Grizedale College have become the first on campus to collaborate with Green Lancaster by organising a series of events under the umbrella campaign “Grizedale Goes Green”.
The campaign began on Thursday Week 4 by providing free pots of salad seeds to students. The finale in Week 9 will include live music and prizes for those who have grown the best salad. The event also includes opportunities to sign a petition in support of Lancaster University adopting an ethical investments policy.
SCAN spoke to Green Lancaster staff member and Grizedale Men’s Welfare Officer, Mark Robinson, who said: “What’s really important is to get Green Lancaster’s name out and to provide students with an easy opportunity to grow their own food – to gently expose a world of sustainable living that they might be interested in getting more involved with. While we were handing out the salads we also had lots of other information and ways of getting involved on show so anyone who came along could find something out that they may have not known before! It was a great way of getting these opportunities out in the open.”
Green Lancaster’s Events Coordinator, Niyati Burde, said: “Grizedale goes Green is an important step in Green Lancaster’s efforts to raise the profile of food sustainability on campus. Most people don’t realise how much you can reduce your carbon footprint by buying or growing locally and we’re trying to raise awareness about that with events like these, as well as the recent pumpkin festival and our ongoing cooking demos.”
Green Lancaster’s aim is to provide students with opportunities to live green and become more sustainable by helping students make positive environmental choices. The group works closely with the University and creates environmental change by delivering projects that meet the needs, interests, and values the student body.
Women’s Welfare Officer for Grizedale College, Amelia Pagan, also spoke to SCAN to discuss the benefits of involving colleges with Green Lancaster, saying: “The idea was brought about as we create many events and campaigns during the year linking with societies etc. but a current issue in today’s society is the environment. We also have a great Green presence on campus so it made sense for Grizedale as a college to make the first step towards creating a link.” She also added: “The event is hopefully the first of many engaging students in how productive and entertaining it can be to be green. It also makes people aware of the dream spaces there is available and resources that they can have access to.”
