Travel
College staff are auto-enrolled into the bike-to-work scheme and students have access to free rentals of the College bicycles. The College only owns one motor vehicle which is an electric van.
Food and Drink
We don’t sell single-use plastic water bottles. Instead, we have free water refill stations and we provide students with free reusable water bottles. We also run 'green nudge' experiments such as displaying the carbon footprints of meal options.
Biodiversity
We have installed new bird boxes and bee hotels, we are relandscaping, and we have a number of environmental policies (such as no hedge cutting during nesting season).
Initiatives
The College community has launched various sustainability initiatives, including a biodiversity event, clothes swap, sustainability bingo, and a litter-picking marathon.
Societies
We have two student Green Officers and our students created the Lucy Cavendish Cycling Club, the Lucy Sustainable Fashion Society, and the Lucy Cavendish Climate Society. Our alumni are in the process of creating the Lucy Alumni Climate Network.
Investments
We have fully divested from direct investments in fossil fuels and we pursue positive investment opportunities (such as renewable technologies).
Buildings and Energy
Our new eco-friendly building meets and exceeds the Passivhaus standard and 100% of our electricity is supplied by renewables (with over 80% generated from solar farms within 20 miles of Cambridge).
Awards
Lucy Cavendish College has received the Platinum Award for Green Impact which was thanks to the great progress made with infrastructure and procurement, our new building won Best Project at the RTPI East of England Awards for Planning Excellence, and the College has also received two awards for leading-edge sustainability research: the Excellence Award and the Innovation Award.