Accommodation & Hospitality Services STAFF BRIEFING – NO 13 Environmental Management For AHS Offices

Accommodation & Hospitality Services

STAFF BRIEFING – NO 13

Environmental Management

For AHS Offices

“You belong to a university community that takes looking after the environment very seriously

Every staff member and student has a responsibility to take action

Many simple everyday activities make a difference”



ISO: 14001

is the international standard for Environmental Management Systems ( EMS ) which specifies the requirements to help organisations improve the environmental impacts of their activities, products and services.

Our department successfully achieved ISO 14001 in April 2011.

In December 2008 we were the first University in the country to be awarded the " Green Tourism" - Gold Award to recognise the work of the Department. Green Tourism businesses are those actively engaged in reducing the negative and social impacts of their tourism operations.

In December 2010 we launched "We Care", our sustainability programme, click below to learn more about our sustainability targets.

We Care


Accommodation and Hospitality Services made a fantastic effort with Green Impact this year, the second year of the initiative. Last year. Silver was gained by the 4W/Wessex team, and bronze or working towards by all the other teams. This year there was a MASSIVE improvement as a result of a MASSIVE amount of motivation by all the teams. The results are shown below:

Congratulations to all the teams for this achievement.

Team

Award

Accommodation and Hospitality Services - 6 West Gold

Accommodation Green Motivators

Gold

Claverton Rooms and Sports Café

Gold

Green City Motivators

Bronze

Parade and Level 1

Gold

Wessex Restaurant, 4West Café and Food Direct Gold

Accommodation & Hospitality ServicesAccommodation & Hospitality Services

Waste and Recycling – the facts!

• The University currently recycles only 12% of its waste

• The University campus produces over 200 1,100l bins of rubbish each week

– Each bin costs over £12 to empty– Accommodation alone spends over £80,000 per year on waste

• Recycling is cheaper:– Paper is collected free– Plastics and cans cost £6.60 per 1,100l bin– Glass costs £2.60 per wheelie bin– Cardboard is baled on site and then sold on

• Also recycle other items including:– Electrical equipment– Metals– Wood


Why do we need to recycle?

• Shortage of landfill space – all our waste currently goes to landfill in Wiltshire

• Cost• On average every person in the UK throws away

their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks

• The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle will power a 60W light bulb for six hours

• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a colour TV for 15 minutes

• 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials


What we recycle

• Yes please: drinks bottles, yoghurt pots, food trays, water cups, plastic tubs, plastic utensils

• No thanks: black plastic, carrier bags, polystyrene, coffee cups, drinks cartons, rigid plastics

• Yes please: drinks cans, food tins, tin foil, aerosols

• No thanks: hard metal items, cutlery

• Yes please: office paper, magazines, newspaper, junk mail, envelopes, post it notes

• No thanks: brown paper, cardboard, drinks cartons, coffee cups, bindings, food wrappings


What we recycle

• Yes please: corrugated cardboard, thin card (e.g. cereal boxes), cardboard boxes, cardboard packaging

• No thanks: cardboard contaminated with food waste, coffee cups, polystyrene

• Yes please: glass bottles, glass jars (e.g. coffee jars)

• No thanks: broken glass, panes of glass, broken crockery, pyrex

• Hazardous items: a number of items have to be collected separately and are ILLEGAL to dispose of in general waste:


Waste and Recycling – What can you do to help?

• Reduce – do you really need the item in the first place? Use a lunchbox instead of clingfilm or foil. Only cook the right amount that you need, don’t waste food.

• Reuse – donate unwanted items to charity, use scraps of used paper instead of a notepad

• Recycle – everything that you can on campus, if you’re not sure about an item contact the waste team or check the Estates website

• Landfill – remember that everything not treated as above will be disposed of in landfill


Energy – Facts & FiguresUni energy and water bill = £6 million/year

(Residences = £1.4 million)

Prices doubled in last 3 years

Carbon footprint = 24 000 tonnes CO2

(35 000 tCO2 including transport)

9000 households’ electricity4000 households’ water 3000 households’ gas


Energy – Why we need to reduce consumption

• Money - £6m/year spend (and rising!)

• UK Law - Climate Change Act (2008)

• UK Law – Carbon permits - £260,000/year for Uni

• Reputation - league tables, good/bad publicity

• University policy

• For the Planet and our children..!


Energy - What we already do• Student Switch Off• Green Impact

• Metering/info systems • Lighting, controls, new boilers etc• Eco-design for new buildings• Renewables, CHP etc

• New Environmental Policy• Carbon targets• New ways of buying energy – saved >£1.5m

The results? • 10% electricity cut, 20% gas cut in 5 years (despite growth)• = £1.5m better off every year• = 10% less carbon footprint


Energy – How can you help?Turn it off - Turn it down – Keep it shut!

Report problems (taps, windows, radiators etc)

Look at own/departmental activities

Encourage others (nicely!) – staff and students

Take ideas home (or vice versa!)

For more ideas see Estates energy web pageshttp://www.bath.ac.uk/estates/energy/whatcanido.shtml


Transport – Did you know…Uni-specific car share scheme

- preferential parking spaces- cheaper permits

Good bus service – 2 competing companies, £700k spent on bus Arrivals SquareSeason ticket loans

Bike purchase scheme (saves 33%+)Cycle racks + showers on campusGood routes through town

40% increase in bus use in 4 years9% cut in car journeys in 4 yearsWe won Gold in the West of England Travel Plan

Award Scheme


Transport - What difference does it make?

Saves money (fuel, servicing, etc)Carshare = sociableWalking/cycling = healthyFuel efficient driving = saferDriving/flying = biggest single way you can affect your carbon footprint?


Transport - What else?Electric car charging points (East car park)

Electric motorbike charging points (Underdeck)Canal Wharf cycle store (avoids the hill!)Bicycle mileage ratesShare bus passes in the department?Encourage visitors/conferences to travel sustainably

Electric Cycle Scheme (See Notes)


Did you also know…UoB and A&HS both have a sustainability purchasing policy…

Organic veggie box scheme run by students – open to staff too

Coffee grounds go to compost

Drying ‘tent’ in Nursery for clothes

Lots of world-leading research in energy/environment at Bath

Improving biodiversity on campus – bat/bird boxes, wildlife pond, wildflower planting

Nice walks around campus (when it stops raining…)

“In my view, climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism”

Sir David King (UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser)

“How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew about this and I did nothing?”

Sir David Attenborough

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein



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Accommodation & Hospitality Services STAFF BRIEFING – NO 13 Environmental Management For AHS Offices