Fast fashion: A quick way to drive climate change

By jackiesimpsonApr 20, 20230 Comments
Going out shopping or purchasing new clothes online for your next holiday or party may seem like an enjoyable past time for many, from which the action of buying something new is exciting. Most will overlook any wider impact and be either unaware or uneducated surrounding the implications of fast fashion. Making high turnaround fashion lines at a cheap cost, accounts for 8-10% of global emissions, 92 million tonnes of waste, and a staggering amount of water and pollutants each year. The UK is the world’s leading fast fashion consuming country, with the average Briton spending almost 1k on the…
Energy and Water
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Celebrating sustainability – Green Festival 2022

By jackiesimpsonDec 05, 20220 Comments
Green Festival is the University of Reading’s annual sustainability celebration, where we come together to promote, educate and celebrate sustainable actions amongst our local community, staff and students. This year a range of different events were held from 1 to 11 November, with something for everyone. Sustainability is a key strategic priority for the University and an estimated 500 attendees participated in the festival –clearly demonstrating that sustainability is important to each and every one of us. Highlights this year included: The ‘Play your emissions right’ game from Reading Buses was an effective and popular way of showing staff and…
Awards and Achievements, Behaviour Change, Energy and Water
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PODCAST – ‘How to be more sustainable and save money’

By jackiesimpsonNov 16, 20220 Comments
As part of our Green Festival 2022 celebrations we recorded our first very own sustainability podcast which is full of helpful tips on ways you can be more sustainable, saving money in the process. Jackie Simpson, from Sustainability Services, and the University's Director of Energy and Sustainability, Dan Fernbank, discuss simple actions to reduce waste, carbon emissions and be more sustainable at home and at University. Some highlights include: Switch all devices off as even things left on standby draw power. Buy less things, question your purchase decisions and buy second hand wherever possible. Run washing machines and dishwashers on…
Behaviour Change, Energy and Water
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Helping staff to travel sustainably at UoR

By jackiesimpsonOct 17, 20220 Comments
The carbon hierarchy, as above, shows travel methods in order of sustainability – it is a helpful tool to consider the impact of travel decisions and supports the consideration of suitable alternatives. For further information and offers, please visit our sustainable travel pages. The 2022 travel survey revealed that only 57% of our staff travelled sustainably – this blog highlights all the alternative modes and offers to help you cut emissions and potentially save money by travelling by other means than driving single occupancy vehicles. Keep reading to find out how to beat the traffic with our new FREE Park…
Energy and Water
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University shortlisted in three categories at the 2022 Green Gown Awards!

By rhidiandaviesAug 12, 20220 Comments
We are very please to announce that the University has been named as a finalist for the Sustainability Institution of the Year Award at this years UK & Ireland Green Gown Awards! The category is one of three which University projects have been shortlisted in - the most nominations in a single year since 2015. The Awards, administered by the EAUC (the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges), recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the UK and Ireland each year. The University's last success at the Green Gowns came in 2017, when we received the…
Energy and Water
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Every drop matters!

By jackiesimpsonAug 10, 20220 Comments
Climate change’s affects on weather patterns means that water scarcity is becoming a reality in some parts of the world and the UK will not escape these impacts. Adaptation to these impacts will see the need to reduce consumption and careful water management will become vital in the coming years. The University is committed to managing our water use effectively to ensure that we protect this limited and increasingly precious resource. In July 2021 the University achieved significant reductions against all of its 5 year targets which were set in the 2016-21 Carbon and Water Management Plan. For non-residential properties…
Behaviour Change, Energy and Water
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Saving energy in our kitchens with Cheetah!

By jomerryJun 30, 20220 Comments
And no we don’t mean the large cat! Cheetah is a demand controlled kitchen ventilation system. It works by controlling ventilation fan speeds to match extract rates with cooking demands, thereby optimising energy use. The fans are set to a minimum speed as default but as smoke, high temperatures in ducts, low air flow in ducts and high levels of carbon dioxide in the kitchen are detected, demand based extraction automatically increases. The system has been installed in the kitchens at five food outlets across campus – Shamrock Café, Wantage Hall, The Square, Park House and Park Eat. The systems…
Energy and Water
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Getting heat de-carbonisation underway at UoR

By jomerryJun 30, 20220 Comments
The trajectory towards a Net Zero Carbon future inevitably involves the phase out of fossil fuels. This poses a significant challenge when it comes to heat, as a substantial proportion of heat in the UK is generated through the combustion of fossil fuels. According to Catapult, heat accounts for approximately 37% of UK carbon emissions when including industrial processes, with over 80% of homes and over two million businesses using gas from the grid. In recognition of the need to move away from the use of fossil fuels for heating, the government has announced its ambition to phase out the…
Energy and Water
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A new LEAF in laboratory sustainability at the university

By rhidiandaviesJun 29, 20220 Comments
A new LEAF in laboratory sustainability at the university The University of Reading provides invaluable teaching and research through our on-campus laboratories. The nature of laboratory work is very carbon-intensive and, as a result, the universities’ science-based buildings represent 25% of total energy consumption and produce 20% of total day-to-day waste (by weight) . In order to support all relevant departments with creating a more sustainable laboratory culture, we are now participating in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF). LEAF is an online assessment tool to aid improvements in the sustainability and efficiency of both research and teaching laboratories and is already…
Awards and Achievements, Behaviour Change, Energy and Water, Waste and Recycling
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