Keele University Students' Union has successfully retained its Green Impact 'excellent' accreditation for the second year running. 

The Students’ Union (SU) carries out a range of activities in partnership with the University which have resulted in it retaining the accreditation, and demonstrates the Union’s commitment to embedding sustainability in its operations. 

A range of sustainability-focused initiatives are run by the SU, including; ‘The Great Donate’ - a scheme which donates students’ unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation and local foodbanks; Weigh to Go – a zero waste shop which offers a sustainable way to purchase food; an annual green festival; microgrants for societies that carry out sustainable practices; and Eat, Rinse, Repeat – a range of reusable packaging sold on campus to discourage the use of single-use plastic, and much more. 

Earlier this year, the SU also ran the ‘Vote Leaves’ campaign to encourage students to participate in SU elections by committing to plant a tree on campus for every vote placed. The campaign which was supported by the Keele Key Fund, and resulted in 2,270 students voting and plans to plant as many trees. 

The Green Impact for Students’ Unions sustainability support package and awards programme is specifically designed for students' unions to run effective projects and campaigns, using the student movement to create lasting change.

Charlotte Burke, Student Activities Co-ordinator, said: “Retaining 'excellent' for Green Impact is a massive achievement for the SU and it's something we should all be incredibly proud of. It's so inspiring to see how committed staff, officers and students are to sustainability here at Keele. So much amazing work has been done at the SU over the past year, it's fantastic to see what we can achieve when we all work together and I can't wait to see what comes next.”