WAW! Waste Awareness Week

Some of the volunteer litter pickers on the Ffriddoedd residential site.Some of the volunteer litter pickers on the Ffriddoedd residential site.Bangor University students and staff along with local and national organisations, have been out and about cleaning up the streets and campuses across Bangor, raising awareness and sharing ideas about reuse and recycling during Waste Awareness Week.

The Sustainability Lab has been working in partnership with Campus Life, Halls of Residence, Student Housing, Keep Wales Tidy (KWT), the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and Gwynedd Council to run an exciting range of WAW activities and events. These included waste awareness visits in student halls and private accommodation, litter picks and an information sharing day.

Advisors visited 287 flats in students’ halls on Tuesday, looking at recycling behaviours, answering questions and providing recycling advice to 252 students. Advisors also visited hundreds of students in private accommodation throughout the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. There were 2 successful litter picks led by Keep Wales Tidy at the St Mary’s and Ffriddoedd Student villages on the Wednesday, which resulted in over 20 bags of litter being collected.  An information sharing day was also held in the University’s Main Arts reception area on Thursday, an opportunity for staff and students to discuss any issues regarding waste, and to have a go at our new recycling game.

The University also partnered with Makerere University in Uganda to deliver WAW across continents. Activities included litter picking, rubbish sorting, displaying waste messages and stickers at strategic locations Volunteers sort rubbish collected at Makerere University. Volunteers sort rubbish collected at Makerere University.across campus, and an upcycling exhibition of eco seats, earrings and much more.

WAW organiser and Waste Co-ordinator for Bangor’s Environmental Performance Team Gwen Holland said:

“Bangor has positioned itself as The Sustainable University, and waste is a big part of its impact on the environment and on the local community. It is therefore vital that we improve our reduce-reuse-recycle rates and cut down on how much waste we are sending to landfill.  To do this we need everyone to pull together - students, staff and visitor, which means that communication is key. WAW was organised to do just that, strengthen communication in order to show people simple, everyday ways of how they can make a difference.”

Gabriel Paul Hibberd, Campus Life Coordinator and Forestry & Conservation student said:

“The Sustainability Lab and Campus Life have hopefully engaged with enough individuals to make difference.  Encouraging waste awareness across the University is worthwhile and can save students money in the future. Thanks to the Sustainability Lab, Campus Life and our student volunteers, we now have a cleaner and more aware campus.”

Publication date: 9 October 2017