Greener Futures is a sustainability competition for societies and sports clubs at The Students’ Union at UWE. It is a creative, fun and rewarding way for our students to gain inspiration and recognition for building sustainability into their communities.

The programme features a workbook of challenges that are completed throughout the academic year and connected to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Participating clubs and societies are given the option to apply for financial aid of up to £500, this enables groups to carry out in-depth sustainability projects.

At the end of the academic year, the club or society with the most points will receive the ‘Greener Futures Club/Society of the Year’ title, presented at their respective awards ceremony. There is also an award for ‘Leader of the Year’, celebrating a student who has made particularly strong efforts to be sustainable and encourage their group to get involved.

Winners 2020/2021:

The Greener Futures Club of the Year was awarded to Lacrosse:

Lacrosse have once again (also 19/20 winners) shown excellent initiative in engaging their members on sustainability and taking action. Their members have been upcycling clothes, starting their own small, sustainable businesses making recycled jewellery and face masks, and also running vegan bake-offs. A particularly impressive project has been The Free Meal Project, set up by their President to deliver nutritious food boxes to those who need them across Bristol.

The Greener Futures Society of the Year was awarded to Geography:

This year, Geog Soc has been dedicated and passionate about embedding sustainability into their society. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, they have created fantastic blogs, organised small-scale litter picks and taken numerous sustainability actions around the home during lockdown. In addition, they have been a key student voice in pushing for Green Walls on campus, working collaboratively with staff to advance this agenda.

The Greener Futures: Leader of the Year was awarded to a student from Cheerleading, they have been working on a fantastic selection of unique projects this year. They’ve been experimenting with making vegan leather, homemade concrete and eco-resin pots. They have also been making eco soy wax melts using locally sourced lavender and natural dyes and selling these via Instagram. To connect with other club members, they’ve also been encouraging walks in nature.
 

Our President, Evan Botwood had this to say on the recent news:

'I'm so pleased that our focus on sustainability has been recognised. A massive congratulations goes out to all students and staff who worked on and fed into these projects, especially those with individual awards. Sustainability is a strong area of partnership with the university, and it is amazing to see its accomplishments recognised.'?