How can you help?

Here at the University, we have pledged to be single-use plastic free by 2023.

To achieve this ambitious target we need everyone’s support. Whether you are a staff member or a student there are lots of ways you can get involved.

We have developed a toolkit to help you implement changes to your working practices, whether you are working in an office, teaching or providing other services.

The toolkit provides information about how to identify single-use plastic within your working area and how to make changes to remove it, as well as posters and communication tools.

Staff are also invited to become Staff Sustainability Architects or work with us to develop a Blueprint plan for your school or service. Through these, you will develop an action plan to remove single-use plastic that’s tailored to your area of work.

If you have a University of Leeds email address you will be able to access and download our #2023PlasticFree toolkit from SharePoint.

Student support is critical for us to achieve the pledge. You have the power and influence to drive changes across our operations and teaching facilities. You can also be an advocate for the pledge by incorporating it into your daily life on campus.

The Leeds Sustainable Curriculum commits the University to embedding sustainability into all taught programmes. Use this opportunity to incorporate single-use plastic research as part of your dissertation or assessed projects. If you're looking for ideas take a look at our research projects webpage.

You could be part of a collaborative Leeds Living Lab project to help address issues specific to the University or for one of our city partners.

Email plasticfree@leeds.ac.uk to discuss how your research or studies could help us achieve the pledge.