BU is delighted to achieve the EcoCampus Platinum and ISO14001 certification this is the highest accolade we can achieve which demonstrate excellence in sustainability and BU is one of only 15 universities with this dual certification.
BU is committed to minimising our environmental footprint and maximising our social impact, which is why, at the end of last year, we worked with external auditors to achieve this fourth and final stage of the EcoCampus Awards.
Neil Smith, BU’s Sustainability Manager said of the achievement, ‘This is a great achievement for BU and testament to all the hard work by many over the past few years. The auditors were particularly impressed with the effort of implementing the management system and the level at which sustainability has been embedded into the strategic direction of the University. Of course, our work does not stop and we have to build on this achievement and continue to embed sustainability across BU.’
EcoCampus is a national environmental management system award scheme for the further and higher education sector. Our Environmental Management System (EMS) provides a framework for actions to minimise our negative impacts on the environment, such as our work to cut carbon emissions, and maximise our positive impacts, like our teaching and research.
The EcoCampus auditors highlighted that this certification is the start of the journey and we need to continue to improve and develop our environmental systems. BU staff and students are vital to this journey. We all have a responsibility to make BU – and our local community – more sustainable. This could mean putting the right things in the recycling bins, making sure we turn our computers off at the end of the day or teaching our students how they can contribute to a fairer society.
Find out more about what BU is doing to promote sustainability on the website and take a few minutes to read our Sustainability Policy. This highlights BU’s commitments to embedding sustainability across the university and also highlights how your actions can support our ambitions.
The Sustainability Team is always looking for students to get involved in sustainability activities – if you’re interested, just drop the team an email.
Keep up to date with the work of the Sustainability Team by liking the Facebook page or following them on Twitter.