were free to develop any project as long as it supported sustainability on campus, which inspired some wonderful creativity.
These included:
- Finance – The Green Plant Plan
- Gulbenkian Support – Sustainable Lighting
- Development Office – Food bank
- Ecotastic – Recycling
- Estates Emeralds – Biodiversity Garden
- EMS – Paper reduction campaign
- Kent Enterprise Hub – Plant pot competition
- Green Politics – Free Swap Shop
- Grounds Maintenance – Campus garden
- Chasing the paper – Worm farm
- Recycling your waste – Tree of Life
- Medway Student Services – Biodiversity Garden
- Project Office – Fruit Bowl
- SHE Unit – Wildlife Walks
- UELT – Creative Campus
- Cleaning and Waste Green Team – Awards Tree
“The idea of the free Swap Shop was to encourage recycling of one’s possessions instead of constantly buying new clothes, which has a negative environmental and also human rights impact. ”
~ Green Politics
Champion of Champions Award
Dr Jonathan Friday with Lynne Regan – Medway Student Services
To mark Green Impact’s sixth anniversary, we also decided to recognise the achievements of teams who have been involved from the start with a special Champion of Champions Award, which we presented to the Medway Student Services team.
Medway Student Services have taken part in Green Impact since 2011 and improved each year, starting with a Silver award and progressing to Gold and to overall winners in 2013. Last year, they were one of three teams to complete an Excellence Project and are putting the finishing touches to a beautiful biodiversity garden at Medway.
Lynne Regan has been the driving force behind the team’s success and won the overall Environmental Hero Award in 2012. Her commitment to environmental sustainability has not gone unnoticed by the University and she has been appointed an internal auditor for our Environmental Management System.
“We joined Green Impact in 2010/11 and in our first year achieved the Silver Award… and we were hooked!… What has made our journey so easy has been the total commitment of the entire department.”
~ Medway Student Services
Green Impact award-winners 2014/2015
| Award | Winners |
| Champions of Champions | Lynne Regan and Medway Student Service |
| Champions of Champions (Runner-Up) | Clare Delf and Enrolment Management Services |
| Gold (Departments with Excellence) | Design and Print (‘Ecotastic’), Development Office, Estates Emeralds, Enrolment Management Services, Kent Enterprise Hub, Medway Student Services, Estates Project Office, SHE Unit, UELT, |
| Gold (Schools with Excellence) | Green Politics |
| Gold (Other with Excellence) | Grounds Maintenance, Estates – Chasing the Paper, Estates – Recycling your Waste, Estates – Cleaning and Waste Green Team |
| Gold (Departments) | Estates Finance (‘Green Harem’), International Development |
| Gold (Schools) | SMSAS (‘Green Horizons) |
| Gold (Catering) | Rutherford Catering |
| Gold (Labs) | SPS (‘Science Rangers’) |
| Silver (with Excellence) | Finance, Gulbenkian Support |
| Silver (Departments) | Kent Sport |
| Silver (Schools) | SSPSSR Students (‘Easy Greens’) |
| Silver (Catering) | Darwin Kitchen, Dolche Vita, Gulbenkian Catering |
| Bronze (Departments) | Planning and Business Information Office |
| Bronze (Catering) | Flying Squad, Origins, Cargo Bar |
| Best Team | SSPSSR Students (‘Easy Greens’) |
| Best Team (Runner-Up) | Estates – Cleaning and Waste Green Team |
| Environmental Hero | Sophie Everett (Development Office) |
| Environmental Hero (Runner-Up) | Tim Pryor (Estates) |
At the ceremony, each award-winner was presented with their certificate in a frame made from recycled wood. Winners of the special awards will also have their own engraved brick in the University’s 50th Anniversary Footsteps Project.
Highlight of the ceremony was the unveiling of the Green Impact Awards Tree, with leaves cut from an old waste-filing cabinet. The tree – on display this summer in the Registry building – was created by Emma Heydon and Michelle Gill, Kevin Smith, Sam Westbury and Estates Maintenance Staff.
Find out more about how you can get involved in Green Impact at the University