Green Gown Awards 2019 - The University of Nottingham - Finalist

We must stop throwing so much away, because there is no “away”. WasteNott sets out to tackle single-use, single serve and disposables waste across campuses, and in September 2018 launched a 20p latte levy on all hot drinks sold on campus. Not only did this mark a sea-change by asking students and staff to take ownership of their waste and consumption choices, it created a ring-fenced fund to explicitly invest in initiatives to reduce waste.  

Supported by high profile campaign, WasteNott urges the University community to reduce dependence on convenience and disposability and replace with more durable alternatives or avoid waste completely.  

Implementation of a levy on cups saw the proportion of customers avoiding disposable cups increase to 28% in the space of weeks, and will create £54,000 to incentivise refilling, eliminate unnecessary waste and change behaviours. 

Top 3 learnings:

• Lead and others will follow  
• Listen to your audience - from the outset we issued a challenge including our own operations at the University community. 
• Watch out for false solutions - the best solutions eliminate waste entirely rather than substituting one kind of waste for another.  

Videos

• Green Gown Awards 2019 - The University of Nottingham - Money for Good (click to hide)