We need your help to reach 25 by 25
Your Voice campaign
Following the launch of the 25 by 25 campaign, colleagues were invited to submit ideas and initiatives on how the University could reduce its CO2e emissions.
Our ‘Your Voice’ campaign received over 40 proposals from students and staff which were assessed by a panel of representatives across the University and launched during an informal lunch with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edmund Burke.
Here are the projects which have received University funding:
ENERGY A pilot trial of a Digital/Smart Campus - £10,000 funding
Idea from: Dr Noel Bristow, Lecturer - IoT Pipeline Data Management at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
Initiate the trial of the latest space sensor technology in one of our key teaching buildings. Focusing initially on a few timetabled spaces we will aim to better understand real time usage, as well as atmospheric conditions and its use of energy. This data will inform and drive how the building is managed and optimised for the users and drives more efficient resource management. This Initial kick-starter fund will therefore allow colleagues to develop on the theory and knowledge they have and be able to trial in a real situation, and then evaluate and understand how data can be interpreted and value gained.
The data will look at things like: Room usage patterns, leak detection and air quality/temperature/humidity.
ENERGY Investigating a potential change to a carbon negative University search engine - £850 funding
Idea from: Verity Edwards-Scott, an UG from the School of Medical and Health Sciences
Verity suggested the University move its default search engine from Google search to not for profit, carbon negative Ecosia. Ecosia uses profits from the search engine to finance planting trees worldwide.
As everything we do as part of the 25 by 25 campaign must be evidence based, a move to a new search engine must be fully-researched. The Vice Chancellor has therefore agreed £850 funding of a Bangor Business School research project, to undertake a systematic literature review for academic and non-academic reports on the environmental impacts and values of search engines.
A research project was conducted by Dr Edward Jones and Cem Soner, from the Bangor Business School which looked at the environmental credentials and performance of different search engines.
TRAVEL Fully-secured bicycle storage - £9,300 funding
Idea from: Dr Eleanor Warren-Thomas, NERC/IIASA Research Fellow at the School of Natural Sciences
Eleanor felt active travel by bicycle should be more supported by providing fully-secured bicycle storage, especially important for electric bikes, as they are more vulnerable to theft due to their high value.
Funding has been agreed for the installation of secure, covered external bike storage. The proprietary shelter is designed for the storage of up to 10 bikes and will be fitted with a Salto access lock. Location of bike storage shelters are to be defined and agreed.
It was also recognised that there was a need for more uncovered bicycle racks in areas of the Menai Bridge campus and outside Pontio, and funding has been agreed for a further 15 racks.
WASTE Purchase of branded travel mugs and water bottles to reduce waste at University catering outlets - £5,300
Idea from: Dr Katherine Jones – Senior Lecturer in Zoology, School of Natural Sciences
Katherine suggested that the University promotes a 20p discount on hot drinks in University catering outlets when students and staff use their own mugs. The Vice Chancellor has provided funding for 25 by 25 branded travel mugs. These will be eco-friendly mugs, made from recycled plastic and given away at campus catering outlets.
The lunch boxes provided to staff working at Open Days will no longer include a plastic bottle of water. To promote this, University catering outlets will give away 25 by 25 branded water bottles.
By changing our everyday habits, even just a little, we can reduce our energy consumption and reduce our national carbon emissions enormously.
Here are some simple things you can do straight away to reduce your carbon footprint:
Bye-bye Stand-by
The simplest way everyone can get involved with 25 by 25 is simply by turning any electrical devices off when not in use. This may just be your light or computer, or it may be a piece of analytical machinery that doesn’t always have to be left on. When it comes to heating, consider turning down your thermostat.
And don’t leave chargers plugged in when they are not charging!
These may seem insignificant differences, but with a University community of over 10,000 people, they can really add up.
Feel better in a sweater!
When it comes to heating, consider turning down your thermostat and wearing a few extra layers instead.
Wearing layers warms you up by trapping air next to your body.
Say it Loud and Cloud!
The carbon footprint of our digital activity often gets forgotten… how green are your email habits?
The carbon footprint of email is measured mainly by the energy used to run digital devices and power network infrastructures. Average emissions for a regular email are estimated at 4g of CO2e, while emissions for an email with large attachments are as much as 50g of CO2e.
Always use Cloud links instead of attachments, keep your email footer free of graphics, and unsubscribe from mailing lists you no longer read - it's an easy way of reducing our digital carbon footprints.
Use Ecosia instead of Google for online searches – they plant trees!
Consider your commute
Every single mile that you're not doing in a car is a huge CO2e saving.
Consider taking part in a lift-sharing scheme or make use of public transport where you can. If your destination isn't too far away, cycling or walking can benefit the planet as well as your health and well-being.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Every product we buy has a carbon footprint; the energy used in producing
the product and getting it to you will have caused some carbon emissions.
Re-use wherever possible and recycle when you no longer need something.
Brown Bin's Best
You may think it doesn't make much difference if you throw your food waste into the black bin, after all it's going to decompose anyway right?
Well, in fact it’s more about what happens to your food when it decomposes in landfill that matters, as trapped without air food decomposing in landfill actually produces methane, an extremely harmful greenhouse gas.
Stop the Drips
The amount of water we used as a University in 2020/21 equates to filling 33 Olympic sized swimming pools.
We need to all play our part in reducing our consumption wherever possible. Simple things like turning off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth, have shorter showers rather than baths, and when you’re making that brew - only boil the amount of water you need.
Whenever you discover a leak on a cistern, shower or tap, report it as soon as possible to campusservices@bangor.ac.uk
Did you know?
If every adult in the UK sent one less email, it could save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year – the equivalent to taking 3,334 diesel cars off the road.