Sustainable Consumption Across 8 Campuses
Stepping into the second year of the Jockey Club Sustainable Campus Consumer Programme (JCSCCP), HKUST Sustainability/Net-Zero Office has been acting as the project management office on behalf of the Hong Kong Sustainable Campus Consortium (HKSCC). This programme is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, which aims to promote United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #12; Responsible Consumption and Production, driving positive behavioural change among students and staff on and beyond campus.
With innovation and creative approach, the programme has rolled out a series of initiatives in the past years for students across 8 University campuses that are closely linked with their daily lives and easily relatable.
Student Engagement Initiatives
#Eatfortheplanet campaign
The purpose of this initiative was to raise the awareness of students on how their purchasing decisions relating to food choices can have far-reaching impacts on the climate. Three chain campus caterers including Maxim’s, Asia Pacific and Shing Ming joined the programme. A set of menus with carbon footprint labels were prepared in collaboration with Future Green (formerly Food Made Good HK) in October 2022 and provided some baseline data for future evaluation. Student outreach campaigns and online interactive quiz were launched to provide information for students to make sustainable choices on food. Students got to learn about the carbon footprint on different meat types through the quizzes that engaged with 2,468 participants.
Clothing Swap Events
Clothing Swap was one of the most popular events across the campuses. Our pop-up stores drew a lot of attention with more than 5,000 participants. The event included a pre-loved clothing collection during the hall student check out period and redistribution of collected clothing to students through a point system. A total of 9 sessions of clothing swap events were rolled out across all eight university campuses between February to March in 2023. The initiative also partnered with a second-hand platform to further promote circular economy and facilitate a continuation of responsible clothing habits after the event.
Campus Enhancement Infrastructures
Lunchbox Lending Programme (LLP)
The first system of its kind among universities in the Asia-Pacific region was initiated on the HKUST campus in June 2023. This involved the installation of a distribution machine to lend up to 120 reusable lunch boxes, and a corresponding reverse vending machine equipped with internal cameras and AI object recognition software to facilitate the collection process. This initiative offers users a green alternative for the disposal of takeaway containers, helping to eliminate lunch boxes from landfills.
9 pairs of machines have been installed in all campuses in fall 2023. To borrow a reusable lunchbox, a student or campus member would just need to tap their Octopus card at the vending machine to place a $20 deposit, which will be fully refunded to the Octopus card when an empty box is returned to the return machine. Corresponding engagement and marketing campaign are also being rolled out in parallel to educate users on campus on the rationale behind the LLP.
Behaviour Activated Showerheads and Smart Electricity Meters
When it comes to valuable resources of energy and water, we won’t know the cost of our actions until we receive the bill. Through behaviour interventions, we try to make these resources visible to students who live in residence halls on our university campuses.
To promote reduction in water consumption, 729 smart showerheads were installed in 15 residential halls across all eight universities, and an additional 168 showerheads by the end of 2023. These showerheads incorporated an innovative LED lighting system that changes colours as a gentle reminder of water usage during shower. As for energy reduction, smart electricity meters were installed in 32 halls, with seven more halls by the end of 2023. Both the water and energy consumption dashboards are now available online and displayed in the lift lobbies of the participating halls via cloud type digital screens, sharing useful tips and event promotions to drive behaviour change of students.
As the JCSCCP continues its efforts to drive behavioral change and expand its initiatives, it sets a commendable example for other institutions and contributes to the broader goal of achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #12. Through collaboration, innovation, and education, the program is building a more sustainable future for the campus communities and beyond.