Sustainability On Campus

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• Energy saving features includes high levels of insulation, minimising the need for cooling through the use of natural ventilation, extensive use of natural lighting coupled with a highly automated control systems for lighting, heating and ventilation. Rainwater harvesting is used to reduce demand for mains water while 'green roofs' and permeable paving in car parks reduce the amount of surface water run-off which, coupled with a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS), helps avoid overwhelming local surface water drainage systems.
• The Campus Facilities Team is works with the University’s Works Division and Energy Office to achieve a better understanding of energy use across the Campus which, is used to identify operational areas that can be targeted for energy savings. 
• The Campus Sustainability Group is working with the University’s Sustainability Engagement Team to encourage the personal involvement of staff and students across the Campus in the identification of energy and sustainability issues and developing local strategies to deal with them including behaviour change and small scale technical changes.
• A solar farm that will play a vital role in helping the University of Edinburgh become carbon neutral by 2040 has now been established on the Campus. Almost 5000 ground-mounted panels have been installed which will save an estimated £200,000 per year in electricity costs. The five-hectare site – the equivalent of five football pitches – is connected to the Easter Bush Campus.   Its photovoltaic (PV) panels are expected to generate more than 1,400,000 kWh of electricity a year, which is roughly the same as that needed to supply 500 typical homes.

Long Term Cold Storage Study

• The Easter Bush Campus has continued its commitment to sustainability, with the addition of four new electric vehicle (EV) charging points on campus. Located conveniently in front of the William Dick Building and in the Roslin Institute visitor and staff car parks, these will be an increasingly valuable resource for EV owners, as uptake of these vehicles increases.

• The Easter Bush Campus makes significant investment to support public transport links to and from the city centre for our students, staff and visitors to the tune of £100k per annum with a further £50,000 invested for student bus passes.

• The Campus also actively encourages staff and students to use Trip Share, whereby two or more people share a car journey together. Trip sharers can pool their cars and alternate between them or regularly use a single vehicle with everyone contributing to the costs. 

• The Campus is home to extensive cycle storage facilities, with showers for staff and students who choose to cycle in. We also have free bike safety inspections on campus on a regular basis, to encourage people to use their bikes. The University of Edinburgh has a Cycle to Work scheme, which allows staff to buy bikes and pay back the cost pre-tax as a salary deduction. 

Coffee Conscience supplies 100% Fairtrade coffee in fully recyclable packaging to both our cafes. Furthermore, 2.5% of all sales are invested into local community projects, which includes planting fruit tree orchards on University of Edinburgh campuses.  Donated fruit trees are currently thriving in our Dick Vet Garden.

In addition to sourcing sustainable food where possible through purchasing (see above), the Campus is home to a vegetable garden and apiary, providing opportunities for education around food production for staff and students.

Easter Bush Vegetable Garden

Easter Bush Campus Apiary

• To reduce the amount of disposable plastic cups used on campus, reusable bottles were identified, purchased and distributed to staff and students. Each new member of staff and each new student receives one when they arrive on campus. Reusable plastic cups are also available at water vending points in the campus cafes, and can be returned for washing after use. 
• Milk is delivered to the Easter Bush Campus in glass bottles from a local dairy and available to all staff in return for a contribution. The scheme saved almost 2000 plastic bottles in its first 18 months.
• Our Catering Team sourced a range of re-usable tupperware boxes of various sizes and prices to take the place of the old one off plastic containers. These boxes can be bought for the use of either hot or cold food and allow staff and students to reduce one-off plastic waste usage.
• The Easter Bush Campus participates in a crisp packet recycling scheme. In the first six months, the Campus recycled 2,000 crisp packets that would otherwise end up in a landfill. 
• The Campus is also participating in the Terracycle Writing Instruments Programme. This is aa student-led initiative which allows you to dispose of old pens, highlighters, correction fluid and other stationery items across various collection points across the Campus.

Social Responsibility and Sustainability (SRS) concepts are embedded in our curriculum as well our campus. The SRS thread runs through a wide range of subjects, e.g. veterinary public health, ecosystem health and veterinary ethics. It can also be seen in the methods of teaching, e.g. community engagement activities, problem- and work-based learning, student-led projects and technology-enhanced learning.

Students and staff are encouraged to develop a holistic understanding of how veterinary medicine interconnects with other disciplines. Studying at the R(D)SVS provides a unique opportunity to develop the skills and attributes required to ensure a sustainable future for all. Veterinary professionals are expected to put learning into practice, facilitating interdisciplinary research that balances a local and global perspective.