Green Campus

We need to begin the process of greening our campus NOW! Green Campus is a concept, but a very tangible one, one which puts both the University of Kent, and Kent Union, on the right path in becoming a shining, and modern example, of a higher education institution willing to be bold enough to tackle the issue of climate change, and to also ensure that a greener campus is a healthier campus, one that is a reflection of Kent Union’s ethos of “For you, not for profit!” I recognise the important steps that have been taken in recycling, and to improve our recycling facilities, and this needs to continue. We must be bold enough as a student union to take on the University, and to lobby them to guarantee that ALL new building projects at all campuses reach the highest environmental standards, and not to coat them with any kind of ‘green wash.’ We must also be bold enough to suggest renewable energies, and investment in these energies which can provide the benefit of increasing revenue if selling excess energy back to the National Grid.

Not only for the welfare of students, but also to curtail any big hikes in campus accommodation costs, I will lobby the University to highlight a fund to insulate all campus accommodation with modern insulation. This can be done in conjunction with the JCCs, the Environment and Ethics Officer, and the Vice-President (Welfare), to make sure that this is achieved, for the benefits of the students, and the University alike. However, we can also make small changes as a Union. For instance, we can take the advice from our environmental auditors and to scale back on unnecessary uses of electricity in both the Locke and Mandela buildings. Kent Union must be an example for the University to follow.

Manifesto Pledges: • To lobby the University to guarantee that all new building projects have environmentally sustainable elements. • To lobby the University to set up a fund to start insulating all student accommodation with modern insulation.

Desires: • To switch Kent Union’s energy supply to come from renewable energy companies. • To have a Union backed fundraising drive in an attempt to secure funding to convert Union-run buildings to solar panels. By producing more energy than we need, we can secure a reimbursement from the National Grid which can be used to reinvest in Kent Union’s entertainment, commercial, and welfare services.

Lobbying the University: • The University of Kent is currently rated 48th on People and Planet’s Green University League. • We should be aiming to get ourselves at least into the top 20 by July 2010. • We must listen to the opinions, not only of the conservation and environmental groups we

have on campus, but also to those in the wider society. The University of Kent should be a leading example to the community of a local institution leading the way on cutting Canterbury and Kent’s carbon footprint. • If elected, one of my first acts will be to visit the Vice-Chancellor and to get the University to guarantee that all new building projects reach the high environmental standards needed to confront climate change. The buildings must aim to be as carbon neutral as possible, and to contribute to the University to limit its carbon footprint, and this must be the University’s policy. This will be the ultimate benefit of ALL university students. It would set a precedent that the University must follow suit with existing buildings, and student accommodation. • I will oppose the University’s ambition to house all students on campus by extending beyond Park Wood. I will oppose it on the grounds that we have an endangered species here on campus, the Great Crested newt. The building work that has already taken place for Woolf College has eroded some of the highways aquatic species use for breeding habitats, and this affects the biodiversity of our campus. • I will put pressure on the University to use its own qualified specialist surveyors before any new building work takes place. The University needs to utilise the DICE (Conservation) department, and use their experience to carry our ecological surveys. • Modern insulation in student accommodation is a Welfare issue, but the Union President, as well as the JCCs, and the Environment and Ethics officer, must lobby hard for the University to highlight a fund for insulating accommodation. With a growing uneasiness about energy supply and dependency, and with annual hikes in the cost of energy, the University could potentially save itself thousands of pounds by insulating student accommodation. In return, students living on campus would not have to expect sharp increases in accommodation costs, and maybe even the potential for a reduction. • It’s ambitious, but it is possible. There is currently a student working group exploring the possibilities of renewable energy on campus, and this group deserves Union backing. Whilst in this difficult economic climate such proposals may fall on death ears, it’s not an issue that should be dropped. As Union President, I will recommend to the University to explore seeking to get 50% of its energy from renewable energy suppliers, but Kent Union must lead the way and be an example to the University that this is possible.

Greening Kent Union: • Kent Union must be a leader in Green Campus. • The Board of Trustees must steer Kent Union in a direction which makes it committed to

reducing our overall carbon footprint, to seek funding for renewable energy, and to commit ourselves to becoming a carbon neutral student union. • All ready Kent Union has taken important steps towards being a green Student Union, but it can do better. • Kent Union has recognised the importance of recycling and of promoting recycling on campus, and amongst its members. • Kent Union has implemented a policy of planting a tree after it has used 90,000 sheets of paper. • Kent Union has committed itself to have sustainable elements to new building projects for Kent Union. • However, Kent Union can do better. • Kent Union could start by removing cool water drinking tanks from its buildings. The cool water tanks are unnecessary and wasteful. Kent Union’s commercial services have bought in One Water, a bottled water company committed to clean water projects in those communities where it is needed. • The Union President is Chair of the Board of Trustees, the body made up of the five fulltime officers, plus two student members and two external members. The Board of Trustees decide on the allocation of finances to Kent Union’s commercial, entertainment, and representative services. I would like the Board of Trustees to take the decision and commit Kent Union, and all its outlets, to switch to 100% renewable energy. • I will also argue on the Board of Trustees to have Kent Union highlight a budget specifically for the purpose of investing in renewable energy on campus. This will start off small, but it will expand with continuous investment and fundraising. Whilst it may not be possible to achieve this in a year, with enough commitment, it can be achieved. The benefits of Kent Union producing its own renewable energy, using the buildings it owns, would be huge. If Kent Union commits itself to producing more energy than it uses, any surplus could be reclaimed from the National Grid, thus adding a sizeable contribution to Kent Union’s annual revenue.

Conclusion: Some of these ideas are ambitious, and I am under no impression that all of these will be achieved in the space of the year. Green Campus would be a start to putting Kent Union, and the University of Kent, on the road to being environmentally sustainable, and being carbon neutral.

Green Campus would not be achieved overnight, but some of the actions are very much achievable with the right person lobbying for them, I believe I am the right person to lobby the University, and for the Board of Trustees, to take effective measures to greening our campus, to make it a better campus. We are in a recession, but we should not forget that we still have an obligation to our environmental policy, and it should keep moving forward. We need the right balance of good lobbying, wise spending, and effective leadership to make Green Campus achievable.