UniSR Green: our University's environmental commitment

On June 5Tth each year, the "World Environment Day" is celebrated. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, it was celebrated for the first time two years later with the slogan "Only One Earth". The purpose of the day is to encourage everyone to become more aware and to take concrete care of our planet.

According to the Global Risks Report 2019, at the top of the list of risks for the Earth there are extreme meteorological conditions, the inability to take action regarding climate change, and natural catastrophes. Such a dramatic and urgent situation requires everyone to play their part: citizens, politicians, businesses, institutions, including universities.

UniSR's commitment

UniSR has been committed for several years to reducing the environmental impact of its activities. The initiatives undertaken require the active involvement of students attending the University as well as employees. These activities are aimed at modifying spontaneous behaviors hitherto naturally employed and transforming them into virtuous behaviors. To make these initiatives effective, UniSR involved the teaching staff specializing in behavioral sciences and defined a plan of parallel actions aimed at the commitment of the university community.

In this challenge, UniSR is not only a reference to inform and raise awareness of the public, but it becomes itself a concrete example of a sustainable culture by promoting environmental education paths necessary to guide change towards a society lived by aware and active citizens.

UniSR Green projects

There are four main projects launched by UniSR to promote environmental sustainability through some concrete actions:

1. Separate collection at the University: 40 stations (paper, plastic and aluminum and undifferentiated) have been set up within the university premises. The baskets are arranged outside the classrooms, in the corridors and in strategic positions that facilitate their use.

2. Policies to reduce the use of plastic: 6 water dispensers have been installed inside the university premises. At the same time, the students were given stainless steel water bottles, which can also be purchased on our online shop. Not just water bottles: among the UniSR sustainable gadgets there are also the new ecological shopping bags in organic cotton certified GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard).

3. Print monitoring: UniSR has launched a print centralization action with a dual objective: on the one hand, the reduction of the use of single printers in favor of centralized printers (and consequent increase in efficiency and reduction of electricity and materials used), and on the other hand the reduction of prints in favor of digitization processes.

UniSR has also equipped itself with specific software that allows implementing monitoring, quotas and reloading of printouts for each user (student and administrative staff) to build a database on which to carry out assessments and draw users' attention to their habits. The computer monitors show the statistical data of environmental impact that the software processes:

• Trees: equivalent number of trees that were consumed to produce paper;
• Carbon orCO₂ equivalent: greenhouse gas equivalent released during paper production;
• Energy used by the manufacturing process during the production of the paper. This is expressed as the equivalent amount of time required to run a 60W incandescent bulb in order to make the data understandable.

4. Encouragement of sustainable mobility: for some time UniSR has been promoting sustainable mobility, represented for example by the fact that the Campus has the BIKO (Bike sharing) service available and that the student residences are within easy walking distance of the university. UniSR intends to renew its commitment to this effect by entering into agreements for car sharing, preferably electric.

Although the goal is ambitious and not immediately achievable, UniSR will continue to strive to work concretely to design and disseminate virtuous practices towards effective sustainability.