From the 24^th until the 28^th of March, Swansea University aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste and help everyone take action. A total of 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away every year from homes and a total of £12 billion a year is spent on waste. Swansea University aims to reduce this amount by helping everyone take action, showing how easy it is to waste less food, benefiting both our purses and the environment.

Get involved with Love Food Hate Waste to receive hints, tips and recipes to help waste less food and save money. The week will start with a live cookery demo on the 24^th March, followed by events such as a leftover lunch challenge and a quiz over a lunch and learn session.

The University has also recently partnered with Gumdrop Ltd to bring Gumdrop Bins to campus to reduce the amount of gum dropped. The scheme is designed to encourage chewers to dismiss their littering habits and recycle their gum instead. In support of this, the Gumdrop Bins are made out of waste chewing gum. Once the Gumdrop bins are full, they are sent back to Gumdrop Ltd to become recycled Gumdrop bins and many other products, from wellington boots to Frisbees.

In a bid to keep the campus clear of waste gum for good, from the 11^th March, 25 Gumdrops are to be placed across the University. This will be a supportive addition to the Gumdrop scheme that is already in place across the city as part of the ‘Tidy Swansea’ campaign.

Other sustainability schemes which the University is involved in include:

Swansea University will host the International Paralympics Committee European Championships in August 2014.  The event will involve Swansea University creating an integrated venue and athlete village environment for 1200 competitors and support staff.  To ensure that the European Championships are a sustainable event, Swansea University is working towards the ISO20121 management standard certification, in a similar manner to the London Olympics. 

Swansea will be the first host of the European Championship to accredit to this standard, which will follow on the back of the University’s recently achieved EcoCampus Platinum, ISO14001, and First Class Degree in the Guardian Green League. The University was also shortlisted for the 2013 Green Gown Awards in the Facilities and Services Category for its work around sustainability on campus.                                                                                                                                                                

For more information go to: http://www.venuemasters.co.uk/news/741/swansea-university-to-hold-2014-international-paralympic-committee-athletics-european-championships

Live Greener and Green Impact  - A 12 month project - funded by Welsh Government - awarded Swansea University £12,000 to implement Live Greener. The project is managed by NUS Wales, and aims to put Welsh students and staff at the heart of the sustainability agenda.

Live Greener includes - amongst other schemes - Green Impact, which brings staff and students together in friendly competition to help reduce the negative environmental impacts of their workplace. Swansea University was the first University in Wales to adopt the scheme after the recommendation from the Welsh Government, supporting Green Impact as an effective way to reduce energy and resource consumption at universities.