Catz MCR Green Page

University Activities

College Activities

You can read about the college-wide environmental activies on the main website. In the CUECS College Environmental League Table 2007/8 we were in 7th place and we are hoping to do even better this year. The college has an active Environmental Committee which includes members of the JCR, MCR, SCR and officers of the college.

MCR Activities

The MCR has reviewed all its areas of impact and has taken action to mininise these. The MCR contains recycling bins for paper, plastic and glass. Newspapers have been reduced to one per day (but can be increased again according to demand!).

All light bulbs used are energy-efficient and we have signs up reminding people to turn off lights when not in use. All MCR accommodation areas have recycling facilities and the college has also installed a small wormery at the Russell Street site.

The college has also had some Fairtrade organic cotton bags produced with the Catz logo on the side. These are intended to be used by students in place of plastic supermarket bags. They cost £2 each from college and the MCR has given a 50% subsidy to our members, meaning that these bags can be bought from the MCR for only £1!

Individual Activities

Organisations and committees can only do so much. It is up to each of us to play our own part in ensuring we are not wasteful with our resources. Some quick tips to become greener:

Turn the lights off when you leave a room (that includes fluorescent lights if you're leaving the room for more than 2 minutes)
Don't leave a window open above a radiator that's on (if you're hot then just turn the heating down!)
If you turn the thermostat down by 1 degree (which you won't notice) then you can cut your heating bill by 10%
Don't leave appliances on standby (they still use energy)
Don't leave hot taps dripping (that wastes water AND energy)
Always use energy-saving lightbulbs (they can reduce the cost of lighting by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb and they last much longer)
Use the economy programme on the washing machine and wash clothes at 30 degrees rather than 40
Only boil as much water as you need in a kettle rather than filling it each time you use it (that saves energy as well)
Don't leave the tap running when you clean your teeth as this can waste 9 litres of water a minute.
For those of you with gardens, collect rainwater to water your plants
Don't leave your taps dripping- this could waste up to 90 litres of water a week

Recycling

This is an ever more important issue as natural resources run out and landfill sites fill up. The council have also made it a necessity to recycle by only collecting general black bag waste from houses every two weeks. So whether you do it to help the environment or just to stop your bins over-flowing and the rats arriving, it's important to recycle everything you can. Here are some ways you can do that:

At home: All homes have a black wheelie bin, a green wheelie bin, black boxes and a blue box. Working out what goes in which box and which day they're emptied can be a bit of a nightmare. The black bin and black boxes will be emptied one week and the green bin and blue boxes will be emptied the following week. There will be a sticker on your wheelie bins telling you which day your bins will be emptied. Into the green wheelie bin should go organic food waste, cardboard, and NO tetrapak or egg cartons. Into the black boxes should go paper, magazines, glass, cans and foil. Into the blue box should go plastic bottles, NO lids and NO other plastic. The little rubbish you have left can go in the black wheelie bin.

In town: Large supermarkets have recycling bins for most household waste. They should also have bins where you can leave old carrier bags.

In college: Stamps can be left in the folder above the paper-recycling bin by the pigeon holes. Batteries, CDs and floppy disks can be put in the boxes in the computer rooms. In the MCR, you can leave glass bottles and cans (rinsed out please), paper and plastic carrier bags.

At work: Encourage your department to collect cans, foil and paper for recycling if they don't already do so.

Useful Links

   University

Cambridge University Environmental Consulting Society (CUECS)
Cambridge University Roots & Shoots Society (CUR&S)
Cambridge University Student Green Belt Society
CUSU Green campaign
Cambridge People & Planet [P&P]
Cambridge Zero-Carbon Society [CamZest]

   Cambridgeshire

Local Nature Reserves
Cambridge Green Belt Project
The National Trust
BTVC Environmental Conservation Volunteers

   Global

Greenpeace
WWF
Earthwatch