Plogging our way to Climate Emergency Day of Action

Each year the Student Living Officers and the Student Union organise a day of action to engage and galvanise students with the climate crisis. The day is scheduled into student calendars and people from around the University, and local community, get involved to host talks, share knowledge and run activities. 

This year, Climate Emergency Day of Action took place on Friday 29 April. The headline events included a talk from Tom Heap (creator and presenter of BBC Radio’s climate change podcast ’39 Ways to Save the Planet’), a People’s Assembly, as well as an art exhibition ‘Creative Perspectives on the Climate Emergency’ hosted by Cabot Institute. There was also an array of vegan food stalls, local sellers and panel discussions with student activists and politicians including Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party. 

After closely following and supporting the work of student and ‘plogger’, Vivek Gurav, the Sustainability Department decided to join forces with the inspiring environmentalist and held a mass plog – a ‘litter-picking-while-jogging’ session, for those who are yet to catch on to the craze! 

The Department also teamed up with Simone Jacobs, Horticultural Supervisor and Hedgehog Friendly Campus Champion, to deliver a message to students about the importance of taking waste out of our environment.  

Around 15 volunteers joined on the day. Volunteers split into two groups, each following one of two routes through and around campus, starting at Senate House and finishing at the University’s Student Union. The volunteers collected, sorted, and recycled four large bags of litter into the correct bins and shared that they were shocked by the litter they found outside of the main campus and that a big contributor is cigarette butts, which do not easily breakdown when left on the ground and pose a hazard for small wildlife.  

The Sustainability Department would like to thank all of the volunteers that joined on the day, as well as to Vivek for helping to organise and promote the event. 

Sign up for the Sustainability newsletter  to learn about similar events happening in the future. 

Follow Vivek’s plogging journey on Instagram: @theplogman.