Category: Students (Page 12 of 13)

KCL Student Switch Off Celebratory Event

May 20, 2016 / kcl sustainability

This Thursday (May 19th) saw a massive ice cream give away at Great Dover Street Apartments as a reward for the great success of GDSA students work for Student Switch Off.

A wave of exam drained students lining up

A wave of students who just finished an exam

What is Student Switch Off?

Student Switch Off is a NUS led initiative aiming to bring collective energy saving action to university accommodation across the country. This could be through simple actions like switching off lights to longer, larger campaigns. So far this year SSO has reached 139,000 students over 44 universities leading to an average of 5.5% reductions in energy use (keeping roughly 1,188 tonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere).

One third of the freezers full of Ice Cream

How did King’s Accommodation do?

Over the past year KCL Halls of residence (specifically Stamford Street Apartments, Great Dover Street Apartments, Wolfson House and Champion Hill) used 4.3% less energy compared to the 2014/15 academic year. That’s the equivalent of 76 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide being kept out of the atmosphere.

students students2

Did you say Ice Cream Giveaway?

Why yes. As Great Dover Street saw the greatest reduction in electricity use amongst the halls they were treated to roughly 400 tubs to free Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream (as well as some vegan options and sorbets). With help from the RLAs (Resident Life Assistants), Neil Jennings, who set up the Switch Off programme, was able to pass on all that ice cream to GDSA students, a brief but welcome respite in the middle of exam season.

students3

To keep up with the KCL Switch Off campaign you can check the facebook page.

For more information about Student Switch Off in general click here.

Charles Pegg, Sustainability Projects Assistant

KCL Green Impact Office Audits

April 5, 2016 / kcl sustainability

March 31^st saw this year’s Sustainability Champions good work be audited by a selection of volunteering students.

What are the Sustainability Champions?

Sustainability Champions are our members of staff promoting sustainable use of their environment for the Green Impact Scheme accreditation.

What is Green Impact?

Green Impact is an NUS lead scheme working with hundreds of organisations to improve workplace sustainability and public engagement. Each team of Sustainability Champions (organised by department) use different criteria from a workbook to go for Gold, Silver or Bronze Awards depending on their achievements.

This was just Green Impacts second year at King’s and we had about 20 office teams across our campuses, and a similar amount of lab teams.

Auditing

8 Teams submitted their workbooks (with teams aiming for awards between bronze and gold) on the 25^th of March and 8 students volunteered to help audit their work last Thursday. From 9.30am to 1pm our auditors were trained by Jessica Naylor from the NUS with help from their laptops (to keep their work paper-less) before being sent off in teams of two to audit our sustainability champion groups. These were between all campuses from the Strand, to Guy’s to Denmark Hill.

All our auditors did an amazing job and so did our sustainability champions. Small issues are being rectified over the next few weeks but we’re super proud of how it went.

The Green Impact awards will be on 5^th of July where our teams will receive their awards and celebrate their achievements.

If you’d like to know more about Sustainability Champions you can find information here.

Charles Pegg, Sustainability Projects Assistant

Green Impact Audit Training

August 12, 2015 / kcl sustainability

Last week we held training for students and staff to become Green Impact Auditors as part of the NUS Green Impact scheme, gaining practical experience of auditing through the IEMA approved scheme.

With 27 teams currently working towards their Green Impact award as part of the Sustainability Champions scheme at King’s, there has been some great changes across the university already!

The morning involved a training session, with a quick introduction into environmental auditing, as well as a discussion into what sustainability meant to each of us. The variety of responses to this, Fairtrade produce, longevity, recycling, compassion, showed the true variety of things that sustainability encompasses across King’s.

The team of auditors last Thursday!

After discussions, ice breakers and lunch, we began to prepare for an afternoon of audits. This involved taking a positive approach to all communications, while looking for evidence to support team’s environmental actions. Each of the auditors were given the chance to get involved with hands-on training and learn about the small changes that can be made to create a more sustainable environment across King’s.

With the Sustainability Champions Awards Evening taking place on the 22nd September it will be a great chance to see the results from last week’s audits and reward the teams for the efforts they have made in the last few months!

The Sustainability Champions scheme provides the opportunity for everyone to get more involved with sustainability across King’s. We are hoping to continue to expand this sustainable network across King’s in the next academic year, so if this seems like something you and your department may be interested in, get involved by filling out an application form.

For any further details of how you can get involved with sustainability at King’s in general, contact the Sustainability team at sustainability@kcl.ac.uk or sign up to our newsletter.

Rhianne Menzies, Sustainability Projects Assistant

Make money from your waste – A guide to leaving halls

June 4, 2015 / kcl sustainability

As the academic year is coming to an end and we prepare for the summer, there’s lot to do in regards to changing accommodation. Of course spending those last weeks with are friends is the very important, meaning that packing is normally left to the last minute. Our energy assistant, Bolaji Olaniru has written some tips for you to help with your move!

Packing!!!

So you might not want to take all your items with you when you leave. You might want to get rid of books, old bags, clothes, shoes, hair dryers, whatever! But wait a minute; don’t just throw these items away! You could make some money on these or help those in need – but most importantly recycling your stuff will save a lot of energy and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

And it’s so easy. You’ll have three types of stuff to consider when you leave: Things you want to keep, useful items that you don’t want an obvious waste (which could still be recycled – check out our website for what can and can’t be recycled at King’s).

Items that can be reuse (e.g. clothes and books) charity shops are a great place to start. Why not try a couple of these:

Local Charity shops

These are good for most items such as shoes, clothes and books. We recommend you check before about electrical goods (see below for more options).

Guy’s Campus http://www.hotriccharityshop.com/ – 52 Tower Bridge Rd, London SE1 4TR

Denmark Hill Campus: http://www.scope.org.uk/ – 42 Denmark Hill, Camberwell, London SE5 1JL

Strand Campus: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ – 23 Drury lane, WC2B 5RH

Waterloo Campus and St Thomas’: http://www.tht.org.uk/ -14-15 Lower Marsh, SE1 7RJ

Collection from residences

If you would like someone to collect from your residence instead, you can book collections.

For Clothes look at: http://www.traid.org.uk/clothes-recycling/book-a-collection/

For other Items get out the Gov website: https://www.gov.uk/recycling-collections

Or why not post you items onto Free Cycle? People come and collect you stuff for free J

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

You can drop off small handheld electrical items (smaller than 25 X 31 cm) such as hair dryers, computer keyboards, toasters and kettles in various WEEE bank locations: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/10070/recycling/2550/weee_banks. For really bulky items given them a ring on 020 7525 2000 and they can come and collect for you.

You can also use the King’s service for collecting WEEE waste by completing this form.

Selling your books, CDs, mobile phones and DVDs

Did you know you can sell all of these online and make a bit of money too? All you need to do is log them online and then take them to a local collection point (often a post office or corner shop)

Check out a few of these:

For books, CDs, DVDs, games, electronics and mobiles: Zapper For old mobiles: Mazuma For electronics (mobiles, CDs etc): Music Magpie

Check out Facebook groups for you subjects as well as to sell your old text books – Fresher’s are always looking to buy them e.g. Geography or even Physics.

Still not sure what to do with your waste? Contact us at Sustainability@kcl.ac.uk or call 0207 848 7302 for more help and advice.

Green Week 2015

February 16, 2015 / kcl sustainability

Wow, what a week! Green Week has now come to an end but we’ve had a great time and have lots to look forward to at King’s for the rest of 2015! The week was action packed, with lectures, swap shops, films and of course the sustainability roadshow.

The sustainability roadshow, run by us here in King’s Sustainability Team, travelled round the campus starting on Monday at Guy’s, going through Champion Hill, Denmark Hill, Waterloo and ending at Strand campus on the Friday. We had multiple stalls joining throughout the week including RSBP, London Bridge Farmers Market, Lush (from Waterloo and Regent Street), London Vegan Actions and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). It was great to have so many along and gave us the chance to explore different aspects of sustainability from wildlife, to the products you buy and then the career choices you make.

During the roadshow we asked people to calculate their environmental footprint using the WWF footprint tool, assessing how many planets would be required to sustain the world if everyone lived the same way they did. On average the carbon footprint was 2.5 planets. Although this is quite high we were able to give people advice and talk to people why they may have a high footprint. Generally the two main factors were eating meat and flying. Some of these of course cannot be avoid (e.g. going home for Christmas!) but we then asked students what they think they could change to improve this.

We then asked students and staff to make a sustainability pledge, of which we managed to collect nearly 100 pledges ranging from eating less meat, to less time in the shower and waking more. It was great to see so many people pledge and hopefully everyone will have fun and success trying to complete them.

We had some great events running throughout the week as well organised by multiple student societies. EcoSoc and Amnesty at King’s joined forces and ran an event about the Environment and human rights, with speakers from Client Earth, Environmental Justice Foundation and a UK divestment Campaigner. Over 30 people turned up to the event and a great discussion followed. There were also talks throughout the week on Shale Gas, Fracking and even a mock debate to end the week.

KCL Stop the Traffik also joined with KCL fashion society and EcoSoc to host King’s own swap shop. Cupcakes and Fairtrade tea were in abundance as students from across King’s swapped clothes that they no longer want. Everyone left with multiple items they were pleased with, with KCL Stop the Traffik being able to collect multiple postcards petitioning about the lack of transparency in with the production of clothing brands.

The Waterfront Quiz on Thursday also went well. With our Sustainability round, teams were asked questions such as how many litres of water does it take to make a chocolate bar (its 687 litres in case you were wondering!) Although points for this round were low it was great to hear the discussion from the questions and hopefully everyone has left now with more knowledge about sustainability.

We also showed a screening of the Best Before film, talking about the food revolution taking over London where locals are fighting back against the supermarkets. Catch the film again in Fairtrade fortnight (23^rd February – 8^th March) at the Waterfront!

Finally on Friday night to round off Green Week we had King’s Unplugged, shutting down non-essential equipment across Denmark Hill Campus. This was a great evening with over 6 building shutdown on the evening (with help from the building managers and staff at James Black Centre, Centre of Neuroimaging Science and SGDP who shut down their buildings on their own). We are looking forward to the results to see how much we saved during the weekend and are glad that this is becoming normal weekend practice for so many of the offices we audited.

All in all Green Week this year has been fantastic, with events run by societies, KCLSU and King’s sustainability really promoting sustainability across King’s as well as having fun and engaging the student and staff across the campuses. If you have any suggestions of Sustainability events you would like to see happening or you have any feedback on Green Week 2015 please get in touch with us by emailing sustainability@kcl.ac.uk

Thanks to everyone who got involved!

The Environmental and Ethical Careers Conference

January 29, 2015 / kcl sustainability

This week, EcoSoc talk about an exciting event coming to King’s on Monday 23rd March 2015: The Environmental and Ethical Careers Conference.

The EECC offers students and recent graduates of King’s College London the chance to see and hear about the diverse array of organisations and opportunities in these two areas, and will provide sector-specific and role-specific careers advice that is otherwise difficult to find. The EECC is made possible by alumni donations to King’s Community Fund, and is co-organised by EcoSoc, the Careers Department and Sustainability team at King’s.

Sustainability and ethics are increasingly no longer just options for businesses, but a necessity to ensure long-term profitability. The EECC will showcase a range of organisations with sustainability and ethics at the heart of their business and provide King’s students with the employability skills that are increasingly crucial for them to secure jobs after they graduate, through the multiple workshops running during the day.

For those students seeking a career that is both kind to their wallet and kind to the world, the EECC is the perfect opportunity to learn about the range of opportunities on offer. The EECC will have many of the companies conventionally associated with ‘ethical or ‘green’ careers fairs, such as WWF or Amnesty International, but seeks to also look beyond this to showcase the wide array of ethical and environmental careers available and the diverse roles on offer. We will seek to showcase diverse opportunities such as environmental consultancy with PWC, driving sustainability at industry giants like Unilever and Ford motors, environmental journalism at the Guardian, and becoming an environmental lawyer with some of the largest legal firms in London.

The format of the conference will be a combination of a careers fair in the Great Hall from 12.30 to 14.30 and a series of sector specific talks throughout the day on Strand Campus.

In the Great Hall, students can meet and talk to representatives from an array of companies that have sustainability and ethics at the core of their business, from industry giants such as Unilever to conservation charities like WWF.

The series of talks opens at 10.00 in the Edmund J Safra Lecture Theatre. This will provide an introduction to the EECC and an overview of the growing opportunities of ethical and environmental careers from industry experts. Following on from this introduction there will be subject specific talks from 11.00-16.00 on Strand Campus. Each of these talks will be focused on sustainability and ethical opportunities in one of six specific sectors: Law; Finance; Government and Conservation; Research and Industry; Media, and; Food and Retail. The talks will each be one hour long and delivered by a panel of experts in the relevant fields, and include a Q&A session for students to get answers to any burning questions they have.

The EECC offers something for all students at Kings; whether you are set on an ethical career or just interested to find out what opportunities are on offer and how they compare to roles you have been considering, the EECC is for you! The information on offer, the chance to talk to industry experts in a diverse array of fields and the plethora of key employability skills to be gained are not to be missed.

The Environmental and Ethical Careers Conference (EECC) will take place on Monday 23^rd March 2015 and we look forward to welcoming you to the event. If you have any questions or would like further information, please email ecosoc.kcl@gmail.com

Other news and events:

The Great Green Hope: Enter Miss November

January 21, 2015 / kcl sustainability

[The second guest post of 2015 comes courtesy of Tytus Murphy, a final year PhD student studying Neuroscience who is a member of the Health and Environment Action Lab (H.E.A.L.). Tytus is also a key member of EcoSoc and the Fossil Free campaign at King’s. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of King’s Sustainability]

On a dreary and damp evening November I ventured north to John Dodgson House, a halls of residence at UCL, to attend a talk by Natalie Bennett – leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. I wasn’t the only one either as nearly 150 students and members of the public squeezed into the common room on level minus one. This was basement democracy at its finest. This was the ‘green surge’ taking off.

Enter Bennett to passionately outline the Green Party’s vision for a positive society with ‘no fear’. This fear describes what many of us feel; trapped in a perpetual state of anxiety as we obsessively contemplate our job security, the rampant rise of inequality, the decimation of public services and climate change. A feeling exacerbated by our waning political influence to change any of the above as the major political parties further homogenise.

To eradicate this fear and futility, Bennett puts forward that we must acknowledge that the economic, societal, political and environmental crises that we are facing should not be regarded as separate entities but rather as being inextricably intertwined. Our current system hinges on inequality and exploitation, with the spoils of environmentally damaging consumerism concentrated among the top one per cent. A world based on cooperation and democracy in the eyes of The Greens, however, would prioritise the many, not the few, and would not risk the planet’s future with unsustainable consumption. The centerpiece of The Green Party is their focus on ‘The Common Good’ whereby society is designed and delivered for the good of everyone.

After decades of near pathological focus on consumer driven growth, it is mightily refreshing to see the embracement of markedly different values that challenge business as usual. In the words of Bennett, a vote for The Greens is a vote for actual change. In particular, a vote that supports an end to austerity, the re-introduction of nationalisation for key public services such as the railways, progressive wealth and land value taxes, free university education and a living wage of £10 per hour – to name a mere smattering of the policies that The Greens are fully committed to. Of note, in 2010, they received scant praise for providing a thorough and fully costed manifesto, which Bennett states will be delivered again in 2015. Judging by the Chancellor’s recent autumn statement, costing manifesto pledges requires at least some degree of fine-tuning by The Tories.

Most strikingly, it is their willingness to tackle corporate power that I find most encouraging. For example, Bennett recalled that in 2010 Caroline Lucas (the sole Green MP in Parliament) tabled the Tax and Financial Transparency Bill which called for all companies to publish on a country by country basis what taxes they pay. If Luxemburg or the Cayman Islands popped up on this list it would be clear something has gone awry. With this information, H M Revenue & Customs and Companies House could chase up the tax that is owed to the country. The Greens believe that companies cannot opt out of corporate social responsibility; paying tax in the countries that afford them with their opportunities to trade is an integral part of this.

Regrettably, and with true Westminster corporate panache, the BiIl did not complete its passage through Parliament; consigning it to the ‘ for recycling’ paper tray. Despite this setback, The Greens continue to take a brave stance against the corrosive force of corporate influence on our politics, as evidenced by their staunch opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) proposals, a nefarious bilateral trade agreement that aims to remove regulatory ‘barriers’ which restrict the profits made by corporations.

A hugely exciting aspect of the green surge is the rekindling of political activism, particularly among 16-24 years. Young Greens have doubled their members during 2014. These are not your typical inchoate firebrands either; these kids speak in citations, are organised and have been a positive force in the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and in helping bring about the ‘Free Education March’ last November. Bennett is vociferous when she says that ‘politics is not something that is done to you, it is something that you do’. The Young Greens epitomise this.

Notably, both Bennett and Lucas gave galvanising addresses to students on the day of the Free Education March and have been vocal supporters of strikes in the public sector. Bennett even joined workers on the pickett line at St Pancras Hospital in October in support of fair pay for health workers. Nigel Farage may sincerely dabble in the fag-pint ‘he’s one of us’ tactic but has never meaningfully supported participatory democratic action in the authentic and purposeful way that Bennett and The Greens continue to.

After Bennett gave her engaging talk she took a series of wide-ranging questions from the attentive audience for over an hour and a half. This was young people engaging in mature discussion about the society we want for our futures, facilitated by a person of great integrity who prioritises transparency over the veneer of a fine-tuned soundbite. Bennett speaks with a gruff Aussie candidness, imploring us to offer our input into shaping the discussion and plans for our collective future. Being part of this really did feel like the new kind of politics The Greens are advocating, where we all are empowered to make the changes we want to make.

One audience member asked ‘how will The Green Party fix the NHS funding crisis’. Where Labour and The Tories normally give a combinatorial spiel centred on increased funding, ringfencing and finding/making improved efficiencies, Bennett answer was that ‘we want to make people healthier, ours is a deeply unhealthy society’. With the longest working hours in Europe, there is scant time to engage in the things which keep us away from the hospital wards with the greatest efficacy; namely exercise, adherence to a balanced diet and spending time in enriched environments, including more time in the company of loved ones. A Green Government would try to ensure that these vitally important elements of our lives would become sacrosanct through the provision of a basic income guarantee, a living wage and rent caps. Without the constant dread of worrying about next month’s finances, time is created for what is really important; engaging in our communities and tending to our physical and mental health.

The Greens’ willingness to focus on addressing the root causes of societies ills over cosmetic initiatives and frameworks really does set them apart from the crowd.

Now and then there is the actual green stuff like using the polluter pays principle to implement a carbon tax with the proceeds being used to fund energy efficiency measures for everybody. Not to mention redistributing significant subsidies (measured in hundreds of millions) away from fossil fuel companies and towards the renewable sector. It does seem somewhat perverse to help fund ecologically violent extractivism (e.g. fracking) when the scientific community has already unanimously labelled 80% of known carbon reserves in the ground as unsafe to burn. The Greens have understood this for a long time and Lucas recently lead calls to divest the pension fund for MPs from fossil fuels; yet another exemplar of The Greens commitment to rapid decarbonisation in the face of an increasingly turbulent climate.

Now in a true test of your bias dear reader, I highly recommend you visit this website: http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ to compare the policies of six UK political parties on a selection of key issues. As you make your selections you are blinded as to which party has formulated the policy. The results from this intelligent exercise have been telling, with the Greens currently attracting the largest share of the vote at around 27% with the Tories languishing behind with 14%. As part of our New Year’s resolutions for 2014, Bennett wanted everybody to vote for what they believed in. Now just imagine if everybody did this come May 2015? We would be in for some very hopeful times indeed.

Tytus Murphy

Member of the Health and Environment Action Lab (H.E.A.L)

Educating Green Change

December 4, 2014 / kcl sustainability

[This week’s guest post comes courtesy of Emily Shovlar, a third-year English Language & Literature student and enthusiastic EcoSoc member. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of King’s Sustainability]

Let’s call this post, in honour of one of the organisations it features, ‘a story of things going right’.

That’s how the 10:10 project’s website describes the hashtag it created. #Itshappening is a Twitter treasure trove of sustainable action, mostly in the uplifting form of smiling primary school children and their new solar panels. It’s also a story of community efforts to combat climate change and progress towards a green future. What better way, then, for the Environment Society at King’s (EcoSoc) to show its rapidly increasing numbers and momentum than by hosting a panel event entitled ‘#Itshappening: how educators and organisations are bringing about green change’?

On 25th November, EcoSoc gathered in the Franklin-Wilkins Building to have our hearts and minds made brighter by five brilliant speakers. We assembled a hot water machine, organic fair-trade tea and biscuits, rows of chairs, the speakers and ourselves. It was our second panel event of the semester, and there was a general feeling that we were getting rather good at this. The stage was set for inspiration.

Mal’s enthusiastic arm span

The first speaker, tying perfectly in with #itshappening, was from the 10:10 project itself: Malachi Chadwick, its Communications Manager. Mal, his arm span enthusiastically growing with every statistic, described his work with the Solar Schools project, as documented on Twitter, in which 10:10 organises crowdfunding for primary schools to buy solar panels. There are now 66 ‘solar schools’ in Britain, funded by over £430,000 of community donations, with places for 20 new schools each year. The project is a success not only for the schools, some of which are entirely self-sufficient for power on sunny days, but for the whole community. Mal told us that 70% of online donors said the project made them feel part of a community, and that 45% of volunteers were keen to take part in more community projects afterwards. Even better, he pointed out that of the people who volunteer with the solar schools, 71% have changed their behaviours to save energy, and 29% have installed renewable energy in their own homes. By the time he got to these galvanising statistics, Mal’s arms were as uplifted as his audience.

This development of community is vital to sustainability: it’s all about localising, not globalising. It seems obvious to start with the education system if we want to instil green thinking, since, as Mal rightly said, schools are at the heart of their communities and connect to hundreds of adults and children alike.

The inspiring David Dixon, sustainable headteacher

Our second speaker expressed this connection from his own position within education. David Dixon is Head of Mulgrave Primary in Woolwich, a deprived and highly multicultural school. He is a truly inspirational headteacher: under his care the school has improved its Ofsted ratings, encouraged more community cohesion (especially after the nearby Lee Rigby incident in 2013) and embarked on a curriculum of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). More impressive still, he completed a doctorate while Headteacher, focusing on a ‘green leadership model’. He asked: what do leaders of sustainable primary schools have in common? He found: they had childhoods immersed in nature, they had strong communities and support networks, they were confident and go-getting and were happy to be disruptive to the education system. David feels strongly that “Improving the understanding of the connections between nature, a man made world and social justice is the way to develop less destructive citizens”. His work on ESD lets children choose how they live, and think about what it means to be a green individual.

Third up was Yolanda Barnas. She was a special invite from EcoSoc’s own Annie, whom she taught in her role as Languages teacher at the Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in west London. Passionate like all the best teachers, she showed us the outdoor classroom she’d created at the school, from a semi-landfill wasted space, and described her efforts over the years to make the school greener. These included a wildlife garden in a little-used space against a school building, and a silver sustainability award for the school’s travel arrangements. What she really showed us, at King’s, was how one diligent person can transform an organisation or even a system. Her efforts might be small-scale, in that they only affect one school, but the sustainability movement is founded upon such green-minded individuals who change their own communities. Her dedication is exactly what we all need.

After Ms Barnas came Simon Goldsmith, Head of Sustainability at the University of Greenwich. Greenwich is brilliant at sustainability: this is recognised by its awards including Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development, and by its top-ten position in the university Green League for the last five years. His stance is that since universities are brimming with future citizens, it’s vital to embed sustainability within them (EcoSoc couldn’t agree more). Simon, like Mal, offered an armful of brilliant statistics: Greenwich has reduced its carbon footprint by 22% since 2005 and plans to cut it by a further 40% by 2020. It’s installed 200 solar panels in student accommodation, and put power-down software on every single one of its computers. For those of us who took part in the King’s Blackout, switching off hundreds of unused computers, the last statistic in particular is a worthy goal.

Simon Goldsmith sharing Greenwich’s sustainability secrets and plans for the future

Speaking of King’s, our final speaker was Tom Yearley, our very own Energy Manager, who featured recently on this blog. He only joined King’s in September but admits happily that his ultimate joy would be leaving the job, because King’s had woven sustainability into its ethos to such an extent that Tom became surplus. He gave us his vision for the coming years: student workgroups on sustainability, to make sure our voices cohere with his own plans; and large grants to improve efficiency in what is, we’re painfully aware, an un-green place of study.

Tom is guaranteed to encounter EcoSoc again, even more than the other four speakers – but it was a true privilege for us to encounter them all at once, in an evening of inspiration which confirmed all we hope to do to make ourselves, King’s, London and the UK greener. It was sustainably grown and articulately honed food for thought, and it was most certainly ‘a story of things going right’.

– Emily Shovlar (emily.shovlar@kcl.ac.uk)

Tales of an Aspiring Sustainable Citizen

November 27, 2014 / kcl sustainability

[This week’s guest blog comes courtesy of Robert Zlokower, a MSc student in Sustainable Cities. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of King’s Sustainability]

Humble beginnings

The rainy monsoon season.

This was when the ancient ‘sangha’ – as the Buddhist community was and still is called – would settle down, coming together in huts or shelters to meditate and study together.

We are like them. The rainy season marked a change in the climate. And the settlement is like our campus. But rather than paralyse from fear or deny the climate, the sangha used it as a time to grow together. The same applies to today.

Climate change is the best thing to happen to humanity.

At no other time have we had such a clear knowledge of our potential apocalypse than now. When past speculations may have been based on visions and scriptures, today’s predictions are based on scientific evidence. So we really know what we’re up against.

So too do we know the solution: a society based on sustainable principles and technology. A society based not on war, but on working together for the common good. Technology that we actually already have, but just hasn’t been diffused enough yet. The sun’s increasing UV rays are actually a golden chance for humanity to band together. In order to save ourselves, we must commit to the biggest act of selflessness – that is saving nature.

This obstacle is an opportunity.

The 1968 photo of Earth from space ignited consciousness of humanity as ‘global’ and fuelled environmental movements. For sustainability, action is taken not only on a global scale, but also at national, city, community and citizen-levels. To be completely upfront, I’m only in the humble beginnings of sustainable citizenship. My desire started out of frustration when I went to B&Q home supply a few years ago to get a solar-PV panel for my shed, and the staff replied, “a what panel?” I was working in media at the time, managing a forum for the world’s opinion-leaders to debate sustainability, climate change and dwindling resources. I wanted to put these global problems into practical on-the-ground solutions.

Much of my activity is actually daydreaming. Any D-I-Y I undertake generally results in excessive man hours made up of swearing and broken timber (both accidental and purposeful). And as an impoverished student, I can barely afford a discounted pint at the student union, let alone investment in low-carbon technologies. Still, I’ve been inspired to have a go, so at least that’s a start. Here’s what I’m personally looking into as an aspiring sustainable citizen….

The boat life

I recently moved off-grid onto a narrowboat in the canal. I cruise along the Regents Canal and Lea River.

The rooftop solar-PV array

I had the boat fitted with solar photovoltaic panels to charge my on-board batteries. This in turn powers my lights (mainly LED), water-pump and most appliances. To conserve energy, I try to keep to 12-volt appliances, and I leave my fridge off in the winter (I cool perishables either next to my water tank or on my deck). I periodically take on board drinking water from water points along the canal. I’d like to look into collecting and filtering rainwater from my roof. So with limited electric and water on board, I need to be consciously frugal with my resources. Or use my resources wisely – for example, when I cruise the boat, the engine heats the water tank, so it’s the perfect opportunity to later take a shower and wash the dishes.

My engine, apparently the same as in a London taxi, runs off of diesel. At some point, I’d like to explore an alternative fuel, for example used Cooking Oil. In the meantime, every time I run the generator for a high wattage appliance, I’m reminded by the noise and fumes that I’m sucking up fossil fuels. When you turn on your electric iron, are you aware that a power plant somewhere in the distance is guzzling up in 2 and a half minutes a finite resource that took a 2 and half million years to produce?

And the beautiful rooftop garden

For heat, I have a solid-fuel stove. I collect wood chips for kindling from the rubbish heap of a woodcutter at a local hardware store. And I saw spare wood from a local city farm in exchange for volunteering as a gardener. The volunteer work also garnered me a discount with the locally-sourced vegetable service.

I got a composting toilet fitted, so I don’t need water to flush and I can convert the waste to fertilizer. I also have bokashi bins to compost food waste. Eventually I would like to use these wastes to fertilize the canal towpath or my garden on the rooftop, where I also store my bicycle (Btw, King’s College buildings have showers, which helps after long-distance cycling!). I’d like to explore building a small chicken-coup into the front deck of the boat.

Living the canal life means I’m usually surrounded by nature – marshes, woodland, fields, swans, geese, ducks, fish. It helps me as a city-dweller appreciate planet earth. And without a TV on board, I’m no longer brainwashed from TV commercials to buy useless junk that wouldn’t even fit in my little abode anyway!

I’m interested in applying for a mooring at a sustainable narrowboat community in a basin in East London. In the meantime, due to canal regulations I must change moorings every 2 weeks, which actually pushes me to explore a different neighbourhood every time (perfect for a KCL geography student such as myself!).

My goal with this boat is to get as close as possible to being an off-grid self-sufficient microcosm. I also own a house in East London that I’m renting out, but I eventually would like to convert it into a carbon-neutral bed & breakfast – replete with solar-PV panels and batteries, rainwater collection, composting toilet and composting boxes in an urban garden and whatever else I can do to make it off-grid like the narrowboat. A friend warned me I should watch out that someone might steal my ideas. I say bless the thief! If he can kick-start some sustainability quicker than me, then my hat’s off to him!

I’m inspired by Dick & James Strawbridge’s “Practical Self Sufficiency: The Complete Guide to Sustainable Living.” But to be honest, I really could do with a bit of help! At least it’s an opportunity to make some friends and have fun getting creative.

Sitting here in the boat typing this blog post, the rain pattering my steel rooftop, I’m reminded of the sangha, settling from sweeps of rain splashing their huts. I look out my window; a swan floats along night-time waters. Does the swan think about climate change the same way I do? Does she realise it’s a chance for unselfishness, compassion, camaraderie and fun?

The swan dunks her head into the water.

– Robert Zlokower (robert.zlokower@gmail.com)

Gorilla Warfare: conservation in warzones

November 21, 2014 / kcl sustainability

[Our second weekly guest blog comes courtesy of Richard Milburn, a PhD student in the Department of War Studies. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of King’s Sustainability]

Eastern Lowland Gorillas in Kahusi-Biega National Park. Picture courtesy of the Pole Pole Foundation, a Congolese charity working to protect eastern lowland gorillas in the DRC and promote the sustainable development of surrounding communities (www.polepolefoundation.org)

Many of the world’s most iconic and endangered wildlife species are affected by war: tigers by ongoing insecurities in Assam, India; snow leopards by conflict in Afghanistan; and elephants and rhinos falling victim to conflicts all over sub-Saharan Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where wars of different intensities have raged for the last two decades and which remains insecure to this day, is home to the Mountain Gorillas, the rare Okapi gazelle, the Bonobo and the world’s second largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon. Even outside of warzones, the effects or organised criminal poaching for the illegal wildlife trade is causing large losses of wildlife and creating insecurity for the people living around those animals, a situation which is perhaps best exemplified by rhino poaching in South Africa.

While war can be very damaging for wildlife and the environment as a whole, it can also be a most effective form of conservation. Areas such as the Korean Demilitarised Zone, where humans fear to tread, have become de-facto nature preserves. In such places, peace is more of a danger to the environment than war, for when peace comes intensive resource extraction often follows both to rebuild nations in the aftermath of war and to exploit previously inaccessible resources.

In spite of the many links between conservation and war, it remains an often overlooked topic. To help address this, the Marjan Centre for the Study of Conflict and Conservation was established in the War Studies Department. In addition to publishing articles and offering an MA module on this topic, the centre holds regular talks delivered by conservation and conflict experts and experienced practioners, and each year presents the Marjan-Marsh Award, in partnership with the Marsh Christian Trust, to an exceptional conservationist working in a region of armed conflict.

War-damaged gorilla statue in Bukavu, DRC. Picture courtesy of the Pole Pole Foundation

Outside of the College, November 6th has also been set aside by the UN as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict to highlight the damaging effects of war on the environment, such as: the use of the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam; the burning of oil wells in Iraq and Kuwait; and the ongoing impacts of war on the environment around the world, which are summarised in a very good recent article by the Guardian. Work is also underway to try to establish ‘ecocide’ as a war crime, and to generally improve the protection of the environment during times of war.

For those interested in conservation, protecting the environment during and after war is critically important. While arguments about the moral case for protecting the environment during war are often presented, these arguments regularly fall on deaf ears. Given the toll of human suffering as a result of war, arguing for the preservation of the environment can be difficult. For instance, around 5 million people have died as a result of war in the DRC over the last two decades, so dedicating resources to protecting gorillas or forests in that country might strike many people as a waste of resources. While the moral arguments for conservation are still valid, they are often not effective, and so more anthropocentric arguments need to be put forward, focusing on the importance of the environment as a threat to security and a tool for promoting post war recovery.

The loss and degradation of the environment undermines the natural resource base upon which many poor people in countries such as the DRC depend. Additionally, the sale of illegal ‘conflict-timber’ and ‘conflict-ivory’ may provide funds to actors in the conflict; Charles Taylor used conflict timber to finance the war in Sierra Leone and the illegal ivory trade has been linked to rebel and terrorist outfits such as the Lord’s Resistance Army and Al-Shabab. Further, since climate change has been identified as a ‘threat multiplier’ to international security, the preservation of large areas of forest in warzones, which act as carbon sinks, is vital.

While the exploitation and degradation of the environment may contribute towards armed conflict, it can also help to bring an end to war and support a resilient post war recovery.

‘Peace Parks’ are being established to support peacebuilding between countries previously at war. These are trans-border national parks where countries cooperate over their management and use that cooperation as a mechanism to help establish trust and create a platform for peacebuilding. Additionally, some ex-rebel soldiers are being given jobs as park rangers, helping to provide alternative jobs as part of the disarmament and reintegration process in the aftermath of war.

Sunset over Lake Kivu, DRC. Picture courtesy of the author and the Pole Pole Foundation

The environment also provides a host of economic benefits. Forests help to anchor soil and improve its fertility, and also provide an array of valuable ecosystem services to support agriculture. Additional revenue may be generated from carbon offset schemes, such as the UN’s REDD+ scheme, that can generate millions of dollars for countries that protect their forests. Tourism may also provide revenue and improve the image of a country emerging from conflict.

However, in spite of the many potential threats to security and the support for post war recovery provided by the environment, it is important to stress its limitations.

The environment is rarely, if ever, a direct cause of conflict. Environmental loss and degradation may place stress on weak institutions and increase ethnic, religious or other divisions within society, but it will not cause conflict by itself. Additionally, illegal trades in wildlife and timber are rarely the sole, or even main, source of finance for actors in conflict; resources such as diamonds, gold and coltan that are easier to extract and transport and which have a higher value will tend to be more readily exploited.

Similarly, with post war recovery, Peace Parks have been shown to offer some benefits for peacebuilding, but this has usually occurred at a low level and not translated into broad-reaching effects. The economic benefits are also often intangible and difficult to generate revenue from. Ecosystem service valuation remains fraught with difficulty and is often poorly understood by people on the ground. Tourism takes time to establish, and even a well-established industry can be destroyed by any renewed outbreak of conflict or a fear of insecurity.

Clearly, then, conservation is not the main issue in warzones. However, it is still an important component of the causes of war and the processes required to build peace. Effective conservation work can reduce the likelihood of conflict breaking out, prevent exploitation of the environment to fund conflict and help promote post war recovery. The key is to ensure that the value of the environment is realised and that it is seen as a core component of preventing war and promoting peace.

– Richard Milburn (richard.milburn@kcl.ac.uk)