Recycled Paper: An Intro

Wednesday 14-12-2016 - 13:57

So, Glasgow Caledonian University has moved to recycled paper…do we give this a thumbs up, or a thumbs down? Either way, being the University for the ‘Common Good’, it’s unlikely that we will be moving away from an initiative that creates less fill for landfills, and uses less energy, water, greenhouse gases, and unrenewable resources any time soon.

So, what do we do when our paper that was once a gleaming shade of white is now a weird shade of greyish brown? What about assessments, dissertations and CVs?

As policy lead for environmental and sustainability this year, I thought it was important to address the concerns of this new initiative, and provide you all with a Q&A of the three most asked questions.

Before I start, it’s important to note that, as a Full Time Officer team, we voted in favour of moving to being a recycled paper campus. This is because recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4000 kilowatts of energy. So, you can imagine the difference that over 20,000 GCU students could make switching over to recycled paper.

However, as many of you have expressed concerns, it’s extremely important that we address these issues and support you. Your experience here is of the utmost importance to us, and I also have a big question at the end of this blog that could perhaps solve a lot (although not all!) of these concerns.

Anyways, without further a due, here are your top three questions and answers with regards to recycled paper.

Most Common Questions

Can I submit my assessments on recycled paper?

Yes yes yes yes yes! All three Academic Schools have agreed that submitting assignments on recycled paper furthers the university’s ‘Common Good mission’. Using recycled paper will in no way affect your mark, and you can submit knowing that you’ve made a small change that will contribute to a big change to the world we live in. Studying a course that involves design elements or presentations, where you feel white paper would be more beneficial? We have a centralised printing service that can still print on white paper for you. However, this will only be freed up if students use them solely for these types of assignments – so please encourage your peers to use them only when white paper is really necessary!

Can I submit my dissertation on recycled paper?

Again – yes yes yes yes yes! The hard work you have put into your dissertation will in no way be overlooked because of the colour of paper you have submitted it on. Remember that all GCU students are in the same boat, meaning that anyone who prints their dissertation on campus will have their work submitted on recycled paper. Also, if your marker took marks off because you printed your dissertation off on recycled paper then this would be breaching assessment regulations and they would get a firm telling off.

What about CVs?

This is something I can’t help you on unfortunately. However, again, we do have a central printing system that can print off on white paper for you. Again, as in my answer to question one, the employees at the printing service can only print so much. So, please encourage your friends, peers and random strangers to only use this service if it’s really necessary.

Recycled Paper: A Conclusion and a Bigger Question

The overall concern is that this paper doesn’t look as ‘professional’ as bright white paper, and who doesn’t want to be proud of all the effort that we’ve put in? After all, paper that seems a poorer quality and isn’t as white as our old white paper can make us feel as though the effort we have put in isn’t appreciated, and this is a totally valid argument.

However, my bigger question is this: why are we still submitting assignments on paper altogether? It’s 2016 – we spend our lives on social media, the internet, and virtual reality is now even a thing (who’d have thought?). Yet, as students, we have to travel hours into university on our days off to hand in a report or dissertation that could have far more easily been submitted electronically. We have to organise child care, time off work, pay for a train or bus and take precious time out that we could have used giving our university assignments a couple of extra proof reads before clicking ‘submit’.

We live in a digital age – let’s encourage our lecturers, support staff, management and whoever else teaches us to start using the digital platforms that are available to us. However, in the meantime, if you are submitting an assignment or dissertation that can be submitted on recycled paper, please leave the central printing service for students who feel that printing a CV or presentation on white paper will further benefit them.

Let’s work together to really bring the ‘Common Good’ to life. If our assignments have the ability to be handed in online, let’s lobby our staff for electronic submissions. Its 2016, a time where protecting our environment is the most important it has ever been for future generations. It’s time to take action further than moving to recycled paper, which is saying goodbye to paper altogether.