Welcome to your October newsletter
Find out more about Sustainability at York in October 2024.
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Making a Green Impact 2024-25
We are very excited that Green Impact has officially launched 2024-25. Green Impact is our sustainability learning and awards programme for departments and teams across the University. Over the year, teams of staff, supported by students, work through an online toolkit of positive actions and projects that support the University’s Sustainability Plan and make a big impact to sustainability on campus and in the community.
This year’s programme has only been live for two weeks, and we’ve already seen more than 100 positive actions completed, with Halifax College’s Green Impact team currently top of the leaderboard.
Anyone, from any role and any department, is invited to join as everyone can be part of a Green Impact team! Email Greenimpact@york.ac.uk to see if there’s already a team in your department that you can join, or set one up! You can visit the Green Impact toolkit and register here.
New role available: Sustainability Projects Officer - Energy Saving
There is currently an exciting 12 month fixed term internal position available as a Sustainability Projects Officer - Energy Saving.
This role is only open to current University staff members and will help to centrally drive behaviour change energy saving works across all University departments, helping to achieve tangible sustainability benefits and financial savings.
The application deadline is Tuesday 15 October, so if you are interested please act fast.
If you have queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Mark Clough (mark.clough@york.ac.uk).
SOS-UK Webinar: Unseen Impact: Reducing your Digital Carbon Footprint
On Tuesday 15 October at 2pm, this webinar will delve into the hidden environmental impact of our digital activities. As our reliance on technology grows, so does the carbon footprint of our online presence.
This session will explore the concept of the digital carbon footprint, uncovering how everyday activities like streaming, emailing, and cloud storage contribute to carbon emissions. We will discuss practical steps we can take both at work and at home to reduce our digital carbon footprint and make informed sustainable choices in the digital age, which can often lead to time and cost savings as well!
Students: become a Green Impact Project Assistant
Green Impact Project Assistants are volunteers who work collaboratively with a University department, where you'll spend a few hours each month supporting their sustainability goals and working towards a sustainability award. It's a great opportunity to shape real-world implementation of sustainability in the workplace and build new skills in communications, project planning and teamwork.
View the volunteer role profile here.
Volunteer training will take place on Wednesday 23 October 2pm to 4.30pm, after which you will be assigned a team to work with over the academic year. Find out more and register here.
International Walk to school month
Encourage people to get out of cars and reduce air pollution by walking to school during the month of October which is International Walk to School Month. Celebrate the joys of walking and wheeling to school!
Not only does this keep our children fitter and healthier, it’s a good way to be more aware of traffic and how to safely cross roads.
Recycle Week
Recycle Week is a celebration of recycling, organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand. The aim of the week is to encourage the public to recycle more of the right things, more often from all around the home. This year’s Recycle Week theme is ‘Rescue Me’.
The campaign will run from 14 to 20 October 2024, focusing on rescuing recyclable items from the rubbish bin.
York Environment Week events
YEWS24 is taking place from 14 September to 12 October and there is still time to sign up to climate and environment-related events and activities.
Don't miss events hosted by the University of York too.
Join our next Climate Fresk Workshop
Climate Fresk is a 3 hour interactive workshop based on the IPCC reports.
This collaborative Climate Fresk workshop, aimed at students and staff, will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action through small group discussion, reflection on emotions and collaborative action planning.
Join us on 9 October, 1pm to 4pm.
Climate-related game sessions
Join one of our climate-related play sessions in the Sustainability Clinic throughout Semester 1; including Catan, Carbon City Zero, Fun Factory, Daybreak, Pipelines or Pipedreams, and more.
Join our October meetup to play Fun Factory (17 October, 2pm to 4.15pm).
Join our next Climate Fresk Workshop
Climate Fresk is a 3 hour interactive workshop based on the IPCC reports.
This collaborative Climate Fresk workshop, aimed at students and staff, will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action through small group discussion, reflection on emotions and collaborative action planning.
Join us on 9 October, 1pm - 4pm.
Share your Sustainable Living Skill
Do you have a sustainable living skill you can share? We're running a Sustainable Living series in Semester 2 and are inviting staff and students to run sessions.
Your skill might be bushcraft, foraging, sustainable crafting and making, fashion, photography, food, or anything creative!
If you're interested, let us know about your skill by emailing esay@york.ac.uk for a chance to be part of the series.
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!
- UoY Sustainability pages
- Our Sustainability Plan 2021-2030
- Staff can join the Green Impact slack channel: #green-impact.
- Green Impact toolkit (registration code: 40238)
- Green Impact google site
- SOS-UK webinar series