Reduce and reuse
Find out how you can reduce what you consume, donate or reuse something before throwing it away.
We are committed to reducing our waste through a circular economy approach. Before you throw an unwanted item away, consider whether it’s something that could be donated or reused. Find out how you can reduce and reuse unwanted items through our various initiatives and programmes below.
Reduce
Reduce your printing: print alternatives
Opting for print alternatives where possible is not only more sustainable but using these alternatives can also help improve your digital literacy skills as the world moves increasingly online. To help cut down on unnecessary printing, IT encourages staff and students to use alternatives to printing such as scanning documents to online PDFs and using assistive software where possible. IT have also shared tips on how to avoid spoiled prints.
Reduce single-use coffee cups: YORCUP scheme
Purchase a YORCUP on campus to help reduce the number of single-use coffee cups sent to landfill. How does it work? Buy a YORCUP and sleeve for £5 from any outlet on campus and get your first drink for free. Enjoy your drink and return the YORCUP to any outlet to be washed and stored, but keep your sleeve. For your next drink, show your sleeve and it will be served in a clean YORCUP.
Forgotten to bring your YORCUP sleeve? Use our green coffee cup shaped recycling bins to dispose of your single-use coffee cups instead of putting them in general waste.
Unwanted furniture: Warp It reuse scheme
If you have office furniture you no longer need, please send an email around your department to see if anyone else can make use of it. If it cannot be re-used within your department, you can advertise it on "Warp It", the University's furniture reuse scheme. You can also use it to source items for your department (for staff use only).
Warp It enhances sustainability by getting the best value out of waste resources from large organisations, by finding owners for items that would otherwise have to be disposed of as waste off campus.
British Heart Foundation banks
There are British Heart Foundation (BHF) banks located at every college on campus. This is a great way of donating the following unwanted items: clothes, accessories, shoes, books and bags. The charity accepts clean items in good condition, to be sold in their three York shops.
Slack channels
Sell, donate or collect items through the University’s recycle slack channels: #recycle-chat: advertise or collect free items for private and home use. #recycle-for-sale-or-wanted: advertise items that you would like to sell rather than throw away and collect items that you would like to buy.
Where to put your waste
If you're unable to reduce or reuse your unwanted items, recycle it if possible. Check out our recycling and waste guide for the best ways to dispose of your unwanted items on campus.