Students get active and hold university to account over plastic-use
Students at the University of Leeds have set up a petition after a nine year ban on single-use plastic bottles has been lifted.
The petition, which was set up by final year English Literature and Language student Tom Paul, points to how the university had originally banned the sale of single-use plastic water bottles on the university campus in 2008, after it was passed through a university motion voted on by the student body.
This comes after the university’s announcement in November that it aims to be single-use plastic free by 2023.
Tom said he was inspired to set up the petition after he was “shocked” at the news, and said “this seemed like something I could do to get the word out.”
“I set up the petition because I was shocked by how brazenly the Co-op appeared to be flaunting the ban,” he said. “It seemed so easy for them to uphold the ban that I couldn’t quite believe they were ignoring it.
“The Union’s pledge to rid campus of singe-use plastic by 2023 was such amazing news back in November that was welcomed almost unanimously and made students proud to be Leeds students. I felt this move by Co-op really disregarded that,” he explained.
He continued to criticise the decision as undemocratic and going against student voices. “Even if you removed the environmental aspect (which is huge), I think it’s undemocratic for the Co-op to come into the union and overrule a student-voted ban that had stood for 10 years prior. We should hold the Union to account.”
Kieran Blyth, a Masters student who signed the petition, said: “The switch from our union’s own supermarket to a Co-op has meant that the union has backtracked on a ban on plastic water bottles that has existed for over ten years.
“Given that the University of Leeds has become the first university to make a pledge on going completely free of single-use plastics by 2023, we believe that the selling of plastic water bottles in the new Co-op is a step backwards from what has been encouraging steps towards sustainability on the University of Leeds campus,” he said.
The petition exceeded its initial target of 500 signatures only 5 hours after being made. The petition is currently on 1,500 votes and counting.
Despite the criticism, Chris Morris, the university’s Union Affairs officer said: “We are committed to our target to remove single-use plastics and welcome challenge and support from our students and staff as we take this journey.”
In an update to the petition, Tom has said that the university has reached out to him and will be holding a meeting next week to discuss the issue.
We support the students over at Leeds and their initiative and commitment to fighting plastic-waste.
