SUSU and the University of Southampton have released a joint statement of intent on our commitment to sustainability, minimising our impact on global ecological destruction and stabilising climate change.

• We commit to prioritising together sustainable actions to address urgent environmental issues using the passion, creativity and scholarship of our students and staff to find new, lasting solutions.
• The whole University community will work together to slow significantly and ultimately minimise our impact on the environment.
• We are setting ambitious targets to reduce our impact on the environment. We will lead by example, and we will change behaviours.
• We will co-create

Isabella, VP Welfare and Lucy, SUSU Ethics and Environment Officer, helped plant 10 oak trees at Wide Lane Sports Centre as a result of the Sports & Wellbeing Centre’s pledge to work towards offsetting its carbon footprint.

Isabella and Lucy were invited to plant the trees to commemorate both their roles as Union Sustainability Officers. “I am really happy to see departments at the University making sustainable pledges like this,” says Isabella.

“Thank you Sport and Wellbeing and University Sustainability Manager for inviting SUSU Ethics and Environment officer and I to come along and help plant the trees, … Read the rest

Nominations for our Spring Elections are well underway, but there’s still time to put yourself forward to become a Full-Time Officer (also known as Sabbatical Officer). These are paid positions, with a competitive starting salary of £20,989. These roles are perfect for those of you graduating this year (or for anyone willing to take a gap year to get some work experience), who would like to represent and improve a particular aspect of student life.

This week we will be providing you with an overview of each Sabbatical Officer role to give you a better understanding of what you … Read the rest

Shift Your Stuff is back for a third year, helping you to give your unwanted items a new home when you move out of your house this summer. We want to help you donate these items to a good cause, reducing the waste that goes to landfill in the process. It’s really simple.

Step One: Collect your stickers and a bag

Available from 31 May until 29 June from the Union’s Highfield reception, Avenue Campus reception and the WSA Café.

Step Two: Pack your stuff

Sort your items into the categories on the stickers and put into … Read the rest

Do you feel as though you can change the world?

Next week, we’re giving you the opportunity to see how you can affect our Union, the local community and the wider world with a series of free events to promote sustainability and environmental issues.

Over the course of the week, you can find out more about how to eat green, use ethical cosmetics and recycle as we collaborate with students and student groups to discuss environmental issues that will affect you both now and in the future.

Read the full timetable below…

TIMETABLE

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Tuesday 25 April – How … Read the rest

The student group, Southampton Hub, launches Bio-Cycle, Southampton’s first ever student-led food waste recycling scheme in a bid to benefit the local community by recycling and repurposing otherwise wasted food.

The scheme works by providing you with a five litre food waste caddy, filters and a roll of compostable bin liners at the cost of £10, which includes automatic registration for the regular weekly food waste pickup service.

Up to 160 students are already benefitting from the project, with waste collections organised at 33 households across Southampton, equating to approximately 200kg of recycled food waste every month.

All collected … Read the rest

In January, we partnered with Farm4Life, an international charity that aims to create a better life for people in Ghana. The charity runs a host of different community projects in Ghananian towns and communities, including Sportz4all, an initiative to enable disabled children and others, in deprived areas, to participate in sports activities.

We donated hundreds of our campaign branded t-shirts to Farm4Life for them to use as sports team bibs as part of Sportz4all, which runs a project teaching blind cricket to the visually impaired.

During the past month, the t-shirts have travelled an incredible … Read the rest

Fancy some new clothes?

Christmas is just around the corner and where students across Southampton and Winchester are penny pinching ready for the festive season, we are offering you the perfect opportunity to get yourself a whole new winter wardrobe. How?! – we hear you cry…our Swap Shop is back.

You can watch Planet Earth guilt-free as you save the environment while you shop!

Donate your unwanted clothes on Friday 25 September at 09:00 and then get shopping from 11:00 on the same day.

Fancy volunteering?

If you want to build up some volunteering experience, we’re looking for students to … Read the rest

Welcome to the second installment in our three-part blog series about how you can save money in Southampton. Last week, we looked at how to save money on shopping/food and this time, we are going to impart our wisdom about how to save energy on your house. Both good for the planet and your wallet, these tips are not to be missed! If you’ve got any advice that you think would help other students, then please get in touch via our Twitter page @yoursusu.

Saving Energy Around the House

– Get leaky taps fixed, if your taps are constantly … Read the rest

The University carry out a student travel survey to find out how student travel habits have changed over time. The results will help inform the University’s Travel Plan, which seeks to provide good, sustainable transport links between University Campuses. For example, last year there were over 5 million journeys on Uni-link buses and our Bike Doctor Service repaired more than 1,000 staff and student bikes. Results of the survey will be reported in the Plan.

If you complete it, you will have the option to enter a prize draw to win either one of five £50 West Quay vouchers, … Read the rest