Painting campus green

You recycle, walk wherever possible, and avoid short-haul budget flights. Yep, your green credentials are looking pretty good. But what about your university? Is it doing all it can, or even anything at all, for the environment? Luckily, there is a way to find out.

The Green League 2007, created by student network People and Planet, highlights the achievements of those universities that are taking active steps towards environmental improvement.

It found that Leeds Met is currently the greenest university in the UK. Plymouth and Hertfordshire took second and third places respectively, after being assessed on a number of criteria including percentage of waste recycled, carbon emissions, fair-trade status, the presence of environmental staff, and whether there is a publicly available environmental policy.

The list was compiled using environmental information on 120 UK universities in a bid to motivate decision-makers to listen to the concerns of staff and students who have long pushed for change. The results are important – as climate change continues to work its way into the public consciousness, the green credentials of a university may become an increasingly important criteria for school-leavers choosing where to go.

So while the top-ranking universities celebrate, others will be forced to look at where they are falling down on environmental policy. The People and Planet Going Green Report, published in autumn 2006, identified four key factors that together drive environmental performance improvement in universities. These are the support of senior university management, staff dedicated to environmental management, a publicly available environmental policy, and a comprehensive review of the environmental impacts of the institution. According to the report:

"Universities that are not making such significant inroads on improving their environmental performance really are getting left behind."

The findings from the research for the Green League would certainly support this as these factors are common to all of the universities that appear at the top of the table. Leeds Metropolitan University has implemented an Environmental Management System that allows for continuous progress. The university has made a commitment to employing all relevant environment legislation, promoting more efficient use of resources, working with local authorities and other organisations, training staff, and publicly demonstrating this commitment.

"The initiative to be more green is now coming from students and staff"

Clearly, as the Going Green Report suggests, support from senior staff at the university has been vital to success, but what role has the student body played?

Campus services manager at Leeds Metropolitan, Brian Bolton, recognises that ‘one of the pleasing things about the award was the involvement and support by the students’ union’.

Director of Plymouth University’s Centre for Sustainable Futures, Alan Dyer, also feels that it is important to ‘build a constructive dialogue between academics, students and estates professionals’ to ensure steady progress. This involves using the expertise available among staff and students and fostering their enthusiasm through guest lectures and inviting guests to assist with projects. At Plymouth, this has meant that ‘the initiative to be more green is now coming from [students and staff] and their own departments rather than an imposition from above or outside’.

However, even those universities at the top of the league table admit that it is not always easy to deliver an effective environmental management system. Alan Dyer points out that it is sometimes difficult to be creative when operating within ‘tight budgetary constraints, ever more complex regulation and restrictive legislation’ which is why, he feels, it is important that sustainability remains high on the agenda of senior management within the university.

People and Planet is quick to point out that the findings from the Green League are evidence that environmental improvement has to be an ongoing process. Leeds Metropolitan University is not going to rest on its laurels. Brian Bolton embraces the challenge of the coming years, saying ‘the great thing about coming out number one in the People and Planet survey was that it was for the work we had been doing over four years that was recognised without our knowledge. The challenge now is not to get complacent and set ourselves stiffer objectives’.

The efforts, or lack of them, that businesses make towards halting climate change are well publicised. We are becoming more aware of how our actions as individuals can also make a difference, and students are among the most environmental-conscious segments of society.

It makes sense then that eyes are turning towards the higher education sector, and the large impact it has on the environment. Every university and college has a long way to go in making dramatic cuts in their carbon footprints and the Green League 2007 is likely to be the first of many such examples of wide-scale research that highlight this.

The good news is that students have a lot of influence. There’s no need simply to wait for until your university gets around to looking at its green credentials. People and Planet is eager that current students, and potential students, should raise their concerns about the environment. The table will give strength to the voices of current students campaigning for improvement. Talk to the union, staff and student media and maybe your uni will start creeping towards the top of next year’s Green League.