Why Flushing Wet Wipes Can Cost Us All – And How You Can Help

By jackiesimpsonJan 22, 20250 Comments
We recently discovered an overflowing manhole cover near to Whiteknights Lake. Our Maintenance team soon discovered the cause of the problem – it was blocked because of items that should not be flushed down the toilet like wet wipes, rags and other things. Although our team were quick to resolve the issue the cost of this incident alone was just over £5,000 and the impact it has on the environment is something we can’t ignore. While this doesn’t happen often here at the University, it’s a nationwide problem. According to Water Uk, every year around 11 billion wet wipes are…
Behaviour Change, Energy and Water
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Simpler Recycling across the country

By jackiesimpsonJan 13, 20251 Comment
New legislation has come into force in England that will affect the way that waste and recycling collections are undertaken from homes and businesses in the next few years. The Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2024 was brought into force in May 2024 and has been given the working name ‘Simpler Recycling’ by the Government, in order to publicise the details to the general public. The aim of Simpler Recycling is to make recycling easier; so, in theory, everyone will be able to recycle the same materials across England whether at home, work, school, hospital or university etc. and will no…
Behaviour Change, Waste and Recycling
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We loved sustainability at Green Festival 2024!

By jackiesimpsonNov 27, 20240 Comments
We celebrated sustainability at our Green Festival from 19-21 with a series of different events, workshops and drop in sessions. Over 500 staff and students attended throughout the festival, which is an amazing turnout. Thank you to everyone for giving up their time to show their commitment to sustainability and to all the event organisers for their enthusiasm. It’s difficult to pick out some highlights, but our team really enjoyed: The Introduction to Carbon Literacy workshop with Jen Gale from Sustainable (ish). This session was informative, impactful and inspiring. Jen illustrated brilliantly the scale of the climate change challenge, but…
Behaviour Change
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Goodbye to Doing UoR Bit

By jackiesimpsonAug 22, 20240 Comments
The University of Reading has used the Doing UoR Bit platform for a number of years, allowing staff to take simple actions to reduce their impact on the environment and be rewarded. The platform has been a successful programme, providing many people with new and different ideas of ways they can be more sustainable and helping the University to succeed with its sustainability ambitions to embed greener behaviour across our staff community. As the University approaches its centenary and we move towards being within 5 years of becoming a Net Zero institution it is vital to raise our ambitions and…
Behaviour Change
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Going green at Green Festival 2023

By jackiesimpsonDec 04, 20230 Comments
This year’s Green Festival was held from 14-16 November and it was packed schedule of events which attracted a range of people across our University Community. The Sustainability Team would like to extend their thanks to the following people and teams who we worked closely with to deliver this great programme of events: Reading Students Union, Careers, Dominque Davies, Dylan Parkes, Reading Buses, Leonie Fisher, Bethany Brown, Jamie Robertson, Hedgehog Society, RECC, Citizens Advice, Water Aid, Community team, Students Advice Service, cycling team, Chaplaincy, UPP, MERL, Student Comms, Digital Engagement Team, Reading Students Union communications team and the University Internal…
Behaviour Change
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Celebrating sustainability at Green Festival 2023

By jackiesimpsonNov 06, 20230 Comments
It’s Green Festival 2023 – the University of Reading’s annual sustainability celebration. This year the festival will be held on 14-16 November and we have an action packed schedule, which really does include something for everyone. Highlights include: Combat fast fashion with our clothes swap Become informed about the impact of our consumer habits on the Amazon rainforest Take part in our Big Discussion about Climate Justice Show off in our sustainable fashion show Join in with our eco poetry workshop Take action for our local environment by taking part in our litter picks Learn how to save money by…
Behaviour Change
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Sustainability Champions Network (Future Page)

The University! has a dedicated team to manage sustainability across our campus. In addition, a number of groups, committees and senior management staff have sustainability responsibilities as detailed below (hover over the staff pictures for information on their experience and responsibilities). Progress against our sustainability objectives/strategy is reported to the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC), and to the University Executive Board (via ESC), through our annual Environmental Sustainability Report. Sustainability Champions Sustainability Groups and Committees Environmental Management Review Group (EMRG) This group is responsible for reviewing the Environment & Energy Management System (EEMS) and supporting the implementation of the system to…
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Be a good egg – switch off for Easter!

By jackiesimpsonMar 27, 20230 Comments
Easter is fast approaching, spring is in the air and the Easter closure period is upon us! We never like to miss a good opportunity to be more sustainable and ask colleagues to join us by being a good egg and switching off for Easter. By switching off lights, computers and unused/non-critical appliances over the closure period, we can all take small steps to save energy which will directly equate to carbon savings and cost savings – good for the environment, good for people and good for the University! Check out our cheat sheet which outlines the kinds of things…
Behaviour Change
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Famous women in sustainability – Women’s history month

By jackiesimpsonMar 06, 20230 Comments
Women’s history month is an opportunity to celebrate these iconic women who will go down in history for their contributions towards environmental science and climate change activism. The past decade has been notably one of the most significant turning points in climate change awareness history, with an increasing number of activists storming social media all with the aim to influence climate change awareness. We recognise key female individuals in the sustainability field, whether they are socially famous or are more centralised to a business, laboratory or workplace. They are all making a difference and should be celebrated for their work.…
Behaviour Change
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Make your plate happy: reducing food waste at UoR

By jackiesimpsonMar 06, 20230 Comments
Introduction Our Bars & Dining team are devoted to enforcing sustainable efforts to boost our eco-system. We understand that tackling food waste is a challenge for many within the hospitality sector, but not for us. The University operates all Catering Services in-house, for the benefit of staff and students. We have already implemented processes to divert food waste across our main dining outlets across campus (i.e Park Eat, The Dairy, The Square, St Patrick’s and Wantage Dining Hall) so that we can eliminate our landfill waste to be used as regenerative fuel across campus and beyond. What we are doing…
Behaviour Change, Waste and Recycling
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