Impact
Negative Sustainability Impacts Report-2023-2024
As a Union we’ve identified what our most significant sustainability impacts are to help us address issues and to prioritize the actions we’ll take in the future.
We continue to offer a hybrid work model to our staff, requiring them to be in the office a minimum of 2 days per working week, with flexibility for these requirements to change during busy periods. It’s therefore unlikely that energy consumption will be equivalent to pre COVID-19 levels. Additionally, as our offices are located in a university building, the institution manages energy usage in relation to our spaces.
1. Waste from Purchased Items- if not recycled, properly, waste could end up in a landfill site.
Reason for its significance Suggestions for possible actions in the future
High numbers of staff, approximately 31 staff members and170 student groups, which generate high levels of waste on a weekly basis through work/society/club or volunteering project related activities and online purchases which produce waste packaging.
Our Communications and Marketing Team purchase a large volume of merchandise on an annual basis. This creates a sense of fast fashion and waste with bags/leaflets. Examples of this are dated dominoes vouchers and over ordering of leaflets/flyers with dates on them that can’t be used the following year.
Examples of our purchasing practices (which have had both positive and negative impacts) this year:
Serendipity 1 – 3,136 products given away. This includes calendar pads, notebooks, tote bags, water
Continue to promote zero waste culture with students and staff through:
- Holding student-led Repair Cafes and clothes swaps.
- Promoting our Ethical Purchasing Guide to student groups.
- Encourage staff and students to carefully consider quantities ordered.
- Focus on purchasing reusable products in place of disposable products e.g., reusable cups.
- Encourage student groups to recycle packaging obtained through orders made for activities. Student Centre staff to remind students of this upon collection.
- Consider merchandise purchases for Serendipity carefully and aim to buy products that are practical, that students
bottles, lanyards, card holders and reusable coffee cups. Some items left over from last year used.
Serendipity 2 – 1,700 items given away including shop bought giveaways and branded material. Left over products from Serendipity 1 used, reducing waste. Eco notebooks, reusable plastic cups, pens and magnets given away in addition (from old stock).
University Open Days - over 2,000 ordered split between the offer holder days and open days. With these we have mini phone stands to give away (2,000 of them) all individually wrapped in plastic which goes to waste.
Cups - 1,000 reusable cups ordered for campaigns, no waste on these as all have gone. 1,500 plastic reusable cups ordered with 60% given away. 2,000 cardboard cups ordered.
Campaigns - 1,500 items order and then sweets and fruits purchased as additional giveaways. Branded materials purchased i.e., cushions and photobooths but can be re used.
Many out-of-date condoms disposed of- linked to our Sexual Health Campaign.
Varsity – only 100 lanyards left over which are dated and can’t be used next year. Aside from this, exact amounts were ordered.
will benefit from for a long time. Consider purchasing merchandise without event dates on to ensure long-term usage.
- Consider encouraging students to return t-shirts after events or when they no longer have use for them for re-use.
- Consider the external organisations who attend Serendipity 1 & 2 and their contributions.
- Brief staff to be conscious of expiry date for products ordered and ensure they are used by then and have benefited students.
2. Ethical Purchases
3. Printing and Paper Wastage
Many student groups and staff at the purchase items online and there is currently no monitoring system for these purchases or purchasing practices.
As a Union, we want to empower our student groups to make their own decisions around ethical purchasing, rather than implementing policy and restrictions. We appreciate that groups must make decisions that consider financial sustainability in addition to environmental sustainability.
We recognize that Amazon is a popular supplier due to its quick delivery time and affordability and encourage our student groups and staff to consider alternative, more ethical suppliers. There is always more work that can be done to educate around this.
Our Marketing and Communications Team have been much more conscious this year and have ordered as many recyclable/recycled goods as possible, but it’s not always realistic due to budget and time constraints. For example, a mix of items from IKEA, Amazon and Argos were used to furnish our new student space in a short period of time, the Lolfa.
Due to the expenses of buying branded merchandise it is usually cheaper to buy from the east and get them shipped over. This would significantly increase carbon emissions; therefore, we try and use local companies where possible, or ones based in the UK.
Naturally, our hybrid work model and the introduction of Teams amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic, has reduced the volume of paper wastage.
However, the Students’ Union continues to print in key areas, particularly marketing materials. We aim to print on recycled paper where financially viable.
- Reminding staff of our Fairtrade Purchases Policy.
- Consider purchasing organic, Fairtrade cotton items for staff and group clothing.
- Promoting our Ethical Purchasing Guide to student groups- with aim of educating students to make their own informed decisions.
- Forward planning to avoid last minute purchases from unsustainable suppliers.
- Consider local companies.
- Brief staff who approve group purchases to be conscious of what students are ordering and from where e.g., are they purchasing items that could be bought from a local shop?
- Ensure that we only use and offer recycled paper.
- Make use of QR codes.
- Display information on laptops, monitors, white board, chalk boards where possible.
Sabbatical Officer
Elections Campaigning:
SU printed 30 x A3 sheets for 25 candidates = 750 A3 sheets.
1000 Flyers
Serendipity:
1000 Paper Calendars
250 Business Cards
500 Flyers A4, 100% Recycled
2000 Flyers A5
250 Stickers/Labels
Chill & Chat:
2,500 Flyers A5, 100% Recycled
Socs Fest:
250 Business Cards, 100% Recycled
500 Flyers A4, 100% Recycled
2000 Flyers A5, 100% Recycled
2000 Flyers A5, 100% Recycled
250 x 1 Stickers/Labels
General Print orders:
250 Business Cards, 100% Recycled
500 Flyers A4, 100% Recycled
2000 Flyers A5, 100% Recycled
2000 Flyers A5, 100% Recycled
250 Stickers/Labels
- Explore alternative solutions for campaigning materials during Sabbatical Officer Elections e.g., SU to stop offering printing for candidates.
- Consider printing double sided marketing materials (Welsh and English on either side) rather than printing one of each to fulfill our bilingual policy.
4. Fossil Fuel Emissions Release of CO2 due to events and - Introduce new fleet of MPV’s rather
-Travel student group activities currently takes place through 4 different transportation methods:
1. Minibuses
2. Coaches booked externally
3. Taxis booked externally
4. Student cars
The Students’ Union makes use of minibuses for group and event transport. The total milage for 7 of our minibuses was approximately 32,142 miles (23-24).
Few students are qualified to drive minibuses at present due to age and qualification requirements. This leads to the use of external coaches, taxi companies and individual cars where drivers are not available.
In some cases, coaches booked are larger than the number of students who attend activities on the day due to drop-outs and low sign-up numbers.
5. Network Usage & Storage
Beyond the individual device, all data that is processed and stored is sent to data centers. Their 24/7 operation makes online browsing, storage and communication possible, but delivering the data requires large amounts of electricity, which is more often than not, non-renewable. Data centers also produce a large amount of heat and require constant cooling, using more electricity.
The Union uses Microsoft Teams to store data.
IT have a "Quota System" in place which keeps track of our network storage. The system automatically sends emails to individual staff members when they reach their limit on the M; \ drive which asks them to delete old and unused files.
than minibuses. Students over the age of 18 who hold a full driver’s license can drive these.
- Incentive for student groups to drive smaller vehicles to lower carbon emissions.
- New partnership with more local firm, Clynnog and Trefor, to offer transport for BUCS.
- Encourage students and staff to car share where possible.
- Closely monitor sign ups to events that we offer transport for and amend size of coach bookings where possible.
- Educate staff on the environmental impacts of data usage and storage-possible training session.
- Promote sustainable digital behaviors among staff and remind staff of the specific actions they can take to minimis their individual impact:
Be mindful of time spent browsing social media and streaming videos unless necessary for work purposes.
To delete unwanted files from cloud storage spaces.
Delete old emails.
Unsubscribe from
Having taken important measures to reduce our impact through data processing and storage, further steps could be taken by staff on an individual level.
unwanted emails.
Encourage staff to use meeting time productively and limit time spent working together silently on calls or discussing nonwork- related matters.
- Encourage staff to minimise duplication of files on Teams where possible.
- Move to using Ecosia as a web browser.