In 2019 we recruited a team of student Sustainability Interns who worked collaboratively with the University to identify and complete sustainability-focused projects across all our colleges. One of the resulting projects focused on waste reduction, material reuse and saving money. This overlapped with research undertaken by SU Arts that found a “statistically significant relationship between respondents who achieved a 70 – 74% grade on their most recent assessment and how much they spent on their assessment.”
The Sustainability Interns reviewed material storage at each College building, reviewing what worked well and what could be improved. The focus was on creating a storage solution that enables students to deposit and collect spare and re-useable materials for their projects. This would both save students from spending money on costly materials whilst also reducing UAL’s carbon footprint.
The solution was Re-Use units, which have been co-created with Luca Beckerson (Design Project Manager – Catering, Retail and Accommodation Services). The units address common concerns around lack of storage space, existing storage solutions not meeting needs of students with physical impairments, the need to move storage apparatus during end-of-year shows and instances of materials blocking fire routes.
How to correctly use the Re-Use units
- Please do not deposit flammable liquids, knifes, chemical agents, aerosols (such as spray paint), and organic compounds in the units for health and safety reasons.
- Please be considerate about the quantity of certain materials when depositing materials. The units need to be a diverse material resource and filling them with enormous quantities of just one product will affect their usability.
- Please follow the text descriptions on each door/drawer when depositing products to unsure they stay organised and easy to use.
- The units must not exceed a maximum weight of 120 kilograms.
- The units are mobile and can be wheeled short distances but must be locked into place when stationary.
- Please close the door/draw when you are finished depositing or collecting materials.
- The tops of the units are sloped to prevent depositing of materials, this is for health and safety reasons. Please do not attempt to fix any products on the tops.
- Please do not overfill the units or leave materials stored on or against the units.
Locations of the units
Camberwell
- Paper Unit - Learning Zone
- Sheet Materials Unit - Learning Zone
- Paints/Tools/Stationery Unit - Learning Zone
- Fabric and Bulky Items Unit - Learning Zone
Chelsea
- Paper Unit - Social Space Opposite Canteen
- Sheet Materials Unit - Social Space Opposite Canteen
- Paints/Tools/Stationery Unit - Social Space Opposite Canteen
- Fabric and Bulky Items Unit - Social Space Opposite Canteen
CCI
- Paper Unit - Ground Floor Corridor
- Paints/Tools/Stationary Unit - Ground Floor Corridor
LCC
- Paper Unit Variant (3 Drawer Version) - W234
- Paper/Haberdashery Unit Outside - W318
- Fabric and Bulky Items Unit Outside - W318
- Sheet Materials Unit Lower Gallery - Outside SU Bar
- Fabric and Bulky Items Unit Lower Gallery - Outside SU Bar
LCF
- Paper Unit - Heart Space Level 4
- Sheet Materials Unit - Heart Space Level 4
- Paints/Tools/Stationery Unit - Heart Space Level 4
- Fabric and Bulky Items Unit - Heart Space Level 4
- Paper Unit - Heart Space Level 6
- Sheet Materials Unit - Heart Space Level 6
Lime Grove
- Paper Unit - Common Room
- Paints/Tools/Stationery Unit - Common Room
Introducing Re-Use units