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Loughborough Students Union named in Sunday Times Green List top ten

Posted on 27/12/2008

Loughborough University Website

Loughborough Students’ Union named in Sunday Times Green List top ten

Loughborough Students’ Union (LSU) has been named as the 7th ‘greenest’ organisation in the country, in the Sunday Times Green List 2008, published on 18 May.

It was also named winner of the award for the best small company with low environmental impact.

The Sunday Times Green List is the newspaper’s first-ever competition to find companies that are striving to improve their environmental performance. Entrants competed across five contests to win a place on the list of 50 Best Green Companies. It is hoped that the listed companies will provide a blueprint for British business on how to minimise its environmental impact.

Richard Caseby, Managing Editor of The Sunday Times, says: “We launched this venture to reflect the changing mood in the business world. Today it is not enough simply to make a profit for shareholders. Companies have a wider responsibility to ensure that they minimise the environmental impact of what they do. Consumers, clients and peers expect it.”

LSU’s widespread commitment to and increased awareness of environmental issues led to its top ten ranking in the list, ahead of big name companies such as Canon and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Steve Black, Students’ Union Vice President (Finance and Commercial Services) said: “We were truly amazed to receive such a prestigious award.  Our ranking is a credit to the hard work and dedication of all our staff.

“We have made a commitment to improve our environmental impacts and hope that Loughborough Students’ Union will lead the way for many other organisations to follow.”

Over the last two years, LSU has achieved a huge 35% cut in energy consumption and doubled its recycling.

Earlier this month the Union held its annual Reality Check week an awareness campaign to drive down the environmental impact of the union staff, as well as the university students and staff. This year it included offering free bike checks and information on car-sharing, handing out free energy-saving light bulbs and holding a clothes swapping session.

The Union also holds weekly competitions in conjunction with imago, the University’s hall management section, to encourage recycling on campus and to reduce energy consumption. Students’ greenness is monitored and those who recycle the most and use the least energy are rewarded with a donation to a charity of their choice.

The Sunday Times accolade follows that from NUS Services Limited Sound Impact Awards, which has named Loughborough Students’ Union the greenest students’ union in the UK for the past two years.

It is also a further demonstration of the campus’s commitment to sustainability. Last September Loughborough, as part of the Midlands Consortium with Birmingham and Nottingham universities, was selected to host the headquarters of the Government’s Energy Technologies Institute a £1 billion initiative to help the UK reduce its carbon footprint.