First place for environmentally friendly EUSA

Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) has been awarded first place at the National Union of Students' (NUS) Sound Environmental Impact Awards.

The accreditation scheme, in its fourth year, encourages and rewards good environmental practice in students’ unions.

Credited with the gold standard award at a ceremony on Wednesday 31 March, EUSA was the clear winner with a score of 776 points, 95 points clear of second place Winchester Students’ Union.

Auditors spoke of EUSA’s mix of “practical action and truly successful campaigns” and highlighted its achievement in convincing the University of Edinburgh  to ensure that medicines developed on campus are provided at cost price to the world’s poorest countries.

Other examples of student-led action to reduce environmental impact and help develop sustainable solutions to challenges faced by EUSA included: the installation of waterless urinals; a rainwater recovery system for one of its buildings; and a campaign to get the local council to create a cycle lane between two of the university’s campuses.

James Wallace, EUSA vice-president services told The Journal: “EUSA has been working hard over the last year to improve its environmental record and to reduce its impact on the environment so I’m delighted that this work has been recognised and we’ve achieved this award.

“There are 35,000 students and staff at the University of Edinburgh and by working together we can make a really positive impact on the environment. This award is a formal recognition of the efforts by staff and students across our organisation.”

Heriot-Watt University Students’ Association (HWUSA) achieved a silver standard award after improving its score from 300 points in 2008-09 to over 600 this year.

HWUSA President Simon Eltringham said: “We are extremely pleased to see the excellent work of our students and staff on environmental and ethical issues being recognised nationally.”

"This award represents a huge improvement on our performance from last year and the Association is committed to developing this over the coming years.”

Heriot-Watt narrowly missed out on the Co-operative prize for Most Improved Union, which went to Hull University Union for increasing their previous score by 360 points.

Edinburgh Napier University Students’ Association was classed as “working towards accreditation.”