Writtle University College's (WUC's), Students' Union (SU) Sustainability Officer, William Charity has successfully launched a new cup deposit scheme for major events at the SU Bar. The scheme aims to reduce single use plastic cups used at events while finding an alternative to glass cups which are unsuitable for these types of events.
William said: "I am really pleased and excited to have been able to make a real change in regard to sustainability at our events. I hope this is one of many changes that will be made this academic year in order to improve the sustainability around campus."
The scheme allows students to put a deposit down for a reusable plastic cup on an event night. Students are then able to return the cup afterwards to receive their deposit money back, or they can keep the cup and bring it to the next event.
This significantly reduces the amount of single use plastic cups used on an event night at the student bar. It is estimated that each student would have usually used around five disposable cups a night, creating on average a total of 600 single use plastic cups per event.