Climate Action Week was a huge success! A big thank you to everyone who was involved. Here are the highlights.
This year, Climate Action Week replaced Green Week, providing Queen Mary students and staff with a chance to learn more about sustainability and taking meaningful steps towards a greener future. Staff and students came together to organise fourteen climate action events ranging from workshops to volunteering, and seminars to shopping! These events all took place between Monday 19th February to Friday 23rd February and were open to students, staff, and the general public.
Monday was a busy day! We had an entire charity shop pop-up on campus, with a 20% discount for staff and students. Wick Thrift Store brought their curated collection of second-hand clothes, with a notably beautiful selection of coats - I bought one myself! Check out Wick Thrift Store's Instagram and visit the shop at 11b Chapman Road, 9 5DW - a 30 minute walk through the park from the Mile End campus.
"It was lots of fun to look around whilst helping to keep fashion sustainable!" - Ieuan Neale, Alumni, MSc Public Policy Graduate.
Our Big Green Canal Clean had Queen Mary volunteers fishing out bags and bags of litter from the canal. Kitted out with long nets and litter pickers, we found that plastic bottles, cans, and disposable coffee cups were the most common offenders! At lunch time, the Curve kitchen supplied us with delicious vegetable soup using rescued imperfect and out-of-shape produce from Angry Monk. Find out more about our partnership with Angry Monk.
The first workshop of the week focused on Cabinet Cultures, a cross-industry research partnership launched in 2023 reshaping our relationship with houseplants. We learnt about building greenhouse cabinets, readymade display cabinets with modifications for plant growth and maintenance such as humidifiers and grow lights.
On Tuesday, Recycle Your Cycle brought refurbished bicycles to sell on campus. Their partner charities rescue abandoned bicycles, then train prisoners and disadvantaged groups to refurbish them, providing them with valuable technical skills for the workplace. Read more about their mission here.
Queen Mary's Careers and Enterprise team created an online panel of speakers who have embedded their values into their careers. Some of our sustainable guests included Mervin Azeta from global energy technology company SLB and Rosie Wilson from sustainable footware brand Vivobarefoot.
Ten London universities collaborated to host the London Student Sustainability Conference on Wednesday. Queen Mary participated this year, contributing £600 to this student-led Conference. Students presented their sustainability research and projects throughout the entire day, with three Queen Mary students being selected to give presentations! Pauline de Bigault de Cazanove presented research on the chemical degredation of plastics (read more), Isabel Stingman on effective disposal methods for e-cigarettes, and Jules Buet on a trans-inclusive future. Some of the student volunteers were also from Queen Mary!
We had two society events; the Stave Hill Ecological Park Visit organised by the Students with Disabilities Society on Wednesday and the Scavenger Hunt Litter Pick organised by Sober Socials, Biology Society, and Sustain@BL on Thursday. Students and staff joined to walk/wheelchair through nature and clean up the parks.
"Whilst a few events such as the Wick Thrift Shop and the Scavenger Hunt Litter Pick stand out, the whole week turned out amazing and I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed it" - Lily Throssell, Sustainability Officer, 2nd-year BSc Zoology Student.
Our very own Sustainability and Energy Manager, Tobi Ajala, gave us a 'Behind the Scenes' Energy Tour, an exclusive journey into what powers our campus. We toured the heat pumps, building management systems, and solar PVs, then learnt engaged in a presentation from Carbon Numbers about how we're using our energy more efficiently.
As part of the Skills Award, we hosted a workshop on Putting Sustainability Skills into Action, discussing entrepreneurship and tackling sustainability challenges.
Bywaters, the family-owned waste-management company that takes Queen Mary's rubbish, came to campus with a pop-up stall about recycling. Students played a game of 'Which bin does this go in?', winning notebooks made from recycled plastic and tote bags made from coffee cups. Learn more about recycling on campus here. We will be working with Bywaters again to organise a tour of their Mixed Recycling Facilities!
"I loved this year's Climate Action Week and found it very eye-opening. From learning what items are recyclable with Bywaters, being proactive and making a change with litter-picking, and learning how to be sustainable in the future with the Darning and Patching Workshop - I've learnt how to be more sustainable in my future!" - Amjad Khan, Alumni, BSc Mathematics Graduate.
At the Zero Waste Shop, there was a workshop on how to Plant and Grow Your Own Herbs. They planted coriander, cilantro, and parsley seeds for everyone to take home and watch them grow.
The final event was the Darning and Patching Workshop with Fast Fashion Therapy on Friday. We practiced hand-sewing techniques to fix holes and rips with visible mending - a practical skill for looking after our clothes!
"Climate Action Week wasn’t just about picking up litter or repairing clothes, it was a powerful demonstration of our collective commitment to sustainability. I’m thrilled to have found a like-minded community and I’m excited to be on this journey of helping to steer QMUL to the forefront of climate action!" - Natalie Squance, Environmental Sustainability Champion, Impact Content Producer within Research Services.
A big thank you to everyone who was involved with running and attending events - we couldn't have done it without you.
If you attended any of this years' Climate Action Week events, please fill out the feedback form to let us know your thoughts!