Category: Community Engagement

Ethical Beauty Buys by Shakela Begum

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I love everything to do with beauty. Only several years ago, I had a handful of not-so-good products. It was only when I got my first job that I started to invest in more, better quality makeup.

Recently, I have become more conscious about them though. What ingredients are used to make them? Where are they sourced from? Have they been tested on animals?

As a consumer, I have the power and responsibility to spend my money on whatever I want. So why should I be paying companies that are hurting fluffy, little bunnies? The problem is a lot of us just don’t think too much about what we’re putting into our shopping baskets.

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I believe that making the first step towards buying ethical or Fairtrade items can be tricky. Where do you start? Well, if we all took some time to read product labels and do some research on the brands that we love, we can learn more about them.

Here’s what I’ve come across in my search for ethical/Fairtrade beauty:

  • Brands that are cruelty free usually show this on their packaging with an image of a bunny or explicitly say so.
  • Brands that are Fairtrade have the logo on their packaging.
  • A lot of the time if you’re unsure about the details, you can easily find your answers online.

Brands that I’ve found:

  • Lush: “Lush consistently works hard to source materials and develop relationships with producers that are as direct and transparent as possible […] Lush uses a variety of ingredients, some of which are not able to be certified Fairtrade.” They also fight against animal testing, hand-make their products and are suitable for vegetarians. (https://weare.lush.com/lush-life/our-policies/fair-trade/)
  • The Body Shop: is leading the way to all things Fairtrade and ethical, as well as running other important campaigns. Their website is jam packed with information with what they are actively doing to help the world. (http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/values/index.aspx)
  • (by Superdrug): “It’s our vision to be part of what makes you and your life beautiful.” B. is both cruelty free and vegan friendly – the best of both worlds! As well as carrying makeup and skincare items, they also have a range of products for men. (http://www.superdrug.com/brandshop/B)

Sometimes when we think about making the transition to buying ethical/Fairtrade items, we often think about the higher price tag that is attached to them. But, what you should consider is the fact that you’re investing in something positive and supporting these companies.

It has been rewarding to learn so much about ethical/Fairtrade online, and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. There are countless videos on Youtube that talk about it.

When it comes down to the basics, we want to be purchasing from companies that are simply fair. If we all take small step towards investing in better products, we can all live in a better world and know that we are contributing to the greater good.

A walk on the wild side

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There is no such thing as a free lunch…perhaps this is not so true especially if you know how to forage.

Foraging for wild food is what humans used to do before we became sedentary and reliant on agriculture. Now people are flooding back to foraging not only for the free food but to connect back with nature and learn more about the different foods that we tend not to find in the supermarket so much.

 Alex and Emily from the Sustainability Team were invited to a foraging day in Abbey Wood by Barracuda Digital, a digital marketing agency. The day was hosted by the Caravan Club and Napiers, to put existing foraging skills to the test and to learn more about what to look out for and the history of these plants in herbal medicine. Below they recount what they learnt and how foraging could become a regular event at the University of Greenwich.

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 On a beautiful spring morning we were invited to the Abbey Wood Caravan Club site to meet up with other London bloggers and delve into the world of foraging. We had had some experience of foraging but this was mostly limited to picking Sloes for gin and Blackberries for jam so were looking forward to learning more about the wild food available on our doorstep.

We started the day meeting Monica Wilde who was to be our guide for a 3 hour session around the site and Lenses Abbey Wood.

 Monica is a director at Napiers- the herbal and plant remedy business, as well as an active foraging business.

“I live in a field in West Lothian. 4 wild acres where I am planting and encouraging medicinal and foraging species. I have been fascinated by herbs and plants since childhood. My original interest was sparked by a wild childhood in Kenya, where I was introduced to herbal medicine by a local Kikuyu herbalist at the age of six. We were outdoors most of the time and I remember with joy the freedom of those early years. I love foraging for wild food as well as wild medicine and would happily never visit a supermarket again.”

We started with the innocuous daisy found on most lawns and learnt a fancy dinner party trick that we will definitely be trying out. When picked, daisies will start to close up however once dropped in liquid they begin to slowly open up again. For a spectacular starter you can drop a couple of closed daisies onto your soup and your guests will be impressed as the daisies open up before their eyes.

Alex sampling some bitter cress.

We also took a look at the common dandelion which is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The leaves can be used in a salad or cooked. Flowers can be made into juice, or added into many recipes.  You can even use the root and dry it to be used in dandelion tea.

There were many things to taste enroute and we sampled wild garlic, wild parsley hawthorn buds, common chickweed, pineapple weed and the favourite of the day which were the buds from a bramble bush which inexplicable taste like coconut!

wild garlic and wild parsely
Foraging for Wild Garlic and Wild Parsley, and learning about the dangers of Hemlock (also known as poison parsley)!

As well as expanding our knowledge in botany we also had a crash course in herbal medicine learning some historical applications of herbs as well as things we could benefit from now. Women have used the seeds from the wild carrot plant for centuries as a contraceptive, the earliest written reference dates back to the late 5th or 4th century B.C.

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Wild carrot with its distinctive purple spot.

 Now we may not be trying this one out for ourselves but Emily did try some crushed clove roots on her wisdom tooth and will be reaching for the clove oil in future and not the paracetamol.

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Monica cleans and cut some clove roots for Emily’s tooth

Alex found it extremely useful to learn about how to use dock plant sap to sooth stings from nettles. After a lifetime of mindlessly rubbing her hands and legs with the leaves of the dock plant, we learnt how it is actually the sticky sap at the base of the plant that you should rub onto your stings! If you venture into the base of the dock plant, around the point that the leaves divide above ground, you will find a sticky substance ‘as if someone has blown their nose in the middle of the plant’, as Monica described it. It is gross, but very worth it!

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Monica ventures into the base of the plant to find some of that magical dock sap

Foraging for food is extremely seasonal, allowing you find a huge variety of foods throughout the year. Successful foraging is also reliant on the ability to follow the food. Summer is a great time to forage on the coast for a huge range of edible seaweeds rich in iodine. Autumn is the perfect time to stock up on mushrooms (reliant on knowing what to pick of course!) and nuts for your winter larder.

We hope to return to Abbey Wood in autumn to see what seasonal changes have done to the wild food available.

emily garlic
The smell of wild garlic gave it away as to what Emily was eating.

Now that we have caught the foraging bug we hope to continue this on our own patch. Learning your area and watching how it changes over the year is a great way to start and we would like to bring together people from around the University who either already know something about foraging and would like to share this knowledge, or people who are interested in learning more.

Foraging is a great way to get outside, enjoy the seasons and connect back with an aspect of nature that was so important in our human history. Foraging can help us connect to history, what we put on our plates, health and or course can be a social event too.

hogsweed
Delving into the hogsweed looking for delicious buds.

Thanks to Monica from Napiers who provided a very interesting and fun day out, and the Caravan Club for having us rummage around the bushes of your site in Abbey Wood. We would like to send special thanks to Barracuda Digital for arranging and running the day and encouraging us to meet other London bloggers!

So if you are interested in foraging at the University or would like to know more about our visit please get in touch at sustainability@gre.ac.uk

Public Health final year placements in the Sustainable Development Unit

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Charity Imagor

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Greetings to you all, my name is Charity Imagor a 3rd year undergraduate Public Health student at the University of Greenwich. It is indeed a great pleasure to be a part of the University of Greenwich Sustainability Team.

Pursuing a Public Health course at the University of Greenwich   has greatly enhanced and extended my knowledge in acquiring   skills on how to promote health through   the environment, for example, encouraging walking and cycling is a good way of increasing physical activities. Regular physical activities reduce incidences of coronary heart diseases, stroke and   chances   of being obese. Therefore, creating    active, safe and accessible greens spaces   such as parks and community gardens   will   encourage individuals to participate more in physical activities and gaining knowledge in   growing their own fruit and vegetables hence promoting a healthy lifestyle.

In my second year one of the modules   that I undertook was environmental health and Housing. The information and knowledge I   acquired during these lectures raised my awareness that there are certain circumstances that impact greatly on our health if our environment is not cared for appropriately. For example human behaviour that causes   air pollution such pollution from cars and highly industrialised areas, is a leading environmental threat to human health. Particles in the air such as dust, dirt, soot, and smoke are one kind of air pollution that is known to cause health problems.  People exposed to fine particles over a long period of time have more heart and lung problems such as Asthma   than people who are not breathing this kind of air pollution.

The environment is one of the determinants of health and closely links to Public Health. For example the Physical environment   which includes safe water and clean air, healthy workplaces, safe houses, communities and roads all contribute to good health among individuals and communities at large.

I hope through being on placement with the sustainability team, I will gain more Public Health knowledge and skills required to promote environmental issues and personal health including for those around me. I will also be able to share my knowledge and skills in combating the determinants of health with other Health Students on placement and with the Sustainability Team

I am so   enthusiastic and cannot wait to meet with the sustainability team, to learn more from others about the environment in particular its benefits to the community. including how it could be conserved and preserved for the future generations.

 

Nnenna Nzeh

NnennaHi, I’m Nnenna and I am currently writing my final year project in Public Health. I complement my studies with being one of the Green Impact Assistants and I’m also doing my work experience with the sustainability department. Great! Work experience is one of the requirements needed for the award of the degree that I have undertaken and to help prepare me for the roles ahead. I’ve been allocated to work with the Grey building team. I have undertaken an induction course with an amazing staff of the Green impact Team at the Grey building and this is in relation with the objectives that I have agreed with my tutor and sustainability. The objectives in a nutshell include; examine the interrelationship between behaviour change and health as part of a green impact process; to identify different areas that form part of Green Impact and to highlight other areas of personal improvement.

It’s been great working with Emily and Alex and I’m looking forward to working with the team at the Grey building and to upgrade my experience. The placement will give me a window of opportunity to see different aspects of sustainability and to apply these aspects in public health practice and more over to meet people from other fields of work.

 

Esther Oyeniran

estherHello, my name is Esther I am currently in my final year studying Public Health at the University of Greenwich.  I love listening to classical music and also play the Viola.  I also love travelling and exploring new places.  My studies at University of Greenwich has been very exciting so far and has widened my knowledge about public health issues both locally and globally

It is a great privilege to be part of the sustainability team working towards protecting the environment from pollution and the effects of climate change.   Necessary to achieving this goal is a clear understanding of how the integrated social, economic and environmental aspects of our world affect sustainability.  These aspects represent a related set of concepts that when considered together form a solid basis from which major decisions and actions can be made with regards to public health.  The issue of sustainability is extremely important because of its immense impact on the present and in particular the future world.  The choices we pursue and all the actions that we make today will affect how we live in the future. We need to make sound decisions at present in order to avoid limiting the choices of generations to come.

As an undergraduate undertaking a work placement with the sustainability team I hope to acquire the necessary skills that will help me in my future job role as a Public Health Practitioner.

 

Elizabeth Conteh

My name is Elizabeth Conteh. I will be doing my forty hours work experience with Sustainability team. I am a final year student at the University of Greenwich and I study Public Health in the School of Health and Social Care.

I love music and going to church with friends and family. I have no previous experience in sustainability, therefore doing this work experience with the sustainability team means so much because I want to learn more about growing food.

Additionally, I wish to work as health promoter in my future career to promote and increase awareness of the benefits of healthy eating, so for this placement I would also like to gain skills and knowledge in relation to organic gardening and healthy eating that can help me increase my knowledge of healthy eating.

 

Ruth M’bayo

Hi my name is Ruth, a final year public health student at the University of Greenwich. I’m so excited to join the sustainability team this February and March as part one of my courses. My objectives for this placement are:

  • To be able to identify the significance of the natural environment to public health and wellbeing. In other to achieve this objective, whilst doing my research on different edible gardens, I will try and explore some of the benefit and importance of the edible garden.  This will include identifying how the edible garden promote mental wellbeing, social inclusion, healthy eating and life style and also community development.
  •  To be able to explore the application of environmental policies to public health practice, in particular community gardening. The policies that will be observed during this placement with the sustainability team, whiles researching on the edible gardens will be, the sustainable development food and environmental policies. However I will be exploring the link between the policies and the localism agenda and how it relate to public health practices.  Also I will be able to explore how they are similar and what goals they are all aiming to achieve.
  •  To be able to demonstrate my public health knowledge and skills and highlight any areas for further personal improvement. In other to achieve this objective I will use the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the three years of my course to do research and bring back ideas to the team. Also whilst on this placement I will highlight any area I need to improve on, and develop this as it will be beneficial for future job roles.

I hope this experience will help broaden my knowledge in the sustainability field, by making me understand what sustainable development is all about. Also to understand what link it has to public health. Furthermore I hope this experience will lead to exciting opportunities in the future, and also enable me put my public health knowledge in to practices in terms of what will be required of me in my future job role.  I look forward to meet and be a part of the team.

If you would like anymore information about work experience or internship opportunities within the team, please get in contact: sustainability@gre.ac.uk 

Health and Social Care New Arrivals Event

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Once you start asking the question: ‘what are the links between sustainability and health?’, you can find yourself with endless answers. The sustainability team and the department of Health and Social Care here at Greenwich are dedicated to exploring some of those links for the students and research. For example, did you know that NHS England spend £630 million a year on energy? Or that outside gardening is good for well-being? How will the UK health sector adapt to a changing climate and environment, and what are the knock on impacts?

We believe that students should have an understanding of sustainability from their first year at University, including those studying in the Health and Social Care department. So on the afternoon of 4th December 2013, we ran a joint event between the sustainability team and the departments in Health and Social Care. We wanted to get the new students engaged in the fun elements of sustainability and to educate them about how the impacts of their lifestyle choices. The students participated in 2 workshops: carbon speed dating and a festive quiz.

student grp speed datingconvo

During Carbon Speed dating both staff and students were rated as having a low, medium or high carbon footprint through answering some lifestyle questions: ‘how much do you spend on clothes and shoes a month?’ or ‘how would you describe your diet?’. They were then matched with someone with the opposite rating, so people with high carbon footprints spoke to people with lower ones, to share lifestyle choices and experiences. With a goal of networking in mind, the students also attempted a bingo exercise with each other, where they tried to find others with particular habits. For example, have you volunteered at Avery Hill Community Garden, or do you leave electrical items on standby?staff2

In the festive quiz the students battled it out in teams and answered questions on the social, economic and environmental impacts of the festive period. We discussed what easy lifestyle changes we could all make and shocked the group with some figures. Did you know that 60,000 were predicted to be reliant on a Trussell Trust food bank over the festive period? Or that 80,000 tonnes of old clothes would have been thrown away over this period in the UK (that’s 4 million suitcases)?

We would like to thank Veronica Habgood and the rest of the organisation team, as well as the volunteers on the day, for their hard work and enthusiasm. Furthermore,  congratulations on putting on a very tasty bake sale!staff group

 

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Chelsea Fringe 2013

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The University of Greenwich held its first community event at the Avery Hill Community Garden as part of the Chelsea Fringe festival. Dragos Buharu, a 2nd year Business School student studying BA Business with Marketing was in attendance and here he gives you his perspective of the day.

Chelsea Fringe 2013 –Even the weather couldn’t ruin our fun!!

The Chelsea Fringe Community Event was hosted by the University of Greenwich at the Avery Hill Campus on the 7th of June. As an intern with the sustainability team I was there to find out what makes this event special.

“The Fringe is all about harnessing and spreading some of the excitement and energy that fizzes around gardens and gardening. The idea is to give people the freedom and opportunity to express themselves through the medium of plants and gardens, to open up possibilities and to allow full participation.” Chelsea Fringe.

The event at Avery Hill in keeping with the Fringe’s ethos aimed to celebrate the spirit of community, mixing the unique excitement that can be found around a beautiful edible garden.

Chelsea Fringe Event 2013: A group of people in a park gathered around vegetable planters.

Chelsea Fringe Event 2013

Dragos’ Chelsea Diary

After having turned up early to help out with last minute touches, I accompanied James Hallybone from Roundfield and some of the University’s Sustainability Champions on a tour of the forest garden.

The tour was interesting, educational and very surprising. At first, when you look around you just see tiny trees but when you learn about what they are the effect is jaw dropping. At one point we came across what looked to me like just a ball of twigs looking slightly out of place, then it was introduced as pomegranate tree! The same experience followed when faced with almonds and bamboo. All I could think was: “Seriously?!” while looking left and right for some panda to jump out at us!

Mulch matting round one of our forest garden trees

Having been ‘very’ tired after my exertions we went on to enjoy the fresh foods that Greenwich Community Food Coop and the University had to offer. Let me add there was some very good and refreshing wine present. Greenwich Community Food Co-op (GCFC) was established in 2002 as a co-operative run by the community for the community and started life on the Ferrier Estate, Kidbrooke.

Paul Harvey from Sodexo who cater for the University at the Avery Hill Southwood Site was pleased to be part of the event.

“Sodexo are very committed to sustainable food offers & are always looking at ways of taking this forward.”

The Transport Team enjoying the Sustainable Food Menu from Sodexo

During all of this excitement there was a living wall being constructed by students from the School of Architecture, Design and Construction only feet away, and yes there was a lot of green in there.

Newcome Edwards from the School of Architecture, Design and Construction

Afterwards I decided to check out the bees in the observation hive, brought in by our resident beekeepers from the Ruxley beekeeping group, Colin and Patrick. The Queen was easy to spot from the yellow mark put on her back, and it was clear to see that she was bigger than the rest!

As the event kept going we were joined 2 groups of kids from the Crafty Wizard’s Nursery. They went on a mini beast hunt, accompanied by our very own Emily Mason from the Sustainability Team. The children were very cool and I even got a thumbs up from one of tiniest members of the group. When discovering an earwig and asked why they are called as such, the majority decided: “Because they wear wigs”. Sensible enough answer, right? They also did some planting of their own.

These are only some of the activities that went on, throughout the day there was:

Competitions
Planting
Young beekeepers from Corelli’s School
Seed and Plant Swapping
Orchard tours
Workshops
 
 

Who can get the longest peel?

Throughout the day I spoke to lots of people and decided to get some feedback on why people had come and long and what they had enjoyed the most. A staff member from the School of Architecture, Design and Construction came to see what was growing in the garden and to learn more about sustainable food sources. She was particularly impressed with the scale of things, the diversity present and with the maintenance of our raised beds. And yes, a lot of work goes into making them look that good, I myself spent quite a lot of time mowing the grass round the site with a rather temperamental push mower.

While approaching another person I was thinking: “Hmmmm, she looks like she’s having a good time”. Apparently she is pro sustainability and her parents have had an allotment for about 40 years. She was also surprised by the diversity present in the forest garden and believes it to be a very good idea. She was also very impressed by the bees and growth present in general.

The British weather was as unpredictable as ever and after a heat wave all week we encountered a rather heavy downpour but this did not stop us for sure. And what is a bit of gardening without a bit of rain?

Let’s hope the garden continues to grow and more people get to benefit from this project though volunteering and purchasing the fresh produce. It is also a lovely place to hang out as a student and you never know when there might be free food up for grabs!

For more information about the event of the garden in general please contact Emily Mason at sustainability@gre.ac.uk