Festive Newsletter
Welcome to the festive edition of our Sustainability at Lincoln newsletter, our regular round up of campus events, tips on how to be sustainable at university and what we're up to across the estate. If you'd like to follow us on social media, check out the links below:
Coming up next term
We'll be reviewing our Wildflower sessions going forward, so look out for our relaunched programme of events in 2023.
Upcoming Hedgehog Friendly Campus events:
- Tuesday 24th January, 15:00 - 16:00 / An introduction to Hedgehog Friendly Lincoln
- 15th February 12:00 - 13:00 / Clean up for Hedgehogs
- Green space and wildlife tour / March 2023
- Surveying Workshop / March 2023
- Hedgehog Week / first week of May 2023
Love gardening? Kitchen Garden sessions will return in Spring 2023.
If you're interested in any of the above, please email environment@lincoln.ac.uk
Environmental Strategy & Policy Update
Have you viewed our strategic plan for environmental sustainability at the University? View it below:
Our Estates Annual Report 2021-2022, featuring an update on sustainability is now available on our website:
Our environmental policies are regularly updated, view our latest policies below:
Climate Action Festival Round Up
Our second year of the Climate Action Festival kicked off on 31st October; with a jam-packed week of activities, workshops and talks that staff, students and the local community could get involved in.
It was great to see different organisations coming together to share knowledge and we would like to thank the Lincoln City Council, Doddington Hall, Lincoln Student Union, Cogglesford Mill, Project Fashion Fixed, Lincs Wildlife Trust, our own lecturers, as well as everyone who attended the Envirofayre for making it such a memorable event.
A favourite workshop was the sustainable film making session on the Tuesday. Sustainable film making encompasses many things, including using local crews and filming spots, ensuring the most energy efficient equipment is in place and giving back to the local community post production. But it’s also in the narrative whether that is subtly in the behaviour of the characters (are they vegan? Do they car share to work? Are they recycling properly? Where do they shop?) or as an integral part of the storyline.
“If climate isn’t in your story, it’s science fiction.” Screenwriter and producer Dorothy Fortenberry.
George Denver, Student, had a fantastic day at Wilder Doddington's “Be a Ranger for a Day”, read all about it here:
The Envirofayre was another success with the stall holders able to network with peers and share their immense knowledge in their field of expertise.
But it doesn’t just end there, activities and workshops will be happening throughout the rest of the year. Keep your eyes peeled on our socials for further information as it comes out.
View a gallery of images from the Climate Action Festival below:
An Introduction to Hedgehog Friendly Lincoln
Tuesday 24th January, 15:00 - 16:00, LMS2023 - Lincoln Medical School
Learn all about the Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign at the University of Lincoln and how you can get involved. Alex Foxley-Johnson, Hedgehog Friendly Campus Lead, will be talking about what we're doing to help hedgehogs on the estate, how you can help, and what future events we have lined up.
You'll learn how to identify hedgehog tracks and the best ways you can look out for our prickly pals over the Winter months.
Want to find out more about Hedgehog Friendly Campus at the University of Lincoln? View our website below:
Nature Positive University Alliance Launched at COP15 Summit
12th December 2022 - G. Thomas
An alliance of over 117 universities from 48 countries was officially announced last week at the COP15 Summit in Montreal. The University of Lincoln, UK, is proud to be one of the founding universities of the Alliance and has committed to the maintenance and development of its natural spaces, including looking after biodiversity.
An alliance of over 117 universities from 48 countries was officially announced last week at the COP15 Summit in Montreal.
The University of Lincoln, UK, is proud to be one of the founding universities of the Alliance and has committed to the maintenance and development of its natural spaces, including looking after biodiversity.
The Nature Positive Universities Alliance, led by Oxford University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is a global network of universities that have made the pledge to work towards a nature-positive goal to halt, prevent and reverse nature loss by addressing their own impacts and restoring ecosystems harmed by their activities.
This refers to everything a university does, from its teaching and research work to the operations and supply chains that keep it running.
To be Nature Positive there must be a measured biodiversity baseline, timeframe, a target, clear actions, analysis of how actions add up, monitoring and transparent reporting.
These actions will build on the progress the University of Lincoln has already made in creating habitats for wildlife as part of the Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign – for which the University received the Gold Award, earlier in 2022.
Rebecca Mills, Sustainability Manager at the University of Lincoln said:
“The University of Lincoln is proud to be one of the founding members of the Nature Positive University Alliance and to have made a pledge to measure, monitor and improve biodiversity on our Estate.
“We aim to use our campuses as showcases for supporting wildlife and to work with our students to improve habitats.”
“The University takes our role very seriously and is involved in many other projects to ensure that it does everything it can to minimise our environmental impact and educate on the importance of sustainability.”
The Nature Positive Universities Alliance is looking for more Higher Education institutes to join their network. More information on how you can make a difference can be found at www.naturepositiveuniversities.net.
Make a Difference Week
We were pleased to take part in the #MakeADifference week this year. Students joined us to Clean Up for Hedgehogs as part of the national hogfriendly campaign of #pickforprickles!
A very Sustainable Christmas!
The Sustainability team would like to wish you all the happiest of festive seasons and offer you our top tips in making a sustainable difference this Christmas:
A is for Advent Calendars
Invest in a reusable/refillable advent calendar to help reduce packaging and plastics; Advent candles are an atmospheric way to count down the days or you could purchase an ethically sourced calendar.
B is for Bang!
Make your own Christmas Crackers this year, google/write your own jokes and include miniature prizes that your friends/family would use inside the cracker.
C is for Cards
When buying Christmas cards avoid glitter, stick on bits or shiny paper to ensure they can be recycled after the festive season. You could also opt for e-cards or consider switching it up and donating what you’d spend on cards to charity.
D is for Decorations
Buy quality decorations that will last throughout the years, challenge children in your family to make decorations through upcycling items around the house or found on walks.
E is for Elf on the Shelf
Instead of a mischievous elf, your home could have a challenge elf that encourages your children to do good deeds or teaches them to be more responsible around the home.
F is for Food
Each year more than 7 million tonnes of food is wasted at Christmas. To combat this, we advise you to plan, make lists, don’t over indulge when buying ‘snacks’ and use online resources to come up with new ideas to cook leftovers.
Christmas Pizza anyone?
G is for Gift tags
Use last years Christmas cards, or upcycle items round the house or found on nature walks to create your own one-off gift tags! It’s a great way to keep the kids occupied for an hour or two, too!
H is for Homemade
Whether you’re showing off hidden talents or supporting a small business, home made gifts are a great way to give that extra ‘touch’. Scarfs, jumpers, jams, fudge and cake are things you can whip at home – just make sure the recipient is likely to use them.
I is for Inclusiveness
This time of year is tough for many people and families. Could you donate to your local food bank, buy an extra toy for the LincsFM toy appeal or offer your time to local care homes?
J is for Jumpers
We all love Christmas jumper day! But you don’t need to buy a new one each year, you can find great second-hand Christmas jumpers online (think Vinted or eBay) or pop to your local charity shop to see what treasures you can find.
K is for ‘Keep’ for the sake
When giving gifts, unless you really know the recipient avoid ornaments, picture frames, candles, cutesy frames/magnets; if it doesn’t fit their style or decor the recipient may ‘keep’ it for a while but inevitable it will either be thrown or donated to charity.
L is for Local
Buying local supports small businesses and, depending on what you buy could mean your gift has a lower carbon footprint.
M is for Meat!
Could you go meat free this Christmas? If not, could you choose some more local or organic options?
N is for ‘No’
You don’t have to agree to do everything, go everywhere and buy for everyone. Pick and choose how you want to celebrate Christmas.
O is for Oat milk
Switch out your dairy milk and give Santa oat milk on his ‘thank you’ tray. I hear Rudolf enjoys dairy free too!
P is for Planning, Planning and more Planning
Make lists and plan everything you need to do, need to buy and need to make. This will keep you on track with Christmas, stop you from over buying gifts and purchasing too much food that people won’t eat.
Q is for Quest
“Experience” gifts where friends and family undertake a quest, action or activity are great ways to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’ people receive each Christmas.
R is for Reading
Books are a great gift for old and young folks alike. Challenge your friends and family to find the best charity shop book to give to each other this year.
S is for Secret Santa
Secret Santa can be really sustainable if the gifts are wanted and have meaning; but generally in a workplace setting they usually consist of tacky, low quality items that people don’t really want and end up being thrown away or shoved at the back of a cupboard somewhere.
If your work team or friendship group are taking part in Secret Santa this year why not choose a theme where the item must be “edible, usable or wearable” or the best item bought from a charity shop.
T is for Trees
There are a few ways to have a sustainable tree at home:
1. Check out local nurseries who ‘rent’ potted Christmas trees of every size, that they cultivate each year. You can then choose a new one the following year or request your previous one.
2. Decorate a potted plant with LED lights and assign it as your ‘tree’.
3. Buy a potted miniature fir tree, bring it inside in winter and leave it to grow outside during the rest of the year.
If you already own a plastic tree, be sure to use it until the end of its life, generally you need to use a plastic tree for 10 years for it to have the same carbon footprint as a responsibly disposed natural tree.
U is for Use less energy
You can lower your energy consumption and electricity bill by switching to LED lights and turning them on for shorter periods.
Instead of watching TV you could play board games.
Optimise when you put your oven on for cooking and baking this festive season.
V is for Vintage
Charity shops are a great place to source the perfect gift.
W is for Wrapping paper
A lot of wrapping paper these days is recyclable but avoid any that are shiny or have glitter as they mess up the recycling process. Some of the best gifts I’ve received are wrapped in brown paper with string and then decorated with forest ‘treasures’ found on walks.
But you don’t have to use paper, look around your home and see what you can upcycle into wrapping material, it could be old pillow cases, sweet tins, shoe boxes or even magazines. Get creative!
X is for X-tras
Ask yourself, do I really this? There’s no point wasting money on things that won’t get used and aren’t wanted.
Y is for Yule Log
When baking your festive treats this year, opt for Fairtrade (or equivalent) based ingredients to support deprived countries around the world.
Z is for Zoom
During the past couple of years we’ve gotten very adept at holding online meetings and parties. However, we all love catching in person with friends and family.
If you do need to ‘zoom’ around the country, could you take a bus, the train or find someone to car share with?
Enjoyed this newsletter? Please tap appreciate below!
Please remember if you're going home for the holidays, to follow our switch off guide:
Credits:
Created with an image by aamulya - "Christmas concept, handmade eco friendly gift boxes" Images & words, Alex Foxley-Johnson & Tracey Turton