The College has set up a sustainability fund for projects that promote on-campus sustainability and environmentally friendly habits.
In an email to staff and students, Paula Murphy, the College Registrar, invited students to submit applications for funding from the new grant. Murphy said the initiative was designed “to encourage and enable initiatives to improve Campus sustainability and more sustainable behaviours”.
“Projects that are student-led or involve student participation are encouraged”, she said. Students and staff members can submit applications to the fund in both the first and second terms.
The College has, over the past year, engaged in initiatives aimed at improving sustainability on campus. Students and staff were asked to vote on the first steps Trinity should take to become plastic-free. Plastic cups in the Buttery were chosen as the first to go.
The poll, which was coordinated with company One Step Closer, asked the Trinity community whether they wanted to replace disposable glasses with reusable ones in the Buttery, abolish all plastic cutlery from the Buttery or introduce paper straws in the Pav.
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) also recently conducted a poll with the same company, asking students which environmentally friendly products they would like to see sold in the union’s shops in House Six and the Hamilton. Students voted for the union to supply bamboo toothbrushes, with menstrual cups and pasta and rice dispensers also popular options.
