The Greenspace Movement is growing with over 50 new members signed up. The My Greenspace website and our mobile app will show you what sustainable actions you can take and the positive impact they will have. There’s a huge range of activties for you to take part in – from food waste quizzes and recycling to sharing healthy recipes and growing your own plants, or volunteering on an environmental project.
You’ll be rewarded for each action with Green Points. Each month the four individuals who earn the most Green Points will win a £20 voucher. You’ll also compete as part of your College or Department team, and the College/Department that has earned the most Green Points per person after three months will win a share of £200 to donate to their favourite charity.
Interested? Register now using your Durham email address, and you’ll earn 1,250 Green Points just for signing up!
Plastic Free July
In line with the My Greenspace Calendar, throughout July we will be focussing on cutting out plastics. Plastic Free July is an international campaign run by Australian charity Plastic Free Foundation, which aims to reduce plastic pollution and keep streets, communities and waters cleaner. We're encouraging our staff and students to join the movement and refuse single-use plastics throughout July. Interested? Sign up here.
Allotments Week in August
National Allotments Week is taking place this year from 8 -14 August. This initiative started in 2002 as a way of raising awareness of allotments and the role they play in helping people to live healthier lifestyles, grow their own food, develop friendships and bolster communities. This year’s theme is ‘an acknowledgement of the importance of gardening with nature in mind’. The programme is currently under development, but you can find more information here.
Summer volunteering opportunities
With the academic year coming to a close, July and August are the perfect time to turn your hand to some environmental volunteering. Staff are entitled to 35 hours (or 5 days) of paid volunteering time each calendar year, which can be redeemed in the form of ‘team challenges’ to help out local charities, or one-off or individual ongoing volunteering commitments. In the summer, DU Volunteering is promoting the following team opportunities for staff to get involved with:
- Beach cleans: in collaboration with SeaScapes partnership, beach cleans are arranged monthly, on the first Wednesday of every month, in the Seaham area.
- Balsam bashing: Balsam is a very destructive plant, particularly to riverbanks, limiting the light and growth of other plants and eroding riverbanks over time. This project works to remove Balsam from Durham riverbanks. Dates and times are flexible.
You can find out more about volunteering opportunities.