Welcome to Eco-my-flat
Eco-my-flat is back for its sixth year in 2013! Eco-my-flat is a simple, guided, programme to help you green up your flat with easy, low-cost living tips. Hosted by the UC Sustainability Office, we provide free, fun workshops that focus on practical, easy improvements to make your home more sustainable. The programme is sponsored by a number of eco-friendly businesses who donate goods and vouchers to help you on your way.
In the past Eco My Flat has been run as a very successful competition. More recently, eco-my-flatters told us that the competition aspect was not as important as building a sense of community with other interested students. So we’ve dropped the competition and will continue the focus on the workshops and building community between participants.
Why is it happening?
We all need to learn how to reduce the impact of our lives on the earth. Changing day-to-day behaviours and habits (no matter how small) and sticking to them for a lifetime can make a real difference over the years. Eco-living can also often cost a lot less, and requires creative, innovative approaches to everyday household issues. Tertiary students are an ideal group to lead that creativity, while saving a few bucks for their back pockets as well. Want to know more about sustainability in general? Click here.
Who can join?
It's open to all UC students, but because we want to help all of our community eco up their lives, we’re happy for any UC staff and students to join in. Even if you’re not from the UC you are welcome to attend the workshops (with a small koha/donation). You don't need to know a lot about sustainable living, just be willing to rise to the challenge.
Eco-my-flat workshops run from February to August 2013. Individuals from different flats and groups of people from the same flat are welcome to participate, as well as residents of university halls.
Click here if you wish to register for a workshop.
Workshop Programme
Each workshop will be between an hour and a half to two hours long. More details will be posted about times, dates and locations for the 2013 workshops soon.
| Date: | Workshop Topic: | Facillitator: |
Wednesday 12-1pm |
How to grow a salad container garden Location: Okeover Community Garden |
Jane Aistrope |
Wednesday 5-6:30pm |
Sustainable Bodies - how to make eco body care products Location: Sustainability House. 118 Ilam Road (just north of Security House) |
Sarah Campagnolo |
| Wednesday 5-6:30pm |
How to cook meat free meals - a demonstration by our very own in-house (and funny!) celebrity chef Richard Till! Location: The Undercroft |
Richard Till |
Wednesday Time: TBC |
Never move into a cold, hard-to-heat house again. Learn ten simple tips Do you live in a cold, hard to heat older house? Would you be happy to host a 'hands on, in-house' Home Energy Check with about ten people participating? You get your house checked FOR FREE!!! If you are interested, contact katie.nimmo@canterbury.ac.nz, or call 364 2025 Location: TBC |
Katie Nimmo |
| June | No workshop |
|
Wednesday 31 July 5-6:30pm |
Fermenting - how to brew beer and make yoghurt Location: Sustainability House. 118 Ilam Road (just north of Security House) |
Tom Innes |
Wednesday 28 August 5-6:30pm |
Eco cleaning and how to make Eco-cleaning products Location: Sustainability House. 118 Ilam Road (just north of Security House) |
Katie Nimmo |
Wednesday 25 Sept Time: TBC |
Eco-gathering celebrating Eco My Flat - come share and reflect on your ideas
and experiences. Tell us if you successfully completed your Location: TBC |
Host: Sustainabiltiy Office |
If you want to get stuck into Eco-ing up your life and/your flat straight away, have a look at this Eco-my-flat 2012 audit form (Word, 49KB), and check out our handy Eco My Flat Booklet (1.7mb) (currently being updated for 2013). Our workshops will provide a lot more in-depth information for key aspects of sustainable living - the booklet is just a start, so don't miss out on the workshops!
Workshop Format
Some key elements from the Eco Change Agents programme has been combined into this year's Eco My Flat workshops, which encourages participants to think about what they want to do, make a committment to it, and reflect on how they made it happen. The overall format of the workshops will be:
- Introduce participants and workshop tutor
- Introduce commitments - a commitment is making a decision to follow through on one action (or as many committments as you like ) identified as a result of attending a workshop.
- Workshop
- Pick your commitment(s). Commitments can be made by an individual, or they can be a group activity, between flats, or within a flat! A commitment can be as simple as eating one meat-free meal a week for a set number of months, or making a particular cleaning product. Or they can be wonderfully ambitious, such as convincing your landlord to put more insulation into your home, or running a 'Freecycle' day on your street!
- 'Speed date' your commitment - tell everybody in the workshop about what you would like to do, and see if anybody else shares your idea - how can you work together to make it happen? If it's a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) you might like to submit it to our Sustainability Awards or as an Eco Us project!
- Participants will be invited to register their commitments with the UC Sustainability Office, plus post them on the UC Sustainability website and/or the UC Sustainability Community Facebook page. Have a look at past competitions for inspiration!
- All workshop participants will be invited to a celebration during Eco Week to celebrate their successes, share their ideas and experiences, and reflect on how to effect change in their lives and the community around them.
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 Sponsors |
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If you have any questions about the competition, please contact coordinator Katie Nimmo at katie.nimmo@canterbury.ac.nz or 364 2025, or xtn 6025.
Eco-my-flat is also on Facebook! See our page.