Sustainability on campus
Every year we complete the Green Impact which is an accreditation from NUS. Where we showcase all the campaigns and schemes we use to promote green initatives and encourage people to live a little more sustainably.
As well as helping you lower your carbon footprint, save money and keep healthy, our campaigns and green swaps help students in becoming aware of the sustainable choices we offer including free bike hire, a campus link bus, our SHHH bus, and deals on hot drinks with your reusable cup which you can purchase from Beats, Pulse or Basin.
We also work with several local charities who advertise a variety of green opportunities to get involved with. This includes gardening club at Wycombe Museum, food sorting at One Can Trust, local litter picks and Booker Common.
You also can help by donating any unwanted or unloved bras to our Bra Bank, so they can be recycled and raise vital money for pioneering breast cancer research instead of ending up in a landfill. You can also help Beauty Banks put an end to hygiene poverty with our Give To Refresh Campaign, in conjunction with the University. To donate bras and beauty products or recylce your batteries, visit our Donation Station on the ground floor, North Wing at the High Wycombe Campus.
If you're looking to pick up something new for your student flat, pop in to Bucks New Usage and help us create a circular economy on campus.
We started the academic year with our sustainability survey and based on what you all said, we are aiming to improve Green spaces and Biodiversity in at Halls and around the university. We will be looking at bringing a green community space into the halls for everyone to enjoy and get involved with maintaining. Keep an eye out on the website for more exciting updates.
Green Spaces Survey results (Excel file)
For more information, or to get invovled in any of our green initiatives, please email volunteering@bnu.ac.uk.
Updates
This year your Green ambassadors are Beau Cooke and Yaovi Steeve Lodina.
Beau and Steve are passionate about the environment and want to make the BNU campus's appealing to all.
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This year our Green Campaign is waste management. We are promoting the recycling bins on campus including the new food specific waste bins, in Beeches and The Lounge.
We have changed the posters in our accomodations to include recycling in the everyday lives of our members.
During this week we will be having people encouraging the use of the correct waste in bins and we will be having and external partner Grundon coming in to discuss waste management and win some prizes.
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2023/24 - Campaigns
Bucks does Biodiversity was our Green week Campaign to promote the effects of biodiversity in our everyday lives. Events were held to make Bug and Bee houses from recyclable materials. We have made Wild Flower bombs and placed them in areas to promote growth around the university.
During Green Week last academic year, Jack ran a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of buying preloved instead of buying new. Project Preloved aimed to highlight how buying preloved items can save the items ending up in landfill before the end of their life and allowing someone else to keep using it and support a circular economy. We reminded students that Bucks New Usage was there for them to pick up a new-to-them homeware item for free, if they needed it. There was also a pop-up stall to help students recycle and repurpose any jewellery items that needed a bit of a refresh. Any jewellwery that was beyond saving, we then made new pieces of jewellery. We hosted a swap shop for students to bring in any unwanted clothes and take away anything they may like.
This year Lucy and Bianca will be going back to Project Preloved. This time we are going bigger and better, Project Preloved will run for the month of April. We will be bringing in Charity shops for a pop up shop's, repairing jewellery, we will be promoting Bucks New Usage and more exciting events through out the month. Keep an eye on the Whats on Page.
This year our sports captains have been wearing the rainbow armbands and laces as an ongoing pledge against discrimination within any sport.
During Student Volunteer Week, we had students and staff enjoying the activities provided. We planted strawberry, chilli and cucumber seeds with clubs and societies.
We decorated reusable tote shopping bags for RAG, made anti-anxiety bracelets and men’s rugby went to the oldest equine rescue centre to help with the maintenance of the grounds and barns.
Impact Assessment
Although it’s called Green Impact, it’s not just about planting trees or getting your recycling in order, sustainability is a lot more than that, touching on issues of equality, community, curriculum reform, campaigning and much more. Our vision is that through sustainability initiatives on campus alongside the content of the taught curriculum, students will graduate from higher education being equipped to deal with the global challenges we currently face.
This Impact Assessment was carried out for the start of the academic year and details the Union's most signficant environmental impacts together with a plan as to how we will minimise our impact over the course of the next 12 months.
Bucks Students' Union Aspects and Impacts register
BSU SMART Goals