Welcome to Plan-it Change! Or welcome back if you have been here for a bit! Before the year gets started and you begin to navigate your way through the homage of societies out there, we just wanted to give you an update as to who we are, what we do and what we have done this past year.
We are Plan-it Change, the University of Leicester’s sustainability society. We initiate projects whether in the community or within the university to help improve its carbon footprint and to put in our helping hand to protecting the planet and the people on it, as well as spreading messages on sustainability and environmental and social awareness to other students. A little goes a long way, so we’re trying to do enough little to inspire everyone to do a little too. Some of our plans have been a lot larger though. In the past, we have attempted (but sadly been denied) to plant trees in and around Leicester (the council would have to pay for their upkeep after we planted them and they weren’t willing to do that), but the rest of our plans have gone swimmingly, let me brief you on them!
Our first plan last year was what we called the Caddy Campaign. It involved attempting to install a compost caddy in every student accommodation kitchen, and in the process, raise awareness to the importance of food waste and food justice. We campaigned with the university’s environmental and sustainability advisors and eventually came to a plan which involved the caddies being installed as a test run around the Pavilions accomodation. The food waste would then be collected by a local company called Enva, which collected waste, where they input it to their energy plant and use the biofuels produced to power their whole plant, making them entirely self-sufficient and closer to their goal of reaching carbon net zero. Any excess energy is put back into the community. Due to the caddies being installed halfway through the year, people weren’t quite sure what to do with them. They were used a lot by the students, but as students (ourselves included) do, who can really be bothered to take out the bins? The student union put a pause on it, but it is being reinstated this academic year with the new group of students in Oadby accomodation, and we’re so excited to see how it will turn out, and to have been a part of this campaign. We will be receiving updates on it and as part of the society, you will too!
Our second plan involved interactions with a primary school in Leicester, where we visited a few times so we could teach the students there about the impact of waste on the community and the environment, where we also ran litter picking projects and conducted litter pick analysis to collate information on the most common litter found in the area. We had so much fun with this project, and sadly our project with the school came to and end, but we are hoping this year we may start work with another school again. If this is something you seem interested in them get in touch, it will be very easy to persuade us to restart it!
This year, we have various plans which we have not fully developed as of yet, but these include collaborations with other societies, such as book club, where we hope to make our own paper from old books, and also collabs with the plants and gardening society, to bring nature and wellbeing together for sessions for our members; a sustainable tour of Leicester city centre during or around Fresher’s week; campaigns and projects with the organisation people and planet, to help other universities and businesses divest from fossil fuels; a mock UN panel on sustainability and much, much more.
Have any ideas yourself? Let us know! We’re always happy to hear what our members have to say and always excited for new ideas that we can try out.
Fancy getting involved? Come meet us at Freshers, chat to our committee and maybe even join us to take part in these fantastic projects!
Blog post for the 22/23 freshers weeks, by Eleanor Beswick our lovely wellbeing and inclusion officer.
Socials - @planitchange_uol