Sustainability at Royal Holloway

Sustainability at Royal Holloway What is sustainability? The long-held definition is; “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

But it’s also about how organisations and businesses work; bringing sustainability into the core business. At the College our core business is education. To be truly sustainable we must ensure our students learn about sustainability through the curriculum, but also that they learn in a culture of sustainability.

This is much easier than you think and, regardless of your role at the College, you can incorporate sustainability in to your day.

Energy Use The College has an enormous energy bill. With computers and lights left on by the hundreds, this is an unwanted cost. The College is working towards reducing Top Tip its carbon footprint by 34% by 2020.  Don’t be shy – turn off In April 2010 a mandatory piece of legislation called the any lights you see Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) has meant that the wasting energy College is now legally obliged to undertake significant carbon  Remind colleagues to reduction measures or face financial penalties. switch off before they head home It’ll be tough, but it won’t be painful! Here’s how we’ll start tackling our emissions:  Install energy efficient and sensor-operated lighting  Run an inter-hall ‘switch off’ competition to incentivise students to save energy and encourage responsible behaviour  Investigate on-site electricity generation  Assess how our buildings are heated and cooled Top Tip  Investigate installing a smart-metering system to  Got energy saving ideas? better identify how we use energy  Got a gripe about energy  And, most importantly, we’ll all do our bit, however wastage? big or small. Let’s be honest, the Sustainability  Contact the Sustainability Team can’t change the world, but if we can build a Team culture of sustainability at the College we wont need to! Lots of little things make a big thing

Waste and Recycling As you’d imagine for a large organisation, the College produces a large quantity of waste. We can do two things with it:

Landfill V Recycle

Now that a tonne of landfill tax costs more than a tonne of recyclables to dispose of this has to be the biggest no-brainer there is. Throw it in the ground it stays there for 100s or 1000s of years. Chuck it in a recycling bin and it goes round and round and round…Simple. Recycling There are also dedicated recycling The College has introduced a co- points, including glass bins at: mingled recycling system in student . Arts Building residences and is rolling this out to all . Reid Hall other areas from November 2010. .TopGowar Tip Hall Travel to the These bins accept: . Butler Co-mingled hall means you College . Paper . Kingswooddon’t need hall to separate – Cycling . Cardboard . Penroseour wasteHall contractor . Tins and cans does that for you! Cycling is a . Plastic  Recycle you old phones, quick way to printer cartridges and get about the batteries at the College local area and will help keep you fit and healthy. Surrey County Council produces a range of cycling maps and guides, which can be downloaded from their website (search ‘cycle guides’)

There are cycle racks across the main campus and Kingswood sites and there are showers in the Sports Centre and Founder's East 127; perfect for commuting. There’s a cycling map on the College website for more info. Further, general cycling info can be found through the London Cycling Campaign.

Bicycle Users Group Royal Holloway's BUG meets twice a year to discuss cycling facilities, feed in to new policies and projects which may affect cyclists and promote cycling across the College. If you are interested in joining the Bicycle Users Group or would like more info contact the Sustainability Office.

Cycle to Work Scheme Royal Holloway is part of the Cycle to Work scheme. This allows staff to save money when purchasing a new bicycle to help facilitate their commute to work by bike. For more information email [email protected] Top Tip Can’t cycle? Try the bus  Buy a brand new bike The College operates a bus service between Kingswood, Main through Cyclescheme Campus and Egham. All info on timetabling is on the College website. and don’t pay tax – up t 33% off! If you’re travelling from further afield, check out Traveline for all your options:  Cycle to work one day per www.traveline.org.uk week, building up to 3or4 days per week Have to drive? Try Car Sharing  Cycle to your next work Car sharing is a great way of saving money on travelling costs whilst helping meeting and claim reduce congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions. Car sharing just once a mileage allowance week can slash your petrol bills by 10%. The College has teamed up with SurreyCar Share to offer an online car share matchmaking service.  Join the car share club

Check out www.surreycarshare.com

Fairtrade The College was awarded Fairtrade status in December 2005. All tea and coffee served on campus is Fairtrade and there are many Fairtrade products on sale in the College Shop.

Campus Biodiversity The College has an ecological management plan which identifies the main habitats within the grounds of the College. It aims to increase the biodiversity of native of flora and fauna. This involves the removal of invasive, ‘exotic’ species and the planting of natives such as oak, silver birch, ivy, honeysuckle etc.

Top Tip  Buy Fairtrade products to support it at the College  Specify Fairtrade in catering orders  Join the Fairtrade Group Campus Community Garden The garden, in the grounds of Garden Lodge has 13 plots for staff students to grow their own fruit, vegetables and flowers. Currently the plots have a waiting list, but we’re monitoring how the scheme works for the first year to see if there is scope for expansion.

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