Library away day focuses on sustainability and innovation

Staff at Lancaster University Library recently took a trip to The Platform in Morecambe for their annual away day. The theme of the away day was ‘Innovative Sustainable’ and the team took part in a beach cleaning activity along the Morecambe sea front. Staff also took part in a mending café, sharing skills and learning how to repair and repurpose damaged items of clothing.

ReStore Lancaster celebrates 1st birthday

ReStore Lancaster celebrated their 1st birthday on 9 October. ReStore is now a hub for sustainable merchandise and gifts, and a great place to thrift charity shop clothes in the centre of campus. To celebrate, they are hosting a Halloween jumble sale in Alexandra Square on Thursday 24 October 10.30am-3pm.

Significant savings on heating and lighting

Over Summer, the Library worked with Facilities to carry out a trial that adjusted the schedule of the ventilation and lighting control system to match with the summer reduced hours, rather than using the same schedule as the rest of the year (i.e. 24/7). Even during this short trial period, the University’s Energy Manager, Avery Chong, tracked a saving of 23% on electricity on weekdays and over 32% in weekends. The Energy team are looking into other efficiencies for other areas.

Lucky thirteen for the Grounds Maintenance team

Lancaster has been awarded the Green Flag Award for the thirteenth consecutive year in a row. The award is given to the country’s best-managed green spaces. This year, the University’s Grounds team have planted 1,300 British native trees to link and improve areas of woodland, 28,000 spring bulbs, sown 6,000m2 of wildflower meadow and planted 1,100 wildflower plugs, providing opportunities for nature recovery.

Don’t Ditch It success

The University’s Don’t Ditch It student accommodation clear out project has finished for another year with great success. Over 20 tonnes of items were saved from landfill from student donations – this is the equivalent of four average-sized adult elephants! The items were distributed to over 35 different charities and over 2,000 items were upcycled and resold to students at the ReStore Eco Market that took place in Welcome Week in Alexandra Square.

Got a sustainability story?

The University’s Sustainability team want to hear more from anyone who is working to advance sustainability in any way across Lancaster University, no matter how big or small.

Send your stories, suggestions, ideas, and feedback to sustainability@lancaster.ac.uk.