Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) students and staff and have made a £200 donation to Chelmsford Foodbank following the latest round of ARUgreen, the university’s sustainability competition.
The winners of the competition, which incentivises students and staff to take steps to improve sustainability at ARU, were the student team from the Faculty of Business and Law and the staff team from the University Library.
In addition to receiving prizes themselves, the winning teams – who were the ones that earned the most green points for their positive actions – were also provided with a cash prize to donate to charity.
A spokesperson for the Chelmsford Foodbank management team said: “ARUgreen’s £200 gift will make a difference to the lives of many people in Chelmsford, especially over this winter.”
Since the ARUgreen programme launched in 2019, over 150,000 sustainable actions have been completed. During the last academic year, the scheme helped avoid the use of 13,954 disposable cups and bottles, and saved 9,569kg of waste.
Overall, sustainable actions recorded through ARUgreen in the 2022/23 academic year saved 96,033 kg of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 162 flights from London to New York.
The scheme logged 166,698 miles travelled by public transport and 48,373 miles by active travel (walking and cycling) – a combined distance stretching almost from Chelmsford to the moon!
Simon Chubb, Head of Sustainability at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “ARU is committed to becoming a zero-carbon university by 2045, and already 100% of our bought electricity comes from zero-carbon sources.
“Schemes such as ARUgreen are a fun way to encourage our students and staff to further reduce our carbon footprint, such as through recycling and using green transport options.
“We are grateful to our students and staff for their participation in the programme and we look forward to continuing to make an impact in the years to come. We are also delighted to be able to support Chelmsford Foodbank, allowing us to make a difference to our local community at the same time.”
