No Lectures: Sort It, Recycle It
No Lectures: Sort It, Recycle It
No Lectures: Sort It, Recycle it! is a collaborative campaign between Keep Scotland Beautiful, University of Strathclyde and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners CCEP.
Previous research carried out in 2024 by Keep Scotland Beautiful identified that for many students the first bin passed is the right bin. As a result of these findings the No Lectures: Sort it Recycle it campaign launched in October 2024 aims to explain the importance of finding and using the right bin to increase recycling of on-the-go packaging.
The campaign seeks to use both qualitative and quantitative research with students to analyse the students’ behaviours and attitudes, to various recycling messaging and interventions to test their effectiveness in challenging and changing attitudes to recycling.
University of Strathclyde students, we would like to hear your thoughts on recycling. Please come and take part in a group discussions to collect your views on 15 January.
As a thank you for your participation you will be given a £25 voucher for to spend at Strath Cafes. Link for the sign up is below, refreshments and snacks will be provided!
Every Can Counts Event on Campus
On November 20th, students joined in to help Every Can Counts create a PixelCan masterpiece in Rottenrow Gardens. The final artwork design was chosen by Strathclyde Students and was made up of 2,000 painted drink cans.
During the month of November 2024, plastic bottles and aluminium could be recycled whilst on-the-go in one of the reverse vending machines on campus. They were located in the Learning and Teaching Building and the Technology Innovation Centre. For each drink container recycled students were able to donate 20p to one of two charities - Homeless Project Scotland or Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The goal of the No Lectures: Sort It, Recycle It campaign wasn't just to engage students in practicing good recycling behaviours, but to understand what types of messaging students find engaging and what ultimately motivates them to take personal positive action for the environment.
Students at Strathclyde University took part in our five minute campaign evaluation survey to help us our understanding.
Here are 4 reasons to do it any way.
- Conserves natural resources: The worlds resources are finite, and some are in very short supply. By recycling we reduce the demand for new materials to be extracted or mined.
- Protects ecosystems and wildlife: The process of procuring raw materials is both disruptive and harmful to the natural world. Raw material demands result in deforestation, river diversions, displaced and harmed wildlife and risks pollution of water, soil and air.
- Saves energy: Making products from recycled materials requires less energy than making them from new raw materials.
- Cuts climate - changing carbon emissions: Because recycling means you need to use less energy on sourcing and processing new raw materials, it produces lower carbon emissions. It also keeps potentially methane - releasing waste out of landfill sites.
How does Recycling help Scotland?
- Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill which mean less landfill tax for Scotland
- Keeps valuable resources in the country which is good for the Scottish economy.
- Creates jobs in Scotland
- Less litter and pollution
- Reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging, refining and processing raw materials.
- Turns waste into something useful or innovative or even back to its original packaging use.