St Catherine's College

Website: http://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/

Bio: St Catz, as the youngest undergraduate college in Oxford is also very keen to be the greenest one. The college has taken multiple steps to reduce its environmental impact, including removing paper towel dispensers, introducing a 5p charge on straws in our bar and the provision of mugs and college bottles to reduce disposable cup usage. Alongside this the college has been graded Platinum in the Student Switch Off competition and placed 5th in Veggie Pledge. We have an active fossil fuel divestment campaign, a Green Impact group and do termly food and clothing collections to reduce waste. Our JCR has actively been seeking to encourage cycle safety, as well as being involved in negotiations to introduce renewable energy such as solar to our college buildings. In Trinity term we launched our ambitious “war on plastics”, where we are seeking to reduce all plastic use on site, by both the faculty and the students. The buildings on site are currently in the process of transitioning to motion activated LED lights so as to reduce energy impact as well! Catz is a vibrant and welcoming JCR, and this extends to the support it gives to green campaigns and students!

Do you participate in Green Impact and received any awards as a result of this? Catz began participating this year and is aiming to receive one.

Where did you place in Veggie Pledge 2k17? 5th

Proudest environmental policy? War on Plastic, a program seeking to reduce plastics in College.

What is your ranking in Student Switch Off? Platinum.

What advice would you give to other environment reps in the uni? Work with as many different people as possible to get the biggest impact!