April 2017
This is the latest edition of The Branch for 2017. In this issue Manchester Student Homes’ Good Neighbours Team focuses on environmental issues in the local community.
MSH Talks to Ryan Waugh Ryan Waugh is the Sustainability Engagement Coordinator at Manchester Metropolitan University. MSH went to meet to him to discuss what the university is doing to aid environmentalism. So Ryan, what does your job entail? “My job is engaging with staff and students to help them be environmentally friendly, making them more aware, helping them help us achieve our sustainability goals and targets. For instance, recycling more, and reducing their energy usage.” Where did you go to university and what degree did you do? “I went to Manchester Metropolitan University and studied Business which is quite different to what I do now, but what did inspire me to get involved in environmental sustainability was doing a module on business ethics and social responsibility.” What university initiatives are there to ensure that students are recycling?
What is the best and easiest way that students can contribute to environmentalism? “Recycle as much as you can. I don’t know if you know, but this year the UK’s recycling rate dropped. We’re currently working on a big campaign to encourage recycling, launching in September. If you want information about recycling visit the Recycle for Greater Manchester website which has clear and easy guidelines of what you can and can’t recycle.”
MSH Visits Viridor The visit to Viridor recycling plant was an opportunity for both students and MSH’s accredited Landlords to see what happens to our waste once it has been collected, the idea being that they could pass down any findings to students in the local area.
“There’s loads! For Our ‘Give It, Don’t Bin It’ campaign we work in partnership with the universities, Manchester City Council and the British Heart Foundation to encourage students, when they’re moving out of halls and homes in the community, to donate their unwanted items and food to charities throughout Manchester.” In the People and Planet University League, which is a league table based on ethical and environmental performance, we ranked 1st in 2014 in the UK — currently we are ranked 3rd. The University will continue to develop and implement new and exciting environmental and sustainability initiatives both on and off campus to meet our targets.”
Alison, Viridor’s On Site Educator, explained what Viridor was, how the plant recycled waste, how waste would be used once recycled, and what should and should not go in the various bins provided by Manchester City Council (MCC). She also explained how Manchester is fairing in relation to other local authorities in the plight of recycling. By 2020
Manchester Student Homes is a free, university-run housing service for students. Based in Fallowfield, MSH runs a landlord accreditation scheme and can offer support to students in relation to property searches, providing housing advice and contract checking. MSH also works with students, long-term residents and partner agencies to identify issues in off campus areas.
we should be recycling 50% of our waste; it currently stands at 48%. Alison stated “the best approach for reaching the 50% by 2020 will be education”. We learnt that no matter where we are; we all have the same waste and the success is not just down to the local authorities but the people who live within it and how much effort they put into recycling. Doing it correctly can save and even make money for the local authority. It is vitally important, not only for MCC funding but for the environment that we recycle correctly. Viridor has the ability to turn our waste into new recyclable materials, compost, energy and bio-fuels.
Act Local. Think Global.
Varsity Recycling Event
MSH Chats with Al Clark
On the 22nd of March 2017, Manchester Metropolitan University went head to head with The University of Manchester in a battle of environmentalism to see who is the greenest university of them all.
Al Clark is the Environmental Coordinator at The University of Manchester.
Amidst the pouring rain and adverse weather conditions, the students came full of enthusiasm to clean the streets of Fallowfield and Withington. They managed to fill 9 large sacks of litter – 6 of which were filled with recyclable materials.
“We encourage student engagement in regards to sustainability, environmentalism and social responsibility. We are working constantly to encourage engagement with waste and recycling, resource use, green travel, and food sustainability. In recent years this has widened to encompass the whole student lifecycle here in Manchester whether they’re living in halls or the local community.”
Libby Turner, University of Manchester student and Fallowfield resident, said "The litter pick allowed the green areas to breathe and streets to shine again on an otherwise dark and rainy day. I really hope the great work done here today by all of the volunteers and Manchester Student Homes will encourage people to volunteer in the local community and take responsibility for their rubbish”. It was a close run battle but at the end of play The University of Manchester came out winners.
What impact do you think the University is having with students both on and off campus?
What campaigns are the university running to ensure environmentalism and sustainability is being taken seriously? “The Sustainability Challenge is a great example of the initiatives the University is taking. This involves student partaking in classes based on environmentalism and sustainability. Ultimately there are 8,000 students living in Halls, and what behaviours we set out in Halls will help towards their behaviour when they move off campus. For example we worked in partnership with MCC to have a unified recycling scheme. We are also focussing on reusing, encouraging students to donate instead of throw away which is best highlighted by our partnership work with the British Heart Foundation’s ‘Give It, Don’t Bin It’ campaign. We are also preparing for a Student Cycle Week in the coming months highlighting issues around air pollution.” Who is your favourite environmentalist and why?
MSH will continue to work with partnership agencies such as MCC and Biffa to ensure that environmental issues within the community are managed via waste and recycling initiatives.
Moving into the local community in September? If so... Manchester Student Homes is hosting a Community Fete on 3rd of May 2017 at Owen’s Park, The University of Manchester. This follows on from a similar event hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University. Come along and see us!
“I would have to say Wangari Maathai. She really brought the community together around environmentalism and sustainability in Kenya. However, politically, I would have to say somebody like Al Gore, not necessarily because he's the biggest environmentalist, but because he brought the issue of environmentalism and sustainability to the world in the way that he did, just like Leonardo DiCaprio has more recently. I think we need more people like that.” Our Interviews with Ryan Waugh and Al Clark will be available in full on our website.