Don’t be a mug – reduce your carbon footprint

Four students from the University of Nottingham have launched a campaign to encourage students, the university and the wider community to take action against climate change.

Under the title ‘Love Your Mug’, the students aim to get water fountains installed across campus and improve student recycling in University accommodation.

Throughout the campaign week the team will be running information stands and love your mug evenings to illustrate how much money and energy is wasted by using plastic cups. Reusable bags will also be distributed and an inter-hall pledge competition will be held.

Geography student Rebecca Lyons explained: “It is our theory that a great number of students feel disconnected when it comes to climate change, as they rarely see the impact of their efforts. We aim to raise awareness of their impact by showing how small changes to a students’ way of life can save a surprising amount of money.

“We want to leave a legacy by creating a campaign that will attract enough support to have water fountains installed across campus and individual recycling facilities added to all bedrooms in university accommodation. We want our ideas at Nottingham to inspire others so that we can have a global impact.”

The team’s project has been welcomed by the University and is set to add to the ongoing environmental work, which saw Nottingham crowned ‘Europe’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking. Since then the University has continued to lower its environmental impact, while investing in research to improve the efficiency and capability of green technologies.