We’ve handed the blog over to our students today! Calsie writes about the craftvism event held by the SU last month that showcased the plastic waste we are all responsible for across campus.
Get in touch at greenimpact@sheffield.ac.uk if you or your team would like to contribute to the blog.
Did you know that the university and SU use 600,000 coffee cups every year!? Or that these cups can’t be recycled and take 25 years to fully decompose!
The SU’s Reusable Revolution campaign aims to reduce plastic waste in the university and within Sheffield, and it has had great success so far. Over the last few weeks, students have been engaging in craftivism to produce art to support the campaign and raise awareness of the damage plastic pollution does to our planet. Together the team created a sea turtle made from waste including plastic bottles, straws and bubble wrap. This will be displayed in the SU to encourage students to recycle.
On the 30th November, the ‘Reusable Revolutionaries’ took to the concourse to raise awareness of the important issue. Rubbish produced by the SU was dumped on the concourse to create a ‘Plastic Mountain’, to visually show students the amount of avoidable waste they create. The waste produced by the SU in a day would cover the entire concourse. The group of student volunteers questioned people passing by about the impact of their waste, and were also selling reusable coffee cups, straws and lunchboxes, which are available in Coffee Rev and New Leaf. They also encouraged people to sign the #StrawFreeSheffield petition. The petition is lobbying bars, restaurants and clubs in the city to only provide straws in drinks upon request, to reduce the amount of unnecessary waste plastic. Many organisations are already getting involved, including Peddler market, and the petition has almost reached its goal of 1000 supporters.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the campaign, join the Reusable Revolutionaries Facebook group for regular updates. Sign the #StawFreeSheffield petition here: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/129/582/852/
