Engagement and Education for Sustainable Development

The Great British Spring Clean

On Friday 28 March, volunteer staff and students litter picked around Waterside Campus and the Development Hub as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, ‘The Great British Spring Clean.’  Suez, our waste contractors, also joined in and provided some gifts for the thank you goodie bags.  They included a recycled plastic water bottle and pen, pencil made of recycled newspapers & a free drinks voucher in a UON canvas tote bag for all those who took part.

“I had never litter picked before, and I found it really therapeutic!  It made me really look at the ground and pay attention to what was around me that shouldn’t be.  I picked up a few pieces of gum from the grass and thought to myself, wow, I’m really glad a bird or small mammal isn’t going to accidently choke on that now.”

We collected over 8 bags of rubbish, mostly from the Development Hub, and found that most litter collected was discarded cigarette ends on the ground, so we shall concentrate producing some comms around encouraging people to ‘bin their butts.’

Anglian Water & Hey Girls

Did you know disposable period pads have the same amount of plastic as five carrier bags and take around 800 years to break down in landfill?

On Tuesday 11 March, Anglian Water partnered with Hey Girls to bring free starter kits of sustainable period products to staff and students at UON.  Their community hub parked at Waterside Campus outside the Market where they spoke to people about how they can save money over a lifetime and how a sustainable switch can reduce the effect 4.6 million products flushed down UK toilets every day is having on our drains and our oceans.

200 Hey Girls Sustainable Period Packs were given away alongside Anglian Water’s Just Bin It Campaign information and other reusable products such as washable make up remover cloths.

Abi Wickes from Anglian Water said “We felt so well received by students, with people coming over to say they had heard we were on campus and were really happy to talk to use about unflushables and the other key messaging about Northampton being a hot spot for blockages in the town’s drainage system.  We had one lady say that tampons are flushable, and when we explained they’re not, she said she won’t be doing that anymore!”

We would like to thank Anglian Water and Hey Girls for holding the behaviour change campaign and the staff and students who came along to learn more about how we can be more sustainable with our period products and reduce the impact on our drains just by using the correct bins.

Waste & Recycling: Shrove Tuesday & Zero Waste Day

Dominic from Suez, our Waste Contractors, spoke to staff and students in the Market at Waterside about their recycling habits on Tuesday 25 February.  Suez’s ‘waste hierarchy’ promotes waste prevention and the 2 R’s – re-use and recycle.  Alongside some interesting giveaways such as a reusable cup made from sea plastic, Dominic explained the journey our recycling and food waste takes.

“I spoke to around 30 staff and students and they were really interested in the process once it leaves site, especially the anaerobic digestion.  Some people were really shocked that the cup was made from recycled plastic found in the sea and the pencils were old newspapers.”  But it wasn’t just our staff and students who learned something.  “One of the students told me that in her home country, they dry the peels of oranges and lemons to use as fire kindling!”

We would like to thank Suez for coming to campus and raising awareness around waste and recycling and we really hope to see a positive behaviour change in people thinking twice before they just throw their rubbish in the closest bin in a hurry!  Remember that you can save money by bringing your own reuseable cup or choosing a plate over a white box at The Market, The Ground and The Exchange… Save money, save the planet!

To find out more about our events, email environment@northampton.ac.uk

You can also follow the team on Instagram uon_sustainable to keep up to date with the exciting events we have planned and the variety of projects and activities taking place.

Anglian Water Campaign

In October 2024, Anglian Water visited Waterside Campus for 2 days to speak to students and staff about what lurks in our drains!  With a huge push away from “flushable” wipes, make up wipes and tipping food down the drain, Anglian Water and the Mad Scientist spoke over 200 people about the best way to combat blocked drains, fatbergs, and gave more sustainable alternatives available to us all.  Give away goodie bags contained leaflets, free make up cloths, spray to turn toilet paper into a wet wipe and a sink food catcher!

Work Experience

Akvile Zlatkute, a third-year Geography student investigated recycling at UON during her work experience with the team. Below are her findings about how we try to reduce our waste at UON.  If you are interested in work experience in the Environment and Sustainability team, get in touch by emailing us on environment@northampton.ac.uk.

Why is recycling important?

United nations have spoken about how plastic can take anywhere from 20 to 1,000 years to break down in landfills. Single use plastic bags take about 20 years, whilst plastic bottles can take up to 450 years to break down. Even then, plastic does not decompose, it just breaks down into smaller pieces until we cannot see it, however it stays in micro plastic form. The Environment and Sustainability team at University of Northampton are keen on recycling schemes within the Campus. Recycling is a great way to make a positive environmental impact in a low energy way. Recycling should be as easy as using a general waste bin. RecycleNow shares that in the UK, recycling saves about 10-15 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year, the equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off the road. However, throwing away recyclable packaging is not always enough. Making sure that you are separating non-recyclable packaging from recyclable packaging is important. A product may have combined materials, so double checking is crucial. Products that are not able to be recycled are not sorted out before processing therefore, contamination of food or non-recyclable products can cause a whole batch of recyclables to end up in a landfill. It is a myth that one person cannot harbour change.

Recycling Opportunities at University of Northampton.

The Waterside campus has a large variety of trash bins to reduce general waste going into the landfills. Inside the Learning Hub you can find food waste bins which are available on every single floor. Similarly, you can find recyclable waste bins and general waste bins throughout the building to make sure that you can find recycling as convenient as possible. An issue for students and recycling is “the effort of walking to respective bins”, this issue can reduce how much recycling is being processed.  The University of Northampton also encourage the use of ‘sip and separate’ bins that are found in each building. The scheme ‘ Up for the cup’ is led by University of Northampton which won the best waste reduction in 2021 IiE awards (Investors in the Environment) promotes separation of paper cups so that they are viable for recycling. These bins can also be found within Northampton such as the Grosvenor centre and the Northampton Railway station. Though it has a clear message, there is an issue with miss-use of the bins as many are not aware of  ‘Up for the cup’. Using these bins for your coffee cups allow for the cups to have a second life.

Waste reduction at the Market

The Market are continuously implementing new ways to reduce waste and reduce the carbon footprint that the university creates. An exciting upcoming addition to campus is a plastic and can return machine for a Deposit return Scheme (DRS). A charge of 20p put on single use cans and plastic bottles as incentive to reduce waste and increase recycling. Cans and single use plastics then get returned to these machines where you can receive credit to cash out. These machines are extremely successful initiatives that are common in European countries, reducing littering, promoting recycling by adding monetary value rather than just moral implications.

The market also participates in ‘Too Good To Go’, a service which allows companies to sell surplus food at a reduced price to minimise food wastage. This is beneficial to students, the environment, and the university.

A cause for concern is the implementation of the glass bottles within the Market. These have become top sellers, yet there has not been an addition of glass recycling within the Campus (excluding on-campus student halls). Recycling glass has many proven environmental benefits and are great for repurposing as they are 100% recyclable. However, when thrown in the regular mixed recycling bin it can break and become a hazard as well as becoming more difficult to recycle in its full capacity.

Other forms of recycling

When thinking about recycling, it does not stop at food and plastic. You can recycle clothes on waterside campus, St. Johns halls of residence and Scholars green halls of residence through the Air ambulance donation bins. Your no longer used clothes can become someone else’s favourite piece of clothing.  Waterside campus also has a bin dedicated for batteries. Batteries in a regular bin can catch fire so disposing them in the correct manner is important.  Allowing batteries into the landfill can cause battery acid to leak into the air, soil and water sources. Similarly, disposable vapes have the same potential as batteries to pollute our environment. You can find vape bins in Morrisons, only a short walk from the Waterside Campus. Soft plastics and crisp packets which are not recyclable from home can be recycled at Morisons, Victoria Promenade. Similarly, all the co-op shops offer recycling for crisp packets. If unsure whether your local shop recycles soft plastics and crisp packets ‘recycleno’w offers information on nearby stores and what type of recycling that they do.

Cost of Living Support and Campus Pantry

The Campus Pantry was an initiative born from the UON Cost-of-Living Taskforce established in 2022 to provide students and members of staff with the support they need due to the increased cost-of-living within the UK.

The first UON Campus Pop Up Pantry [staff login required] opened in December 2023 with the aim of raising awareness of the service on offer and to give a helping hand to students in the run up to the festive period. Six further Pop-Up Pantry Events have taken place from January to March with over 35 visits from students at each event providing access to free essential food and toiletry items.

Stock from the pantry has been provided by a mixture of UON allocated cost of living task force funds, staff donations, food larder donations of items past their BBE date and local charities. Sustainability Champions have provided voluntary support [staff login required] for each event, helping to stock shelves, raising awareness of the facility as well as promoting sustainability principles of reducing food waste and social impact.

The Pantry currently operates on a referral basis, through UON Student Support Services and is accessible 24/7 to ensure practical support is available whenever needed.

UON e bike trial scheme

In partner with Smart Move Northants and Outspoken

In May 2022, UON partnered with Smart Move Northants and Outspoken! Cycles to deliver electric bikes for staff to trial for 10 weeks completely free of charge. Staff were asked to register their interest to the Environment and Sustainability Team, and then Outspoken assigned bikes based on the height and needs of those interested, such as folding bikes. All bikes came fully insured with a helmet, high vis vest, emergency pump and charging kit.

We had a total 29 bikes being collected with 4 kept at the Innovation Centre as spares. Staff were allocated pick up slots so that Outspoken could give small group tutorials on the workings of the bikes, general upkeep and allow staff to have a quick ride around to ensure they felt comfortable. This was spread over two days and staff were excited to start their journeys. During the trial staff were able to use the bikes for commuting to work or for leisure, and many expressed their enjoyment of riding with that extra electrical push! Many cycled to work every day and others used them at weekends for cycling trips out with friends and family. Smart Move Northants and Outspoken were on hand to answer any queries during the trial via email or phone number. At the end of the trial, 2 days were booked out to return the bikes so that Outspoken could service them, ready to be distributed to Northampton General Hospital who were next to offer them to staff.

So many were thrilled with their bikes and expressed their sadness at having to return them after the 10 weeks was up. Dr Peter Jones said, “It’s like sending your child off to university – I don’t want to give it back!” and Alison Ryan said how impressed she was that having the power of the electric bike enabled her to get up the hill on her commute to work, that she would usually struggle with a push bike. Our Cycle to Work scheme providers, Cycle Solutions, held two seminars in July after the trial had ended to showcase what they had to offer in terms of e-bikes.

We had a total mileage of 2049.6 across the first round of bikes over the 2 months period in trial 1. The most mileage for one bike was a whopping 285 miles! In total, there was quite a bit of variance as the odd one just used for a few miles while others were much higher.

The bikes were offered to us a further twice in 2023 with a slightly lower uptake but this was due to the colder climate months and staff being away on leave when the hand over date was scheduled for. After each trial Cycle Solutions, our Cycle2Work scheme provider held a seminar for those interested in purchasing a bike. Since the trials and seminars, we have had 4 purchases of e-bikes via the Cycle To Work scheme [staff login required].

Clean Air Day 2022

On 16 June 2022, the Environment & Sustainability Team ran a small information event to mark Clean Air Day 2022 and raise awareness of the impact of pollution on health and the environment and the positive impact active travel has on both.

The team were joined by External Services Manager John Howes and Computing Student Freya Smith, who took the opportunity to hold a Clean Air” Plant stall to raise money for the Hedgehog Friendly Society.

Freya and the Squad are now applying for UON to receive gold status as a hedgehog friendly campus. As part of this, they have been raising awareness about the importance of creating habitats where hedgehogs can thrive and all the hedgehog friendly initiatives across campus.

UON Go Green Week

21 – 25 March 2022

The first UON Go Green Week took place 21 to 25 March at various locations across the campus. The Environment & Sustainability team were on hand to raise awareness of environmental campaigns and initiatives active throughout the university such as “The Big Switch off” and The Halls Environmental Scorecards.

The team were joined by waste contractor Suez who were on hand talk about recycling and lead a staff and student litter pick that took place in the wider perimeter of the university estate across community spaces. Sustainable vendors also took part to showcase a range of products from homemade spices, household and beauty products to bakery products.

Live vegan cooking demonstrations took place in The Market restaurant aimed at supporting students with trying vegan food options, our Travel Plan Co-ordinator was able to advise students and staff on the benefits of active travel with our Energy Officer giving away free shower timers to raise awareness for the need to reduce water consumption.

It was a successful 1st Go Green Week event for the University, with the next planned for 2023.

Hedgehog Rescue

At the end of 2021 the University teamed up with local hedgehog rescue organisation Little Wiggly Snouts to become a rescue hedgehog release site.

Warlock and Phantom were only five months old when they were released with members of the University’s Environmental Science subject area and Campus and Estates Services team volunteering to make sure they were watered and fed over the festive season.

Read more about the Hedgehog rescue in the UON news article.

Sustainability Forum

The Sustainability forum is one of the Northamptonshire Industry Led Forums powered by the University of Northampton to support Northamptonshire Businesses – across all sectors and sizes.  All forums are open to those in the field to share best practice and be updated on a wide range of topics and collaborate on issues and find out how the university can support businesses.

Members of the sustainability forum cover sectors such as logistics, food and drink, manufacturing, housing and healthcare.  Recent topics discussed include: legislation, biodiversity, recycling, clean air and low emission zones, funding, student projects, in house projects around sustainability, sharing best practice, electric vehicles (EV) and EV charge points.

For further information on the Northamptonshire Industry Led Forums please see our Northamptonshire Industry Led Forums and Events 2020 listing.

Wellbeing walks

Wellbeing walks are an opportunity for our Staff and Students to attend guided walks of our site.  Our most recent wellbeing walk was centred around the biodiversity of our campus, for a group of Marketing students at our University. This took place on 2 November and was led by John Howes our Head of External Services. Our students used the information they gathered and images they captured to create a map of campus as part of a project contributing to their course.

Other walks that have taken place have included a bird walk led by Ian Moore a member of our external services team. As our resident bird expert Ian was able to provide a great deal of information on the walk as well as some live bird stopping.

Willow weaving workshop

In December 2019 staff and students took part in a project to promote conservation and sustainable utilisation of our campus land by sourcing and creating weaved willow holiday decorations.

Students learnt to and helped our External Services team with coppicing Waterside campuses willow trees, a process for managing woodland where you cut down a tree to around 2-6 inches to encourage multi-stem growth, that must be completed every 2 years. Currently on campus we have 8 different kinds of willow, identifiable by the colour of their stems.

Once coppiced the material was transported, on foot, to the Resource Centre where a drop-in workshop was run. Staff and students were able to learn to weave the willow to create a variety of decorations and baskets waste free.

Community litter picks

A call was put out in the early months of 2019 for volunteers to participate in a series of 3 litter picks in the surrounding areas of our campus to benefit our local community, promote sustainable land use and correct disposing of waste.

Several our students and staff as well as members of the community came forward to volunteer. The group worked together throughout March 2019 to complete litter picks around Northampton town. The team of University staff who organised these events worked alongside the volunteers and Olympus Care to litter pick, Delapre Abbey, New South Ridge Road and Cliftonville TBC.

Over the course of the 3 litter picks a total of 367.71 kg of litter was collected. This was separated during each pick into recyclable and residual bags to enable as much as possible to be recycled.