The University of Cape Town’s Green Campus Initiative is a programme that aims to make UCT a sustainable and environmentally-friendly institution. Some of the projects include the Biodiversity Project (which provides a haven for indigenous and endemic plant species), the Residence Energy Challenge and the “Green Police” that will blow whistles at ‘green offenders’.
What started with a handful of students back in 2007 has now grown to a campus-wide initiative. The Green Campus Initiative’s Facebook page has well over 800 “Likes” and their viral campaigns even got students signing a petition encouraging campus administration to turn off their lights for this year’s Earth Hour on 26 March.
Some of the Green Campus Initiatives
Carpooling rocks at UCT
The Green Campus Initiative uploaded a video to YouTube promoting their carpooling initiative called Ridelink. The programme not only encourages carpooling, but also the use of bicycles and public transport to get from A to B. What makes Ridelink a truly efficient system isn’t the fact that they simply “encourage carpooling”, but they also launched an online database that matches people from similar areas so that the logistics of carpooling with people who live in the same neighbourhoods is done without hassle. Besides reducing the amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere, students are also able to save money on petrol and reduce the hassle of finding a parking space five minutes before class.
Teaching the newbies
First Year students at UCT attend a talk by the Green Campus Initiative during their orientation week programme. This talk introduces students to topics such as climate change (many schools don’t follow any sort of curriculum that teaches students about this subject) and also gives them more information about the various green projects and how they can become involved.
Residences compete to reduce energy
The Green Campus Initiative partnered with state-owned utility Eskom to launch the Energy Challenge, where residences compete to reduce their total energy consumption in an allocated period of time. The residence that can reduce their electricity bill the most wins a prize.
Sorting the rubbish
The programme got involved with UCT’s Properties and Services management and implemented a recycling system where various sections of the campus have been grouped into stations and a committee is organised to collect bins in the area. These rubbish bins are then taken to a sorting facility to sort and sell recyclable goods and UCT receives some revenue from these recycled goods.
Campus staff is also targeted
A Building-to-Building Road-show targets buildings on campus one by one in order to raise awareness about climate change and suggest ways in which they could green their building (such as setting up a recycling system, reducing energy usage and encouraging carpooling amongst staff).
Campus Biodiversity Project
The Green Campus Initiative wanted to give the campus a more representative display of the Cape’s unique flora. The Campus biodiversity projects gives endangered species a safe haven and also boosts the organisation’s eco-friendly image.
Green week
In 2008, the Green Campus Initiative started to host an annual “Green Week” that highlights green issues. During this week, students can watch documentaries about climate change in one of the auditoriums on campus; a Sustainable expo is held and the Green Police are on campus to entertain students and raise awareness. In 2009, Green Week was expanded to include other students from the Cape Town as well as the rest of South Africa.
E-waste project
Last year, an E-waste project to remove redundant and unneeded equipment that contains electronic components was launched on campus. Not only does this project reduce the environmental impact of disposal, but it is also freeing up more space. The project identifies an E-waste champion in each department who is responsible for collaborating with their Head of Department to collect E-waste in their jurisdiction. After collecting this waste, the local Environmental Risk Officer at UCT (Bret Roden) is contacted to come and collect the E-waste.
