“Embedding Sustainability In How We Think And In Everything We Do”

ECO News

	6/5/2011 STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER ELECTION NOW OPEN The student union elections are now open and the new sustainability officer will again be battling for green issues on behalf of the student body. The elected representative will become a key member of the ECO team. Interested? Contact Sam Duckett.
	15/04/2011 £44k MONTHLY ELECTRICITY BILL REDUCED TO £27k Ravensbourne’s Estates department worked hard last month to reduce the monthly electricity bill. There’s a long way to go, but we are heading in the right direction…
	17/03/2011 MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE HOSTS ECO PANEL Green comic Marcus Brigstocke hosted our panel event on 17th March 2011. This interesting debate on sustainability issues focused on greening broadcasting. The video of the event can be viewed here… The event was successfully carbon neutralised to the tune of £70. Many thanks to all those who donated.
	26/11/2010 JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP Click here to join the new Facebook group and keep up to date with green issues and events.
	27/10/2010 OFFICIAL LAUNCH ECO launched at the Fresher’s Fair event – spreading the word about greening the college. We then ran our first green pub quiz at 5:30pm in the American Bar and Grill. A great success.
	1/10/2010 COLLEGE SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING OUTCOME IS A GO! The Eco team have worked with the College’s academic board to include sustainability in the Learning Outcomes of Ravensbourne’s Communication Media courses. Freddie Gaffney of Eco said ”We’re piloting a new green learning outcome that will be in all the Broadcasting courses, putting green behaviour at the heart of students’ learning”. The modifications have been piloted this year with a number of courses and the learning outcome will be disseminated leading to dramatic changes in the student’s experience of green issues.

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Did you know?

• Every time you do two Google searches it is the energy equivalent of boiling a kettle (see article here).
• A typical desktop computer uses about 65 to 250 watts. Turning down the brightness on your laptop screen can save you up to 25% on power consumption which would mean your battery charge will last longer and you’ll be saving the planet
• If the Sahara Desert was covered with solar panels it would power the world 50x over.
• 20 species of animals and plants become extinct each week.
• It takes 4000 years for a glass bottle to decompose.
• 1 million plastic bags are used in the world every minute.
• 30% of the ice cover in the Eastern Himalayas has been lost since 1970.
• If the wind all around the UK coasts was harnessed it would power the UK 3x over.

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What is ECO?

We’re a group of Ravensbourne staff and students committed to embedding green practices into the behaviours, skills and knowledge fundamentals of College teaching, learning and living.

We are developing green course content and delivery methods; creating College-wide initiatives to highlight green issues; seeking the greenest spend on kit and materials; and partnering with green organisations to help develop and accredit our achievements. And we’re aiming to measure and monitor all of this, in order that we stay aware of how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.
In short, we want our graduates to know where the green option lies in any work decision, even when their employer doesn’t.

PEOPLE

Green Captain: Jackie Martin – Industry Liaison, Faculty of Communication Media
Green Institution: Freddie Gaffney – Subject Leader, Digital Film Production
Green Building: Pete Harris – Facilities Manager
Green Staff: Mike Davidson – Subject Leader Broadcasting
Green Students: Stuart Scully – Sustainability Officer, Student Union
Green Communications: Richard Hughes – Subject Leader, Editing and Post Production
Green Metrics: James Uren – Senior Lecturer, Broadcasting

Contact us below. Please mark the message for the individual’s attention.

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What are we doing?

Green Panel

In the new year we will be holding a sustainability panel event in the style of Question Time. Join us to find out what you can do to green your college, your course and your life. Ask a panel made up of green experts what they think the College as an organisation, and what you as an individual could do to make a difference. Send us your questions and issues below.

Greening the Courses

We’re aiming to set up a range of green events across the year to help with the fulfillment of your courses’ learning outcomes. How would you make your course greener? Contact us with you ideas below.

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Statement of Intent

The ECO group aims to embed the practice of sustainability into the skills, knowledge base and behaviours that fulfil the College’s academic remit by:

Terms of Reference

Developing course material, pedagogy and strategic teaching plans which will increase staff and students’ exposure to and understanding of sustainability.

Creating, channelling and promoting sustainability initiatives to staff and students by encouraging, rewarding and celebrating environmental improvements.

Integrating sustainability into procurement practices.

Increasing active links with sustainability organisations that will steer, endorse and/or accredit College developments.

Working towards clear and defined metrics and targets for sustainability development within course outcomes.

Ensuring that sustainability is central to the marketing and promotion of the course portfolio.

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