Climate and Sustainability at LUU
Update March 2023
Sustainability Project Coordinator, Beth Cunningham, has very kindly provided an update on LUU’s Single-Use Plastic Campaign to share with all of you.
Within the update, it talks about the current stage, LUU’s Joint Plastic Pledge with University of Leeds, and the exceptional register and examples.
Update January 2023
As we head into the new year, Beth Cunningham, our Sustainability Project Coordinator, has provided us with an update on Sustainability at LUU: Where we are at and our goals for 2023.
To help Beth understand the most effective way to communicate our progress on Climate and Sustainability at LUU, please complete this survey on Sustainability at LUU.
If you have any questions regarding our Sustainability plans at LUU, have any suggestions or ideas, Beth would love to hear from you. Contact Beth via email at b.cunningham@leeds.ac.uk.
Read more about LUU's Sustainability Strategy here.
Climate and Sustainability at LUU
Here at LUU, we are continually working to increase our sustainability activity and make significant changes towards reducing our environmental impact.
Against the backdrop of a global climate crisis, we believe it’s essential that as an organisation, we do everything we can to contribute towards a more environmentally sustainable way of life.
C L I M A T E F R I E N D L Y L U U
Building Renovations
Over Summer 2022, parts of LUU were completely renovated in what was called the 'Living in the Union' project. There was a huge focus on sustainability which shaped the outcome of many decisions. From the type of paint selected, to the sourcing of materials, it was important that the new refurbishments had a minimal or positive impact on the environment.
Watch the 'Living in the Union' video where Sue Stones, our Deputy Chief Executive, explains the renovations have been made to the building and what climate friendly decisions have made.
R E C Y C L I N G & W A S T E
Soft Plastic Recycling at Coop
People across the country have been visiting their local Co-op to recycle soft plastics like crisp packets and bread bags. It doesn’t matter where you bought them, just pop your soft plastics into our recycling units and we’ll do the rest. It means we can all do our bit for the environment.
Soft plastics recycling is easy. Just follow these three steps:
- Clean it
Rinse your packaging out.
2. Scrunch it
Scrunch it up tight - if it pings back, it's a useful indicator it's soft plastic.
3. Head to Coop
Pop it in Coops soft plastics recycling blue bin. Ask a member of the team to direct you towards it.
Examples of Soft Plastics:
Soft plastics are lightweight plastics that often cannot be placed in recycling bins at home. In fact, 25% of Co-op’s own-brand product packaging is soft plastic and can be recycled in store. This includes items such as:
Plastic film lids on yoghurt pots
Soft fruit punnets
Ready meal containers
Crisp packets
Pasta bags
Chocolate wrappers.
The other 75% includes items like plastic bottles, tubs, pots, trays and caps. These are probably best recycled in one of our many recycling bins across the union. If you’re not sure, a simple test is to scrunch it up and if it pings back, it’s a useful indicator it's soft plastic.
To find out more about what you can and can't recycle click here.
Too Good To Go
Coops Too Good To Go bags are £9 for approximately £20-£25's worth of goods.
Since using Too Good To Go, Coop have been able to save 136 Magic Bags of otherwise wasted food… that converts to 340kg of Co2 emissions.
Whilst this is a great way to prevent food from being wasted, our Retail Manager, Andy Harding, has been using Too Good To Go to keep track of Coops wastage.
Andy said "if we are selling lots of Too Good To Go bags then that means we are ordering far too much food in the first place".
Other Initiatives at LUU
Battery Recycling Point
All types of batteries can be recycled at our battery recycling point, next to the batteries for sale in Essentials.
Period Product Donation Point
Location: Outside Coop
The products donated are collected by Freedom4Girls.
Coffee Cup Recycling Point
Our Cleaning and Recycling manager is looking into implementing coffee cup recycling points around the union.
Recycling Bins
We have a number of recycle bins scattered around the union.
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
At LUU, we try and make decisions with sustainability at the forefront of our mindset.
Sustainable Products
Period Products - All our period products that are supplied in the Foyer, Outside the Exec Office and in the female toilets are from a sustainability focused company.
H A V E Y O U R S A Y
Staff Suggestions
This is how it works...
1. How can we improve LUU? You suggest a new, creative, innovative idea.
2. We send that suggestion to the relevant member of staff for their thoughts.
3. If we can, we implement the idea, we tell you and you win £20 in vouchers.
4. If we can't implement the idea or we already do it then we tell you why.
You can submit your ideas using this form.