Read more about the winner and runner up of the 2014 Sustainability Action Award for a Student Team.
Winner: Cameroon Catalyst - Building for Change
Team members: Charlie Steer, Charlotte McCarthy, Ant Morris, Gervaise Tubervill, Katherine Morgan, Charlotte Youe, Emily Smith, Mikey Harper, Daniel Crisp, Matt Duckett.
Cameroon Catalyst aims to provide an improved quality of life for those living in eastern rural Cameroon by the provision of infrastructure and development. Over the past four years they have worked in the village of Bambouti, providing them with a medical centre, mechanics workshop, school buildings and a sustainable electricity supply using solar panels.
The team promotes sustainability by designing and funding projects using the skill of local people in the village for the majority of the actual construction.
They have just received charitable status in the UK; this should help them to provide much needed help and support to as many villages as possible, with the ultimate goal of expanding out of Cameroon to other areas within Africa with similar needs.
Runner up: Green Label Project
Team members: David Hicks, Jade Cohen, Chan King Wai, Olivia Ojuroya, Adele Wratten.
The Green Label Project evolved to provide a tool that could communicate the environmental and ethical credentials of products sold on campus in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
The team has developed the criteria for each of the four labels and all the products and dishes on sale in the SUSU Shop, SUSU Cafe and Bridge Bar have been audited to determine which fit the criteria of well packaged, locally sourced, vegan or gluten-free.
The labels are an important factor in allowing members of the community to make informed purchasing decisions at the University's restaurants and shops from an ethical and environmental viewpoint.