Green Impact Guidance: Listing your five most significant environmental impacts

As a department or team, identifying what your most significant environmental impacts are will address issues that are specific to your area and will help prioritize the actions you’ll take in future.

To identify your impacts, think about what your department does on a day to day basis – what your core functions are, what products you buy, how you travel etc. The impacts could relate to energy use, wastes produced, air travel by staff, car travel by visitors visiting the department, the printing of publications and the associated use of energy, paper and oil for inks, etc.

Example

Environmental Impact / Reason for significance / Suggestions for possible actions in the future
1. IT equipment. E.g.: IT equipment is left on when not in use, including PC’s, monitors, printers and photocopies. / Leaving a PC monitor on all night uses enough energy to cook six microwave meals. /
  • Equipment shutdown list – identifies whose responsibility it is to ensure all equipment is turned off when appropriate.

2. Lighting E.g.: Lights are left on when rooms/corridors are empty. / Don't be fooled by myths about fluorescent lighting! It is good practice to switch off office lights if the room is going to be empty for five minutes or more. /
  • Lighting shutdown list - identifies whose responsibility it is to ensure lighting is turned off where appropriate.

3. Heating E.g.: The heating is set too high or is left on when room/building is empty, or windows are opened whilst heating is on. / Heating a room that has an open window or is unoccupied is incredibly wasteful. /
  • Thermometers are used to monitor temperature
  • Issues with heating are reported to Estates if controlled remotely
  • Staff are made aware of Green Impact so know to check whether the heating is on before opening a window.

4. Travel E.g.: Staff and students in the department travel extensively for work/research or study. This could also include travel to and from work, taking in to consideration single passenger travel in cars. / The University has a travel plan to ensure long term sustainability: /
  • Advertising:
­public transport
­cycling facilities
­Car Share website
­video conferencing
5. Printing of publications/minutes etcE.g.: Minutes are printed for every attendee at meetings / The waste hierarchy states that you should always try to reduce the amount of waste material you generate in preference to reusing it or recycling it. /
  • Minutes are emailed out
  • Individuals can request print outs if they need them
  • Publications have a updated mailing list that people can subscribe/unsubscribe to and from

If at any point you’d like to discuss your findings, please contact .

Significant environmental impacts

Department: ______

Date: ______

Environmental Impact / Reason for significance / Suggestions for possible actions in the future
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.