Green Impact 2018/19 is coming to an end and it is the occasion to look back to the actions and initiatives implemented by the FASoS Green Impact team led by Sjoerd, Silvija, Eliza, John, Zahar, Vincent, Manon, Jana, Timothé and Charlotte.
The first and more impactful action is without a doubt the setting up of the Kerosene Tax and the ECI project in order to impose a regular tax on intra European flights.
FASoS and its Green Impact team provided their support to create the project and the website. The petition is now online! Sign and share.
Thanks to the Green Impact team, FASoS is the first faculty to implement and follow the new waste separation guidelines. This means for instance, that metal and drink cartons should be deposited in the ‘Plastics’ bin. Additionally, our Banditos has started with selling reusable Keep Cups. Students and staff cannot find excuses anymore not to recycle their Banditos cups!
Another initiative from Vincent Cordewener, our facility manager, was to calculate the benefits of all FASoS buildings having double-pane windows and LED lights. This would lead to a saving of €35.000 or 60.000 KwH per year! Next to this, a yearly CO2 reduction of more than 50 tons would be realized. Given the fact that CO2 emissions have to be marked as costs as well, the energy-saving investments would require a payback time of just over 5 years for our faculty. This calculation is a first step to encourage UM to transform the infrastructures!
The team did not stop there. The members also organised fun actions to raise awareness about consumption and climate change such as the Clothes Swap event on 22 March, and the screening of the documentary “Before the Flood” at Lumière on 30 April. Furthermore, a recent free weekly body & mind session for students and staff members, has been a team creation too.
The team can be proud of all the small and bigger initiatives set in place during this academic year. With a maximum total of 430 points, the FASoS Soylent Green team was hoping to stand on the UM’s Green Impact podium. And guess what, the members proudly won a golden award for completing most of the Green Impact toolkit actions !
Stay alert, next year FASoS needs a new Green Impact team to work harder on making UM a more sustainable institution! If you would like to contribute, please join the intranetgroup Sustainable UM 2030 (now only open to UM staff, the sustainability office is working on making it open for students too).
