Submitted by Emily Dunning on Fri, 29/07/2016 - 12:07
To kick off Spotlight on Waste month, a waste audit of Greenwich House has been conducted by the Environment and Energy Section’s Waste and Recycling Intern, Cecily Church, to assess recycling and waste management within the building. The aim is to see how recycling is going and work out where/how we can improve rates further. The audit involved speaking to members of different divisions and carrying out a bin sort to identify if items are going in the right bins.
The graphs here show how much waste was put into which bin in two divisions within the building, and the percentage of this waste that was correctly and incorrectly sorted.
Top tips for future improvements include:
- Make sure food goes into the food waste bin. Most of the incorrectly sorted waste was food that had been put into the recycling or general waste bins. If the food waste bin is full, the bag can be taken out and replaced. Speak to your Green Impact representative about the location of replacement bags.
- Use general waste bins under desks as little as possible. Some people have found it useful to keep a small tray or paper box lid under their desk for waste. This can then be taken with them next time they visit the kitchen and sorted into the correct bins. It only takes a few extra seconds!
- Take a moment to familiarise yourself with the bin labels. The new waste contract with Mick George has slightly different recycling requirements, but these will be clearly displayed on the updated labels that are coming out shortly. Be sure to give them a quick check!
- Do your bit for charity and the environment at the same time. There are a number of fantastic schemes around the building, including:
- a used stationery collection for The Donkey Sanctuary,
- a stamp collection for the Royal National Institute of the Blind,
- free stranding printer cartridges for the Children's Hospice, and
- a mobile phone collection for the Woodland Trust.
- By participating you can contribute to wonderful causes while maximising recycling – a win-win scenario! The collection points for all of these are on the Green Impact table downstairs in reception (by the stairs).
By following these top tips you can help us reach the University’s target of recycling 95% of all waste!