New Year: New You! Departments across UCL pledge to be sustainable.

Pledges

Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER)

• Reduce plastic waste for all catering and events;
• Reduce the carbon footprint of BSEER research in conjunction with carbon offsetting projects: regulating academic travel in the pre-award stage;
• Continue to have all meetings and events catering 100% vegetarian (and vegan where possible);
• Instate the BSEER Climate Change Working Group: a committee of academics and professional services staff to challenge the issues of climate change in our day-to-day working lives;
• Replacing one dairy milk with oat milk in our office milk orders;
• Office Jungle: aiming for at least one plant per desk;
• Maintain a programme of sustainability events and initiatives throughout the year, e.g. Steptember and Movement May.

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

• Pledge to achieve Green Impact Silver Award.

Department of Greek and Latin

• Retain Green Impact Gold Award.

Information Studies

• Take part in Green Impact;
• Go paperless for meetings;
• Stop purchasing non-reusable and disposable paper cups;
• Reduce packaging by flagging suppliers who use a lot of packaging to UCL Procurement;
• Combine orders with suppliers to reduce the number of individual deliveries onto site.

Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology

• Pledge to provide vegetarian catering for UCL events;
• Use less, waste less, recycle more;
• Create a healthier office environment.

Institute of Neurology

• Pledge to be Powered by Plants at all catered events;
• Avoid plastic water bottles;
• Achieve Green Impact Silver Award for Offices;
• Organise an IoN Green Day;
• Co-ordinate an IoN-wide LEAF team and make waste and sustainability part of the labs induction;
• Set up a lab equipment repair service for IoN buildings.

Institute of Ophthalmology

• Achieve Green Impact Bronze Award;
• Achieve LEAF Gold Award;
• Establish a sustainability rep in every lab;
• Improve the IoO garden for biodiversity and edible planting;
• Source only sustainable stationary;
• Increase videoconferencing and use sustainable forms of transport instead of flying;
• Increase recycling and reduce disposables;
• Reduce energy consumption.

Geography

• To not take a flight when it's possible to get to the same destination by train in 6 hours or less.

Mathematics

• Retain Green Impact Gold Award;
• Hold an annual Fairtrade bake sale and purchase only Fairtrade certified tea and coffee;
• Purchase only recycled products where appropriate and to promote recycling in the department;
• Hold paperless meetings and eliminate disposable coffee cups;
• Promote the use of video-conferencing to reduce the need for flying and encourage practical transport alternatives.

School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

• Provide free aluminium water bottles to all members of staff;
• Ensure no plastic bags are provided at events;
• Donate leftover food to St Mungo's Homeless Charity;
• Go paperless for meetings;
• Provide plants for the office;
• Take part in the Carbon Accountability Scheme Pilot at UCL.