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SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
Key Sustainability Initiatives - Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin, has identified 10 key sustainability initiatives with some helpful information on how you can reduce the impact on the natural world around you during your stay. Please take the time to view the guides below where you will find innovative ways to get around the city, reduce waste and also minimise your energy consumption.
Energy Consumption and Climate Change
Electricity and energy consumption is one of the main causes of climate change (aka global warming) which is caused by an increase in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) for energy. GHGs trap heat in the atmosphere and cause global temperatures to rise, resulting in climate-related disasters such as extreme heatwaves, heavy rainfall, violent winds, storms and reduced food harvests.
Waste Management
Waste management is about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Trinity’s waste management continues to work on diverting as much waste as possible to various recycling options across the university. While infrastructure is part of the solution, individual habits have the biggest impact on good waste segregation. On this webpage, you can find out how to prevent waste, increase reuse and repurposing of items and how to recycle properly.
Water and Wastewater
The water services industry is the fourth-most energy intensive sector in the EU, and is responsible for huge contributions to climate change via carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Trinity has reduced its water consumption by 45% since 2010. On this webpage you can find out how to reduce your water use and associated wastewater generation.
Trinity Green Labs Guide
Worldwide, labs consume ten times more energy than similarly sized offices, four times more water than offices, and produce 5.5 tons of plastic waste annually (an equivalent to 2% global plastic production). In this guide, Trinity Green Labs offer simple, cheap (sometimes free!) ways to reduce costs in your lab, as well as improving the efficiency of running the lab.
Sustainable Transport
Transport accounts for 40% of Ireland’s GHG emissions, due to the burning of oil, petrol and diesel fuels. Thanks to being located city centre, 98% of students and staff use walking, cycling and public transport to commute, which ranks Trinity as one of the leading universities for use of sustainable transport.
Resource Consumption
Resource consumption has massive impacts on the natural world; our choices of what we buy and how much we consume directly impact Nature and the natural environment that we cherish. Trinity has committed to reducing consumption of resources, and to using our resources more intelligently.
Biodiversity
Trinity has a Pollinator Plan as part of the National Pollinator Plan, and has taken big steps to increase and encourage biodiversity on our main campus and many of our sites. Bee hives and solitary pollinator hotels are erected on campus to encourage pollinating insect populations.
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Procurement relates to consciously purchasing products and services that cause minimal adverse environmental impacts to the planet. It incorporates human health, social equity and environmental concerns into the search for high quality products and services at competitive prices.
Sustainability Education, Research and Entrepreneurship
Trinity continues to foster the next generation of environmental and sustainability leaders by actively creating sustainability-related curricula, research and courses. Various research centres are working on sustainability related topics, and their Launchbox accelerator seeks to engage entrepreneurs.
Communication and Student Engagement
Trinity has established a number of active avenues of communication to ensure that senior administration can communicate with campus members and that campus members have the means to collaborate on projects as well as communicate their concerns, ideas and queries to appropriate sources.
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