Aberdeen University Student Climate Change Project

By Caspar Lampkin.

In their green wisdom the Aberdeen University Students Association (AUSA) spent many a winter hour filling out applications to the Climate Challenge Fund to support a University wide environmental campaign. The campaign will focus on influencing the lifestyle choices made by the students and staff at the Uni in their everyday activities and on facilitating lifelong behavioural changes.

The group were rewarded £111,000 by the Climate Challenge Fund and have been able to employ three full-time members of staff to work specifically on the Climate Change Project from within AUSA. Over the course of the project we are aiming for 1000 tonne reduction in CO2 but more importantly, we aim to help students make significant changes to their environmental behaviour and develop new sustainable approaches to everyday life.

The project is extremely holistic and will cover all aspects of our daily lives. A travel project will promote a lift share scheme, alternatives to flying and national holidays.  An energy project will run an inter-hall energy competition and train a team of students to provide advice and free energy audits to private residences. A food initiative will promote reduced meat diets, the veg bag scheme, grow your own, run fun food workshops and establish a local food directory. There will also be a waste project running a glass recycling competition, establishing a swap-shop and running halls clearances.

As well as coming up with their own ideas they are looking to build on the great work already being done around Aberdeen. So if you have any ideas, want to find out more about any of the projects mentioned above or would like to play a part in helping out with this amazing project then please contact Jamie.peters@abdn.ac.uk.