Balliol’s Climate and Biodiversity Committee — set up to seek active ways in which the College can reduce its carbon footprint and nurture biodiversity across its grounds — has organised two activities for Oxford Green Action Week, a programme of activities being held across the University during 6th week of Hilary Term, 20–24 February 2023.
A pizza party is the prize for the Jowett Energy Competition, which will take place between Tower 4 and Tower 6 (of the student accommodation at Jowett Walk). Whichever tower consumes the least energy between the Monday and Friday of 6th week will win a pizza party for the whole tower. The individual winner will receive a Balliol-branded hot water bottle.
The competition celebrates the installation of Balliol’s first eco-valves: smart radiator valves that enable users to monitor and control temperature from their phone and so be more conscientious about their energy usage. Once eco-valves are installed in more rooms, it will be possible to hold more such competitions around College.
A Pint of Sustainability, an informal event in the Buttery on 20 February at 6.00pm, promises to be an entertaining and informative evening, at which there will be a panel discussion on food and sustainability, and locally sourced beer brought in specifically for the event. Please see further details here.
In other green news, a small shift is that a new system for Tuesday Hall sign-in now requires making a meal choice between meat, vegetarian and vegan options. A larger one is that ‘green roofs’ – plantings on top of the existing roofs which will have environmental benefits – are being installed on all the buildings at the Master’s Field.
Updated 9 March 2023: The individual winner of the Jowett Energy Competition was Ben Falconer. The winning tower was Tower 6, which used 531.34 kWh from Monday to Friday, while Tower 4 used 542.73 kWH.