Students living in university catered halls have been in competition to see which hall could reduce the most waste. The go! Greener Halls Competition, Term 2 WasteNott, ran from 3 February – 9 March 2025 with all catered halls, plus Melton Hall, aiming to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. Well done to everyone who took part. Your made a real difference!
And the winner is…
Congratulations to winners Newark Hall who resoundingly secured first place and reduced their waste the most during the competition. They showed not just their desire to win, but their desire to win by as large a margin as possible. The champions reduced their waste down to just 5.5kg per student per week. This is about the weight of one full kettle each.
Lincoln Hall came in second, and Lenton and Wortley Hall camethird - an inspiration to us all as in the 2024 waste competition, they finished second to last!
During the competition, all halls saved 6 tonnes of waste.
This is the weight of 6 rhinos or 6 full hot tubs!
Your actions have contributed to a greener, more sustainable campus, and we hope you’ll continue these into the future. Keep up the good work, the new habits and encouraging others to do the same.
What happens next?
Give Us Your Feedback
If you were in a hall that took part in the competion, give us your feedback by completing a quick survey and you could win a £20 Love2Shop voucher!
Be a real waste champion
You can find all the tips that we shared about reducing waste here. But below are our top four most impactful changes you can make to live a life with less waste.
- Buy less – choose to live a life with less stuff and more joy.
- Choose slow fashion – enough clothing already exists in the world to clothe the next 6 generations! The planet cannot support companies like Shein so try alternatives to buying new.
- Reduce food waste – around a 3rd of all food produced is wasted, which has a huge environmental impact. If food waste was a country, it would be world’s 3rd largest emitter. Find out more and take part in Food Waste Action Week 17-23 March.
- Banish plastic - plastic production is set to triple by 2060! Recycling isn’t currently enough so we all need to reduce the demand for plastic.
Pack for Good
If you're moving out over Easter, consider having a clear-out and donating unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation with Pack for Good. You will find collection points in halls, on campus and in the local community for items such as clothes, electricals and books.
The Sustainability Team and waste partner Enva would like to praise all the halls. Thank you once again for all your sustainable actions, and congratulations to everyone involved!
Posted on Monday 24th March 2025