Creating a greener, more sustainable Hope can only be achieved with the help of our staff and students. We need your support and input to meet our targets, achieve our goals and to ensure that our projects are successful.
All staff and students have the opportunity to live, study and work in a sustainable environment as well as develop and use their skills and understanding required to contribute to global sustainability throughout their careers.
Sustainability is included at all staff and student inductions (both in the essential information and notebook and accommodation's Moving In Guide). There are many opportunities to get involved.
What can I do?
Give it a go… there’s something for everyone, no matter what your background, skills, experience or ability.
Check out our top tips throughout this site to see how small changes to your office practices and procurements can have significant benefits, both environmentally, and financially. Adopting these practices can also help you save money and energy at home.
Events
Wednesday 24th April 2024 - Towards socially inclusive environmental policy: concepts, insights and challenges
Wednesday24th April 2024 - The fundamentals of financial wellbeing
Thursday 25th April 2024 - Climate Justice: Artistic and Educational Responses
In the news
Future-proofing printing sustainably
The Transition Academy launches
Liverpool's best walks
Lending a hand in Childwall Woods
Food sustainability discussed at new event
Teacher swaps the classroom for UK's wild spaces
Be mindful of Malta and travel responsibly
Food donations
Previous events:
Cost of Living crisis conference - Politicians, social campaigners, third sector representatives, academics and people living in Liverpool City Region will come together to find solutions to the cost of living crisis at a conference hosted at Hope Park on Wednesday 28 June 2023.
Cost of Living study - Researchers in the School of Social Sciences are therefore trying to capture the impact this crisis is having on students’ experiences.
Rethinking Sustainable Development and Peace: Adapting to a Changing World in Crisis - an online international Conference organised by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies and SEARCH Centre of Liverpool Hope Business School, Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park Campus, 26th June 2023
- The University purchases its IT equipment via the NWUPC, who are part of Electronics Watch - promoting responsible public procurement to protect worker's rights
- Students donated nearly 3.6 tonnes (444 bags) of unwanted clothes and other items in our end of year re-use event, which would have otherwise been thrown away. This generated nearly £6,250 for the British Heart Foundation's Pack for Good initiative
- Students can get 10% off at British Heart Foundation shops by showing their identity card
- Staff can purchase a cycle for commuting via Cycle Discount Scheme
We are part of the Liverpool Knowledge Quarter Sustainability Network
I LOVE MY Campus challenge
What is it?
The Students' I LOVE MY Campus challenge is a competition between halls of residence to see who can reduce their energy usage by the greatest amount. Last year, we had hundreds of students take part - will your halls win this year?
Switch off - Save energy - Win prizes!
Join the competition and keep up to date with prizes on offer by keeping an eye out on the Hope bulletin and your hall's Facebook page.
In 2019-2020, students halls used 753,000 kWh of electricity between October and April - that's enough energy to make nearly 37.6 million cups of tea or heat 46 average 3 bed semis!
Why should I do it?
The University has a significant environmental impact, which comes at a substantial financial cost - we currently spend around £1.5 million per year to pay the utility bills (gas, electricity and water) and to remove the waste we create. That's a lot of money which could be better spent on enhancing your experience and improving the environment.
Our residences are 38.2% of our building footprint and consume 21.9% of the University's electricity (393 tonnes CO2e), 28.5% of our gas (592 tonnes CO2e) and 51% of our water (37 tonnes CO2e) consumption - please note that these are estimates as not all of our buildings have sub-meters.
Completing the energy saving top tips will save energy, make the best use of the resources we have, allow us to meet legal and best practice requirements and reduce the money we spend. These actions could also help you save money when you move into private rented accommodation.
The Challenge aims to create a sense of community and encourage communication and competition. All students can get involved, including those who have little interest or knowledge of energy saving and sustainability.
How?
Join in the Challenge and win prizes throughout the year through regular photo competition and a climate quiz twice a year. At the end of the year, whichever hall reduces its energy consumption the most will win a celebration. Prizes include:
- Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
- Lush gift sets
- Eco-gadgets
- Catering vouchers
- End of year celebration for the winning hall
- and much more...
You can reduce your energy consumption by:
- Turning off the lights, television, computers and other appliances before you leave the room
- Putting on a jumper/another layer instead of turning the heating on - an additional layer can add 3 degrees to your body temperature
- Only boil the amount of water you need in the kettle
- Putting a pan lid on could save 90% of the energy required to cook you food and it saves time as well
- Don’t leave anything on standby – this still uses around 9% of the energy
- There are plenty of other energy saving tips on this website
Sustainability projects
We have a number of projects available that students can get involved in as part of their course. Contact your course supervisor for more information.
LHU Environmental Society
The LHU Environment Society is a very new society wanting to tackle very current issues, we want to explore all possible green avenues within the university, the local community and also the wider world.
See the Green Gazette for the latest information
March 2024
Got an idea for a campaign or of ways Hope SU can improve on sustainability?
See @lhu_environmental_society on Instagram
I LOVE MY Campus challenge
What is it?
The University is transforming into a greener, more sustainable place to work and study. The I LOVE MY Campus challenge is the seventh year that a staff environmental challenge has been run, with last year being its most successful year to date. The challenge celebrates and recognises environmental achievements and also assists and encourages teams to further investigate their environmental performance.
The I LOVE MY Campus challenge is a competition between teams who complete various actions to achieve a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum Award. Being more sustainable can sometimes seem overwhelming with so many different issues and it is easy to feel powerless; these actions are simple, daily habit forming lifestyle changes which are clear and easy to implement, which are:
- Good for the environment,
- Good for your health and wellbeing; and
- Good for improving our knowledge and increasing your skills.
Why?
The University has a significant environmental impact, which comes at a substantial financial cost - we currently spend around £1.6 million per year to pay the utility bills (gas, electricity and water) and to remove the waste (excluding building waste and electrical items) we create; that's a lot of money which could be better spent on improving the environment and enhancing the experience of both staff and students.
Completing the actions will save energy, make the best use of the resources we have, allow us to meet legal and best practice requirements and reduce the money we spend. These actions could also help you save money at home.
How does it work?
Taking part is easy:
- Create a team (could be an office, floor, department or building)
- Sign up to the Challenge
- Complete the actions
- Gain recognition and celebrate your achievements at our awards ceremony
- The Challenge is about continuous improvement, with the actions updated annually, rather than a one-off ranking exercise.
There will be a number of workshops and drop-in sessions throughout the year, regular newsletters and emails, and all the information you need can be found within the website
What’s in it for you?
- Taking part is free and fun
- It's interactive and team building
- The chance to have a big impact in your department
- Opportunity to achieve and gain recognition at our annual awards ceremony, where we give out goodies and formal awards to say thank you for all your hard work
- Recognition for environmental actions already complete
- Giving you a framework for encouraging your colleagues to think about sustainability
- Learning about environmental issues
- Opportunity to build professional and personal skills
What other people said...
The Repro Greenies said "Its a great campaign, it made a positive impact on our working day"
Each year we have nominations for those who go above and beyond the Challenge - our Environmental Heros.
See how Gill Allen, Kirstie Mather and Emma Lister have earned their capes.
More information and key dates
We're busy planning and preparing for our next Challenge, so watch this space!
The allotment (Seeds of Hope) was initially set up by the Finance Office to encourage team building and to provide an opportunity to improve the Health and Wellbeing of the Team.
The allotment is now open to all staff and students; it's a great place for:
- getting out in the fresh air,
- promoting an active lifestyle
- working with like minded people
- enhancing the local biodiversity
There are herbs, rhubarb, fruit trees (apple, pear, cherry and apricot) and we'll be sowing and planting vegetables throughout the year. Keep an eye out on this page and on our Facebook page for when we are meeting.
What's in it for me?
- Some benefits of gardening from the National Allotment Society (www.nsalg.org.uk)
- just 30 minutes of gardening on the allotment can burn around 150 calories, the same as doing low impact aerobics
- spending as little as 15 minutes outside in the summer sunshine can help build up your levels of vitamin D, if you are fair skinned. If you have naturally darker skin, anywhere up to 90 minutes of sun exposure will help your vitamin levels (remember your sun cream though!)