Sustainability journey book_V15_PRINT no crops

“A big thank you to all the staff and
students, past and present, who
have played a part in delivering,
supporting or engaging in the many
sustainable initiatives described in
this book. A special thanks goes to
Lesley Stewart for her unwavering
support and inspiration along our
sustainable journey.”
Peter Larkin, Environmental Services Manager

“A journey of a
thousand miles
begins with a
single step”
Lao Tzu

Our sustainable journey began in 2003 when we
achieved Fair Trade status, this was followed by us
becoming the first university to introduce a pay by
weight waste contract in 2005. Those two small steps
have led us to introduce numerous new projects over
the years and our journey still continues.
We hope you enjoy flicking through this book and
following our journey, it carries on today so check out
@UoBEnvServices or UoBEnvironmentalServices to see
our latest steps to change our sustainability legacy.
This book was created by the Residential and
Environmental Services Team who are responsible for
the management of University owned and managed
student accommodation, the accommodation
application and allocation process, community
engagement and environmental and cleaning
services across campus and student accommodation.

Our sustainable journey so far…
First uni to buy
electric vehicles
Zero waste
to landfill
Achieved
Fairtrade status
The first Uni to open
its own hydrogen
filling station
GREG arrived
on campus
2003 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011
The Guild receive the
Green Impact award
Good Egg award for
using cage-free eggs
First Uni to introduce
pay by weight
Mixed recycling
launched on campus

Bottle Amnesty’
launched by students –
4,000 bottles collected
for recycling in it’s first
weekend
£100,000 raised
for British Heart
Foundation through
Junkbusters
First sustainable
living-learning
residence available
to students
Sustainable living
tool launched to
students
2012
2014 2015
2016
2017
Junkbusters was
launched
First installation of solar
panels used within
accommodation
Chartered Institute of
Waste Management
awards Junkbusters
Best Recycling Project
First Hydrogen fuelcell
car arrives on campus
First uni to
recycle used
coffee grounds
into sustainable
biofuels, such as
coffee logs
…What will be your legacy?

Introducing our University’s
first electric vehicle…
2007
The introduction
of the University’s
first electric vehicle.
Although the Green
Machine was retired in
2014 it is now a standout
feature in our Green
Community courtyard!

Recycling and
2010
waste reduction
Our first step towards becoming
more sustainable, we were one of
the first Universities to adopt a
‘pay by weight’ approach to waste
management.
Prior to this new concept 0% of
the waste generated on campus
was recycled, by the end of 2016
over 50% was recycled.
Over 75% of campus now supports
the mixed recycling scheme. This
has increased the amount of waste
being recycled to over 22 tonnes per
month.
To date, 8747 tonnes of OUR waste
was converted into renewable
energy through incineration.
Creating enough energy to drive
around the world 262 times!

Meet GREG
2011
GREG was introduced to raise
awareness and change student
behaviour within accommodation.

Bags for life
2012
Ahead of the game, we starting
issuing a ‘bag for life’ to every student
living in University accommodation.
Our students have helped reduce
plastic bag usage by a huge 85%.
Every flat was issued with their own
‘recycling bag, helping to increase
recycling rates from 15 to 50 across
all three villages.

Junkbusters
Snapshot:
‘Junkbusters’
Launched in 2012, in conjunction with British
Heart Foundation, our unwanted goods
scheme was a huge success thanks in no
small part to the staff and student volunteers.
So successful in fact, that in 2012 we invested in a
1960’s milk float to collect donations on specified
dates around the streets of Selly Oak during the
student move out. The scheme has grown from
strength to strength with all of the donations going
to The British Heart Foundation.

2012
Our donations to the British Heart
Foundation have helped fund:
11 Heart Start Schemes 289 Health at Work
115 Defibrillators (AEDs)
Members
26 schools with CPR Training
101,597 Healthy Hearts
Resources issued
11 British Heart Foundation
retail shops
More than £12 million in research grants awarded to
the University of Birmingham

Bottle amnesty
2012
The bottle amnesty was
introduced, a scheme that
sees over 4000 bottles recycled
by our students every year.
That’s enough energy to power
your computer for almost
10 weeks!

Junkbusters
2015
Junkbusters won the 2015
Chartered Institution of Wastes
Management Award for the Best
Recycling Scheme.
17.2 tonnes of items
were diverted from
the waste stream. The
same weight as three
African elephants!
By 2015 over £100,000 was
raised for the British Heart
Foundation

Green Community
Snapshot:
The Green
Community
The story explained
You spoke and we listened. In 2015 you
said that living with likeminded students
would help drive engagement and
raise awareness of sustainability in the
wider community. From this idea the
Green Community was born.
Our mission
To promote and trial new methods
of sustainable living, with a group of
likeminded students, that each share a
passion for sustainability. The project’s
success could lead to similar schemes
being rolled out at other residences.
Our values for the
Green Community
• A passion for learning
• Pride in ones work
• Concern for the welfare of others
• A commitment to simple living

2015
The Green Community is home to 184 students
that share a passion for sustainability.
Set in a gated complex at Tennis Court on the Vale,
the Green Community features:
1 courtyard 8 bird boxes
12 apple trees
272 solar roof panels 4 living walls
Students have plenty of opportunities to volunteer for a charity,
monitor energy usage, organise their own sustainability events or
leave a legacy by working with our accommodation team to install
new features in the area for future students.
“Everyone has been really friendly and sociable so
it was super easy to form trusting friendships. Its odd
but we all feel like we have known one another for
months already, its only been four weeks!”
Georgina, 2016

We created a unique social room
within the Green Community

2016
“Lovely people
keen to make
friends and
embrace the
new living
arrangements.”
Olivia, 2016
“Lively, social and
like-minded!”
Alex, 2016
“A lovely place
to stay and it
definitely lives up
to the idea of a
'community' and
feels that way!”
Ryan, 2016

2017 and beyond…
Waste
Energy
Biofertiliser
From 2017 we plan to
introduce a food waste
recycling service to a
group of students living in
our accommodation, taking
any leftovers through to
anaerobic digestion.
Composter
Biogas

Student accommodation
LED lighting at Elgar
Court and The HUB.
Construction of new
accommodation
residences to high
standard and energy
efficiency.
Water saving
initiatives, such as
the introduction of
‘Showerbob timers’,
let students monitor
their time spent
showering, promoting
responsible water
consumption.
Investment in
combined heat and
power to extend
provision of energy
efficient heating and
hot water to student
accommodation.
We now use a micro
fibre cleaning system
meaning everything
stays squeaky clean
without the need for
nasty and harmful
chemicals. That means
fewer deliveries so a
reduction in emissions
and cost.
Sensor lighting across
all three student
villages.

The journey continues…
We continue to develop key partnerships
with local charities and social enterprises.
Here are a few examples of some of our recent work…
Thanks to your food bank donations, we give over
1000 meals to families in need every year.
Over 200 tails are wagging again at the local dogs’
homes thanks to your duvet donations.
Through our student-led recycling initiative,
Junkbusters, we have raised over £125,000 for our
partners, The British Heart Foundation.
All the furniture in the Green Community social room
was made by social enterprise group Project Up, using
materials that would have otherwise been thrown out.

We continue to inspire action through organised
events including upcycling workshops #uobgetinvolved
These first year students
have created this unique
furniture for their rooms

These students made a
blackboard picture frame
A spice rack for the kitchen
‘Project Up’ upcycling
workshop

DoNation
Snapshot:
DoNation
We’ve launched DoNation – an online
platform that encourages people to
pledge small actions in their day to day
lives. Like cycling to work, driving more
efficiently, eating less meat or turning the
thermostat down a notch.
Competing against one another, students
and staff can measure their actions and the
impact they have on the world around us.
12 tonnes of
CO 2 saved
the same as leaving a
light on for 133 years
wearedonation.com

Get involved!
Interested in finding out how to get involved with one
of our workshops and initiatives or joining the
Green Community?
Visit our page:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/InnovationAndSustainability
or connect with us online
UoBEnvironmentalServices
@UoBEnvServices
#uobgetinvolved
#sustainableliving
#hellobrum