Sustainability festivals and green spaces

Over the weekend I had a great time attending the 2015 Southampton Sustainability Festival with fellow Green Action members. The day was organised by Southampton Hub and focused on raising awareness of sustainable consumption and inspiring students to take action. Throughout the day there were a number of really interesting workshops which included speakers from various initiatives and organisations including Southampton Repair Café, The Environment Centre, Labour Behind the Label and the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development. I particularly found the talks by Positive Money, on how new money comes into circulation, and The Real Junk Food Project, on the principles behind ‘pay-as-you-feel’ cafes and preventing food waste. They were really eye opening.

Over the lunch break one of my committee members and I were also able to set up a stall for Green Action to share what our society does with people at the event who may be interested, which also ended up being a great networking opportunity. We were set up next to a stall by ‘The Bug Shack’ who promoted insects as a sustainable source of protein - something I’ve actually been really curious about. It was great to have the opportunity to ask them some questions and learn more about the potential of insects.

The festival was held during Student Volunteering Week at the University.

I really feel like I’ve been gaining a vast amount of new perspectives on various issues I feel passionate about through the lectures and assignments I’ve had this semester, as well as through additional events such as the Southampton Sustainability Festival.

A couple of weeks ago Green Action teamed up with SUSU's Marxist Society and Southampton and District Young Greens for a joint event on capitalism and the environment which again was really interesting and eye-opening. Studying biology, I tend to focus more purely on the science behind a lot of the current environmental issues society is facing, but I feel it’s very valuable to able to see these issues from various perspectives in order to gain a greater understanding on how best to tackle them.

Attending so many green events does make you appreciate nature more. As a third year student, while I have been able to attend a number of fascinating events I also spend a lot of time in front of my laptop by a desk, so my one of my housemates and I have been trying to find ways to spend more time outside. In my last blog post I wrote about taking part in one of the Conservation Volunteering Society’s Sunday tasks at Chilworth Conservation Area.

This weekend my housemate and I decided to go for a 5km run on Southampton Common. For those who don’t know, the Common is a large green space close to the University and the city centre. It’s been a long time since I last went running but thankfully I didn’t feel too exhausted and I definitely got to fill my lungs with some fresh air!

A refreshing morning at Southampton Common.

I always enjoy stepping away from my desk and mixing with different groups, learning more about the environment or making time to enjoy Southampton’s green and natural spaces.

Kristin

Green Action and student campaigns

Last Tuesday Green Action held the first official event of the year. It was great to see a lot of new people with an interest in the welfare of the planet and the health of our environment as well as a willingness to get more involved in taking action towards making meaningful green changes. The aim of our first event was to remind and inform people of the importance of the campaigns we are running and to leave people feeling motivated to participate in the first Global Divestment Day event (which was held last Friday).

During the meeting on Tuesday I gave a brief introduction to the campaign for those who weren’t familiar with it, followed by a film showing of a documentary about the power and aims of the movement. The film covered the importance of taking action, and talked about the role we all can play in helping to make change happen. We also organised materials so that members of the society could contribute some art to the stalls we planned to set up at the day event. We made a large banner to hang on our stalls to help grab people’s attention during the day.

I was involved in the planning of the Global Divestment Day event, but due to lab work commitments I was busy for the majority of the day. However, I heard from my committee that it was a lot of fun and that they were able to gain a lot of signatures! The Marine Conservation Society, who have joined us in the campaign, also did a great job, collecting signatures and helping to raise further awareness by reaching out to more students.

It feels great to have taken part in the first ever annual Global Divestment Day and running our own independent campaign.

While at times controversial, it feels good to be able to work towards making positive change for something you believe in and to be able to work with other students who are also passionate about a greener future for our planet.

Social media has also been really useful in raising awareness and my committee were taking loads of photos during the day.

The Marine Conservation Society put together their interpretation of what an oil spill could look like.

It’s great to have another society to work with on campaigns so we can raise awareness from different perspectives.

Through being involved in this campaign I have been gaining a lot of experience in organising different events and coordinating different groups.

If you’re passionate about campaigning, or the environment, there are plenty of chances to get involved at Southampton as a student, and there are so many ways to help with causes which you feel strongly about!

Kristin