Engineers Without Borders' Wind Turbine
Greeener Living Assistant, Tim Allen, has been doing a fantasic job at bringing staff and students together to promote sustainable living at The University of Sheffield. Here, he details the successes of the universities’ recent Ethical and Environmental Knowledge (EEK)Week:
EEK Week 2010 was a great success at the University of Sheffield. While occasionally knocked by the looming May exams, turnout was solid for the week’s events with around 300 people attending the Big Green Fair and Travel Roadshow alone. There were events with a serious message such as film showings about Peak Oil and a debate between FairTrade and the Rainforest Alliance. These allied with more light-hearted activites like bike-powered smoothie making and a giveaway of fresh rhubarb on Monday which led to a lot of students sporting them as very organic-looking umbrellas! Such resourcefulness is to be applauded!
This year’s EEK Week was on a bigger scale than ever before, thanks in large part to Degrees Cooler’s focus on bringing together students and staff towards a common goal. As Greener Living Assistant I was in a position to liaise effectively between the Ethical and Environmental student committee and the Energy and Environment Team of staff, which led to increased coordination between the two groups. The Travel Roadshow, RecFest (summer festival in halls with a recycling message) and Engineers Without Borders wind turbine (the group built an impressive five-foot wind turbine and aim to use it to generate power on campus) were all great but separate projects which, thanks to the uniting factor of Degrees Cooler, came together for the first time in EEK Week.
So, looking back, we’ve had a fun week, learned some lessons for next year, and most importantly have used EEK Week to unite a wide coalition of like-minded students and staff. I very much hope the the effects of this to prove powerful and long-lasting.
