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Solarbox launches

Abandoned phone booths have been converted into solar-powered mobile phone-charging kiosks - 'Solarboxes' - by recent LSE Geography graduates Kirsty Kenney and Harold Craston.

The very first Solarbox was unveiled on Tottenham Court Road on 1 October 2014 at a launch event hosted by Zac Goldsmith MP and Innocent Drinks co-founder Richard Reed.

After winning support from the LSE Annual Fund, Solarbox also also won £5k from the London Mayor's Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition (currently seeking entries for its next competition - see below), which is judged by Deborah Measden from Dragon's Den amongst others.

An LSE story on the award can be found here - and look out for more Solarboxes popping up around London soon...  
 

The 2014-15 year got off to a brilliant start, with a 'Sustainability: get involved' event, held jointly by the Sustainability Team and the Students' Union, which attracted over 50 freshers.

Students found out about the many ways they can get involved with green societies and sustainable projects on campus and also had a chance to mingle with other likeminded students. It was accompanied by a stall on Houghton Street where visitors could make their own pedal powered smoothie! We also led green campus tours for students who wanted to see the behind the scenes of sustainability at LSE - solar PV panels, roof gardens and more.
 

It's not too late to assemble a team and sign up your office. For more information on how to get involved, please contact Sustainability Assistant Vyvyan Evans at v.evans@lse.ac.uk
 

New beehive planned after bumper honey crop

The LSE Beekeeping Society harvested 200 jars of exclusive LSE honey this year, the proceeds of which are being reinvested in a new hive.

The new hive will be built on the roof of Connaught House, where there are already two thriving hives. This will take the total of hives the School has to five, as there are also two hives at Passfield Hall of Residence. 

It will take a season for the hives to settle in properly - but look out for 200 plus jars of honey for sale next year! All the while, our flying friends are helping to pollinate a living London.
 

The Energy Policy, which will sit under the Environmental Sustainability Policy, will deliver a structured approach to managing our  energy related impacts, ensuring continuous improvement. The Energy Policy can be viewed on here
 

A new green roof has been installed on the roof of St Clement's, after Professor Teddy Brett won £10,000 from the LSE Sustainable Projects Fund to construct it.

The green roof will add to the existing green roofs and green wall on campus, boosting LSE's contribution to local biodiversity and helping out the LSE bees. Green roofs also help urban drainage, enhance thermal insulation of buildings and absorb air pollution.
 

LSE cut the amount of waste it produced in 2013-14 by 10 tonnes, which represents a 0.6 per cent reduction in comparison to the previous year, despite increases in campus floor area and student numbers.

This is fantastic news, so thank you to all who helped us achieve this! We also managed to reuse a whopping 33 tonnes of waste. Much of that was furniture and electrical goods that went to good homes. But it also highlights how much 'waste' isn't really...'waste'. To help reduce waste at Xmas, you could: make your own gifts, donate any unwanted gifts and freeze those leftovers (defrosting the freezer before Xmas will make it more efficient too!).
 

LSE hosted several public lectures on environmental sustainability this term. Professor Lord Anthony Giddens spoke on the politics of climate change and whether there is hope for the future; Professor Michael Grubb dealt with the nitty gritty of the macroeconomics of energy and climate change; and Professor Luc Bovens of the Philosophy Department was joined by the Sustainability Team's Elena Rivilla-Lutterkort in a debate on food ethics.

The Sustainability in Practice lecture series also returned, with a panel debate of finance experts addressing how the finance industry could better manage sustainability and risk, and Satish Kumar giving an entertaining talk on why ecology should have greater prominence in economic and political debates.

The lectures were attended by several hundred people in total, and sparked some fascinating and lively debates. Podcasts of all these lectures are now publicly available online. 

Look out for future public lectures, including one with solar energy pioneer Jeremy Leggett on 2 March 2015.
 

LSE was shortlisted in the annual Green Gown Awards, which recognise the sustainability of UK universities.

The School was featured in the 'Continuous Improvement' category, which is for the greatest environmental progress made over five years. The prestigious awards ceremony took place at Manchester University on 3 November.  

 The big picture

October saw the return of another successful ReLove event to Houghton Street and Bankside hall of residence. Nine hundred pounds was raised for the Sustainable Projects Fund. ReLove also saved around 8 tonnes of items from going to waste.

The Sustainable Projects Fund is now open for applicants! The prize fund supports staff and student-led projects to enhance sustainability within the LSE community. So if you have a green idea, however big or small, why not apply and you could win funding to develop your project.

The scheme recently secured £3k of additional funding from The National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs, which will supplement the funding coming from the 10p 'tax' on water bottles on campus and ReLove. Deadline: Friday 19 December.
 

The Mayor's Low Carbon Entrepreneur is an annual competition seeking the brightest talent from London students to develop a carbon-busting idea.

Winners can get £20k to turn their low-carbon project into a reality, as well as internships, mentoring and more. LSE students were awarded prize money last year (see above) - will you be this year's winner..? 
 

LSE Catering is now selling reusable LSE branded water bottles, available from campus catering outlets. When empty, the 500ml bottle can fold up like a concertina and go in your pocket.

The UK consumes 18 billion disposable plastic bottles each year, and the majority of these end up as rubbish. Why not invest in one of these reusable water bottles and help decrease your waste footprint?
 

Download a Holiday Shutdown Check list from the Sustainability website.

Student Switch Off, the student energy-saving competition, saw its best ever year in 2013-14, cutting energy usage in halls by 10.8 per cent compared to 2005 levels. This was achieved through the collective effort of simple actions, such as switching lights off, boiling only the water you need, and unplugging unused items.

Carr Saunders hall won the £250 top prize, as well as the cherished shield engraved with its name - but most importantly, copious amounts of Ben & Jerry ice cream!

If you live in halls, join the Facebook page to enter this year's competition - with more Ben & Jerry's ice cream to be won. Over 350 students got involved last year. The Student Switch Off team will be visiting your hall before Christmas, and again during January 2015. 

  Advice