City College Norwich goes “Greener”

Students and staff at City College Norwich have joined forces to go “greener” this week with a programme of activities seeking to reduce our carbon footprint both at home and at the College.

The week will centre on 5 themed days: green travel, waste reduction, green IT, energy saving at College and at home. Monday is Green travel day when there will be a First Buses low emission bus outside the College splashed with a poster created by College students to promote travelling to work by bus as a cleaner, greener alternative to taking the car. First Buses will also be offering special fares to College staff and students taking the bus.

On Tuesday, staff and students will be challenged to take a look at “What’s in your bin?” with an analysis of all the waste produced by the College in a single day. There will be a competition to guess the weight of the rubbish and we will find out how much of the general waste created could actually have been recycled.

Other environmental awareness raising activities planned for the week include real time demonstrations to staff and students of how much energy their PC’s and other electronic devices use. The output from different equipment will be measured and the cost of the energy will be shown, to encourage students and staff to “think green” and switch off PCs and other equipment when not in use.

Norfolk County Council have also distributed more than 100 pedometers to staff in support of National Walk to Work Week 2009, as part of a competition to see who will take the most steps over a 2-week period.

Dick Palmer, City College Norwich Principal, said: “Protecting the environment and raising awareness of environmental issues is something many of our students and staff are involved in. As one of the largest organisations in the City, we have a responsibility to the environment around us. We want to make the College a greener place to study and work and have placed environmental concerns at the heart of our College plans”.