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Welcome to your January newsletter

Posted on 10 January 2025

Find out more about Sustainability at York in January 2025.

Green Impact actions to try this month

This month, we are highlighting some Green Impact actions that are perfect to complete in January. Go to the toolkit now to try these in your team! If you are not yet involved in Green Impact, get in touch with GreenImpact@york.ac.uk to find out more and set up a team in your department!

Students: Take the new year challenge for sustainability and win a £50 voucher 

New year, new you? You’re invited to take part in the sustainability competition between the colleges at York, and we want to hear what you will be doing to live more sustainably this year. Tell us your pledge and sign up to hear more about the campaign. By pledging, you’re in with the chance of winning a £50 voucher!

The College Sustainability Challenge provides advice to help you live more sustainably, with regular competitions and free training and online resources. As well as taking personal action to reduce your carbon footprint, you will also be helping your College win the overall competition, with the most sustainable residence getting a prize at the end of the year! Find out more and get involved.

College Sustainability Challenge

Congratulations to Derwent College for topping the midway leaderboard! Alcuin is in second place and David Kato College in third place, with Wentworth, Constantine and James Colleges all closing in.  

This leaderboard reflects the commitment and enthusiasm of those students and staff to sustainability through energy reduction in College accommodation, or engaging with the challenge through competitions and online quizzes. Check out SOS-UK for the latest opportunities to take part and help your College move up the leaderboard.

The more you engage, and the more energy you save, the more you climb the leaderboard, and at the end of the year, the winning College gets an end of year (sustainably themed) prize! Look out for the next Leaderboard this spring.

Free SOS-UK webinar: Turning apathy into hope: a pathway to resilience in the climate crisis

Wednesday 15 January 2025: The climate crisis and ecological collapse are a threat to everyone, but some people are more at risk than others. Those who have contributed the least to these problems are facing the worst effects. We have a choice in how we respond to these crises: will we come together to help those most at risk and work to fix the deep inequalities nations like the UK have benefited from, or will we keep resources for ourselves? Will we create connections or barriers? This webinar will discuss how sustainability is linked with inequality, oppression, and a history of colonialism and exploitation. We will look at the dangers we face and the chances to create a fairer society based on justice and solidarity. Sign up here.

Veganuary: 1st to 31st January 2025

Throughout the month of January, Veganuary invites and inspires people to explore a vegan lifestyle. Since 2014, over 2 million people have signed up from 228 countries and territories around the world to take on the challenge. It's a great way to discover how to be more creative with cooking. Take a look at the Veganuary website which has a wealth of advice and recipes to get you started.

Houseplant week: 8 to 14 January 2025

Houseplant Week UK was created to promote the many benefits of indoor plants, including their air-purifying qualities and their ability to enhance our living spaces. It’s a week that encourages people to embrace the joys of indoor gardening. Find some ideas for great houseplants for beginners here.

The Big Garden Birdwatch Lunch Hour: 24 January 2025

The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world's largest garden wildlife survey, run annually by the RSPB between the 24th - 26th of January. This year the RSPB are inviting both remote and in-person organisations to take part in a mass lunchtime survey on the 24th January. Find out more here, including how to get your workplace involved and tips on how to organise and carry out the survey.

Driving Digital Sustainability Workshops 2025

Empower your institution to lead on sustainability with Jisc’s new Driving Digital Sustainability online workshops. These focused, action-oriented sessions are designed to equip leaders and practitioners with the tools and confidence to implement sustainable digital strategies, reducing environmental impact and operational costs. Learn more and register here.

UoY spotlight: York to lead effort to provide solar energy in Africa

Researchers at the University of York will lead a major project to provide clean, solar energy to rural communities in Africa. The Co-Designing Clean Energy for Rural Africa with Service Innovations and Digital Twins (CREDIT) project will see the deployment of off-grid solar ‘mini-grids’ in three rural African communities. It’s one of 13 UK research initiatives funded through the UKRI Ayrton Challenge Programme. Read more here.

Call for events: Sustainability Week - 3 to 7 March 2025

Sustainability Week, from 3 to 7 March, will provide an opportunity to engage with the entire University community, celebrate existing sustainability initiatives, share valuable knowledge and raise awareness about key environmental and social issues.

You can propose an event for Sustainability Week by completing the Expression of interest Form by 19 January. Previous events include nature trails, biodiversity activities, panel discussions and interactive workshops and we are open to all your ideas!  Find out about it here.

Celebrating reuse success with British Heart Foundation #packforgood

Preloved items donated in the British Heart Foundation banks, over the last year, has diverted over 46 tonnes of usable items from waste bins and raised £86,445 to fund heart and circulatory research.  A huge thank you to all students and staff who donated items and supported the 2023-24 Pack for Good campaign.

The British Heart Foundation’s annual #PackforGood Campaign is designed to encourage students to part with good quality, clean, unwanted items at the end of the academic year. However, the big red banks, located at every College, are open all year round so donating is really easy at any time.  Simply bag up your donations securely and drop them off.  Find out which items you can donate and where to take them.

All items donated are sold in the local York BHF shops located on Bridge Street in the city centre, Front Street Acomb and Clifton Moor retail park.  Your efforts help the charity to fund lifesaving research, promote sustainability, and support those affected by heart and circulatory diseases.  We hope to do even better this year! 

Links and further information

Don’t forget to follow UoY sustainability on social media.

You can also check out UoY Sustainability on our wordpress blog, or click the links below to find out more!