Go Green Action Profile - University of Warwick

Go Green Contact

Alex Sim - Go Green Co-ordinator

Go Green Actions

• Warwick have been running a dynamic and focussed campaign since 2004 which has captured the imagination of many other groups.
• They organised regular and interactive meetings to plan for Go Green Week and delegated tasks to all members. These included making Go Green sashes, ribbons, costumes, ribbons and masks and getting each member to take away petitions to get signed.
• The group made a figurehead 14ft banner of their VC with bright green hair to raise awareness of the campaign and put pressure on the senior management (and show others that environmentalism doesn’t have to be boring!).
• Alex says “Our campaign would never have been so successful without an elected union officer to cooperate with university staff and help us negotiate for the implementation of the Go Green aims”.
• The campaign culminated in a Go Green week packed full of exciting events like an Environmental Market, concerts, green clubnights at the Union to collect signatures and a mini-demonstration outside the VC’s Office to hand in the 3000 signatures collected.
• Warwick P&P have just held Go Green Week 2006 to continue pushing the university for the 4 demands. Even bigger and better than last year, it included a Big Green Bonanza, recycling art attacks, a Bike Vs Bus Race to campus, speakers and green parties. The highlight was a Go Green ceremony attended by the VC to officially sign the university up to the four Go Green demands!

Go Green Petition

• For 2 months before Go Green Week 2005, the university was blitzed with publicity and weekly kitchen tours of surrounding halls of residence were made to collect signatures for the petition.
• Petitions were collected on regular stalls run by a set of colourful go green warriors and were passed around in lectures. During Go Green Week people were also encouraged to place their green handprints on a giant petition!
• In total Warwick P&P collected over 3000 signatures, representing nearly 15% of the student population. 90% of all students interviewed during Go Green Week were aware of the campaign and had signed the petition.
• During Go Green Week 2006 the group again collected over 3000 signatures for their Recycle Now petition, which is the next step in their campaign to get Warwick to Go Green.

Go Green Success

Warwick’s Go Green campaign has been highly successful. The university have agreed to employ an Environmental Officer and to carry out an Environmental Audit in line with the Carbon Trust’s Higher Education Pilot Scheme. The university is now committed to a 10% reduction in carbon emissions by 2010 - an ambitious target by anybody’s standards. They now have an official point of contact for all concerns relating to the university’s environmental impacts.
Warwick P&P were very successful in using the media to publicise their campaign, working with the local TV station, campus newspaper, magazine and online listings, as well as producing professionally designed posters and flyers (on 100% Recycled Paper, of course).

Alex says: “Our Head of Estates admitted that more had been done to review Warwick’s environmental impacts in the last year than in the last 20 years!”

Useful Resources

• Read Alex’s Top Tips for running Go Green at your uni or college.
• Also check out their Go Green website for details of Go Green Week 2006 and a new Recycling Guide.
• Have a look at Warwick’s Go Green Petition
• Join the NEW gogreen e-group to communicate directly with other Go Green campaigners in the P&P Network.

Go Green Photos