The Winner of the first semester is…
Congratulations to Deans Court for winning first place over November! They stole the show with the highest reduction in their energy consumption; the lowest food waste per person, which they share with St Salvatores; and their continued action in supporting and monitoring wildlife in their halls.
In 2nd place is Andrew Melville for their efforts at greening out their Christmas Ball, winning 3rd place in lowest food waste and actively trying to reduce bedroom bin bag waste. Read on to find out more.
League Table
As it stands…
- Deans Court (65pts)
- Andrew Melville (60pts)
- St Regs (40pts)
- Agness Blackadder (35pts)
- St Salvatores (30pts)
- University Hall (30pts)
- John Burnett (25pts)
- DRA (20pts)
- McIntosh (10pts)
Biodiversity
As the Hall Environment Reps for Deans Court, Sabdh and Claire made the difference in the league tables with their continued action on supporting wildlife habitats for bats and hedgehogs, and monitoring all the beautiful beasts that share their hall’s grounds.
Hall Ball
Running away unrivalled with 30pts, Melville definitely deserve it after their Festive Hall Ball, “A Midwinter’s Night Dream”. In our opinion, it stands out as the highlight of the past month. This is what Melville did:
Theme: Winter Woodland – a celebration of a natural environment in order to promote its protection.
Decorations: All the decorations fitted into a nature theme and were either natural, plastic-free or good enough quality to reuse again. There were pine cones on the tables, wooden wreaths and ivy arches sprucing the place up.
The crackers were plastic-free, FSC and filled with an energy-saving / sustainable tip or fact (if you get the chance to read through them, please do, they are great!). Instead of name cards to signpost people to their seats, we used wooden stars. These will last forever as a keepsake from the event for people to hang on their tree or pinboard.
All other decorations were reusable and will be saved for futureballs and as hall decorations. The christmas trees were borrowed from our hall meaning no additional tree were wasted. Some of the decorations were bought from RSPB supporting the protection of forests in the UK.
Finally, the event was heavily lit by LED fairy lights to save on energy.
Energy
Running away with at outstanding reduction in consumption is Deans Court. They saved a whole 13% more energy than DRA who, despite being the largest of the halls, did amazingly well to earn 2nd place. Being a bigger halls has its unique challenges with engagement so successes here are always held in high regard. Finally, sitting in 3rd place is Angus and Stanley Smith Houseses, a postgraduate halls. As they are not signed up to the competition, it is McIntosh in 4th place that wins the 3rd place 10 points instead.
Food Waste
The all new winner for food waste this month is St Salvator’s Hall, which is shared with Gannochy and Deans Court. Close in 2nd place is St Regulus who remains in the top 3 for the second month in a row. In 3rd place is Andrew Melville.
Zero Waste
Exciting developments on the zero waste front this month. Agness Blackadder’s St And Reuse Station is painted and now adorned with a hand-routed sign by Transition’s Tool Share volunteers. The final product has been long awaited but doesn’t it look great!
A big shout out goes to Bronte and John, the Hall Environment Reps for ABH, who have been leading the way with getting it painted and up and running. Despite all this good news, these points were awarded last month.
Instead, the points go to Andrew Melville for leading the way on reducing bin bag waste. With over 270 residents, each with their own bedroom bin changed almost daily, that is a lot of under-utilised plastic going to skips. To keep people informed and up-to-date, Melville’s lead Hall Environment Rep, Elena, created posters.
That is all from us this semester!
Do not forget to stay on top of you healthy-planet lifestyle choices in December. They will count towards the first month next semester!
If you live in a halls and would like to get involved, contact us either on the Interhall Facebook page or email us at transition@st-andrews.ac.uk.
