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Help us be an exemplar of sustainability at Dreadnought

TLDRoffon

Dreadnought has high sustainability design standards and with your help, we want it to become an exemplar of environmental responsibility and an inspiration to the rest of the university.

Our Sustainability policies provide objectives and guidance for students and staff and you can help us become more sustainable by following some simple actions:

Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Waste best practice is to target zero waste and strive to not produce waste in the first place, consider:

  • Rethinking your approach to using resources. Is it necessary or is there an alternative lower impact means of achieving a similar or better result?
  • Reducing your waste. Consider whether you really need to print off documents or as many. Think about how will you deal with it when it becomes waste itself?
  • Reusing resources, for example use a ceramic mug or reusable 'Keep Cup' and save yourself money too with 10p off.  In our Queen Mary Cafe on Greenwich campus, we're going disposable cup free from 17 September, so take part of our Buy it, Bring it, Swap it scheme.
  • Recycling as much as possible. Follow the guidance on the recycling & waste bins to identify what is recyclable and what isn't.

You'll find waste and recycling bins throughout the building and for the first time we're trialling food caddies in the staff kitchen areas. The  image below provides more information on our waste and recycling arrangements.

Dreadnought recycling chart

A Green Ambassador will be in the Atrium from time-to-time to help you with any questions about sustainability in the building.  They may not have all the answers but will put you in touch with those who do.

General and other waste, including hazardous waste

  • If you're unsure about whether or not an item is recyclable put it in the general waste bin - if waste is put in the wrong bin, it could contaminate more than just the bin you use if it isn't spotted. 
  • A bin for glass will be located in the Atrium of Dreadnought, glass cannot be put in the dual bin recycling compartments.  If you have large amounts of glass to recycle please contact the campus FM team.
  • If you have hazardous wastes such as toner cartridges, batteries, electrical equipment and paints or bulky items of furniture to dispose of please contact the campus FM team for advice.

Staff who are moving into the building may find they have items that they no longer need but may be of use to others in the university.  If so, use Warpit to rehome them, this tool is used extensively in the HE sector to help increase reuse of items avoiding waste and saving organisations money.

Energy: switching to a lower carbon building

Many parts of Dreadnought have automatic systems to help reduce our collective energy use, such as movement sensor lighting, but there is still more than you can do:

  • Switch off non-essential electrical items when not in use or outside office hours including mobile phone chargers, monitors and computers 
  • Close windows in heated rooms
  • Don't waste hot and chilled water from 'Zip' taps
  • In unused rooms switch off lights if they have a manual override

Water: every drop counts

Water is a precious resource and Dreadnought is designed to treat it so. It has low flush cisterns, water-less urinals and low flow taps. Please

  • Don't leave taps running too long
  • If you see a tap left running, please turn it off
  • If you see a leaky tap then report it to the campus FM Helpdesk

Join the Dreadnought Sustainability Group

If you would like to become a member of the Dreadnought Sustainability Group facilitated by the Sustainable Development Unit please get in touch with us by email and stay in touch with us on Twitter or through our blog.