Blog by Abigail Sproston, Student Sustainability Intern

The first full week in the semester has passed. Welcome week, freshers, chaos – whatever you want to call it. I was lucky. I was back with my friends, hitting the ground running with year three work, and excited to dig my teeth into my first full year as a sustainability student intern.

The Fresher's Fair was exciting. Stalls ranging from Dominos to local theatres, WWF, two different free doughnut stands – can you see a pattern here? – and sports opportunities were in the glorious drizzle and sunshine. It really wouldn’t be university if there wasn’t some form of rain, would it? In true Potters fashion, a gigantic inflatable duck loomed over the Forest of Light by the Keele Chapel. I wonder if the local colloquialism (a’up duck) was an intentional link or just a happy accident.

A few seminars and introductory sessions in, it was the day of the Sustainability Fair and Sustainability at Keele’s turn for a stall. The weather looked awful on the news. Still, I got my coat out and got ready. But it was spectacular. The sky was clear and warm, and we met so many interesting and enthusiastic people. Ideas were shared, Carbon Literacy Project training were signed up to, and I got to meet the people who are going to be living in the Student Sustainability Bungalow.

For those of you like me, who didn’t really know too much about what the Sustainability Bungalow is... four students get to have the opportunity to live in a home on campus as sustainably as possible and run campaigns to raise awareness of climate change and sustainable living. They were all so enthusiastic about their upcoming brunches and sharing food and recipes with other students on campus. Another interesting stall was a Period Poverty stall that was offering free menstrual cups, reusable pads, period pants and reusable tampon applicators to gather information about people’s perspectives on these issues.

The same day, in Chancellors, there was a stall with free vegan food. Wings, burgers, loaded fries. It tasted incredible. I must admit that with certain foods – mainly chicken – I can be sceptical of the taste and texture of vegan replacements. I’ve always found that red meats are easier to replace, but chicken? I gave the burgers a miss. The loaded fries looked amazing, but the wings? Covered in sriracha sauce and sesame seeds, they looked too good to miss. I wasn’t disappointed. They were delicious, weren’t dry or stodgy, and the sauce. Vegan sauces are the best. I challenge any carnivore to try including vegan sauces. They are so flavourful and can help to decrease your carbon footprint.

My first week was rounded off by visiting a conference and exhibition about the work towards sustainability in Staffordshire (Staffordshire Climate Expo). Aside from my less than eco-friendly solo car journey there, the exposition blew my mind at how much work is currently going on at all sorts of levels in Staffordshire. From individuals running community businesses re-using plastics to make jewellery and plant pots, to companies making wallets out of old tyre inners, councils, small businesses, educational institutions, charities, ecological projects, electric vehicle supplies and finance initiatives, Uttoxeter Racecourse was packed with people and businesses making positive economic, social, and environmental changes in the local area. There were so many stands that I didn’t have time to go to any of the workshops or panels and even then, I still felt like I had learnt loads from vendors and businesses. I highly encourage you to keep an eye out for similar events in the future – you never know what you might learn. That’s the wonderful thing about sustainability, it doesn’t matter how much you think you know, how many actions you’ve taken or how long you have invested in it. There will always be an opportunity to learn more about a technology, food, or perspective that you never thought to consider before. I, for one, can’t wait to see what else is next.

Abigail Sproston
Student Sustainability Intern

Find out more

• Join the Sustainability Community
• Student-led Green:Keele Instagram
• More on Sustainability at Keele
• Period Power
• Staffordshire Climate Expo
• Keele Food and Drink
• Carbon Literacy Project training
• Sustainability Bungalow
• Great Big Green Week