Get involved - students
How can students help to make La Trobe University a more environmentally sustainable place to study?
La Trobe Environmental Action Group
Students can get involved in a group of committed and interested students who lobby to make both the University and the wider community more environmentally conscious. To get involved, contact the SRC Environment Officer (enviro@srclatrobe.org.au).
Equality, Sustainability and Peace (ESP)
ESP evolved from the La Trobe University international development students’ club, in Melbourne, Australia. ESP welcomes the involvement of all people who wish to contribute positively to the way in which equality, sustainability and peace are experienced around the world.
In 2008 ESP won The Greening La Trobe Award for the Bundoora Campus. Their idea was to build a small community garden to grow hardy crops such as tomatoes, herbs, and native plants. In 2009 this garden is helping promote community awareness of organic gardening and also teach skills for growing vegies in peoples own homes.
Go to www.espeace.org for more information.
The Naturalist Society
The Naturalist Society are a non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of flora and fauna in Victoria. The society comprises people of all ages and scientific backgrounds from botany and zoology to conservation biology and genetics. If you have any inquiries about if you are interested in becoming a member please feel free to send us an email at thenaturalistsociety@hotmail.com.
Volunteer
EnviroSMART has many opportunities for students to volunteer including:
- Conducting regular waste audits of different areas of the Melbourne (Bundoora) Campus
- Report and proposal writing
- Event organising
- Promotional work
- And of course… data entry
If the course you are studying requires you to complete volunteer hours, come and complete them with us! You will gain some fantastic hands-on experience, help La Trobe University become more environmentally friendly and hang out with other like-minded people, drop us an email (envirosmart@latrobe.edu.au).
Three easy steps towards environmental sustainability
You might find they save you money too!
1. Reducing your paper usage
Did you know that La Trobe University went through 65,000 reams of paper last year? This equates to 174.2 tonnes of paper used annually at La Trobe. There are so many simple ways to reduce these numbers. We've listed some below but we bet you can think of more!
- Resist printing unless absolutely necessary. If you can read lecture notes from the screen save your notes and readings to disk instead.
- Print double sided when you are photocopying and printing off reading material and draft copies of essays. You'll save paper and have half as much to carry around. There are instructions for how to print double sided copies above the print stations in the library.
- You can keep a stack of last semester's readings and note for printing on scrap paper at home.
- Instead of buying a new print cartridge when your old one fails, buy ink instead and refill it.
- When printing off power point lecture notes, just cut and paste the text and save heaps of wasted pieces of paper.
- Dispose of paper you don't need in the recycling bins provided near the printing stations.
- If you have a one sided document, place this face down in the paper collection stacks near the printing station. Students who would like lecture pads for note taking can come and take a pile of paper and staple it as needed.
- Recycle any old readers or subject notes and paper materials at the end of semester rather than putting them in the bin where they will surely contribute to land fill.
- Buy an environmentally friendly paper brand for printing at home. We recommend the brand Evolve which is 100% post consumer waste, and is just as white and affordable as other non sustainable brands such as Reflex. You can pick up Evolve reams of paper for personal printing in the La Trobe University bookshop and in the SRC Environment Office.
2. Using reusable containers
- Coffee and early morning lectures go hand in hand at University but unfortunately huge amounts of waste are created from people putting their cardboard and foam cups in the non recycling bins for land fill. You can do your bit by bringing a reusable coffee cup to Uni and save this waste being created in the first place.
- Plastic take away containers are also a huge contributor to waste in the Agora, so if you have a reusable hard plastic container and cutlery, keep it in your bag for lunch times and help reduce the amount of student waste going to landfill. You can even wash up your coffee and food containers at the SRC kitchen or Wholefoods Cafe.
3. Take sustainable transport to uni
There are heaps of ways which you can reduce your contributions to greenhouse gases, by taking public transport, cycling, walking or carpooling. Visit our TravelSmart website to find out more.