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Green Policy

Maynooth Campus's Green Policy

At Maynooth Campus, we work around the clock to try and keep our carbon footprint down. Different departments approach this differently and below are some of the activities we do towards a safer and more sustainable environment. This will be reviewed and added to regularly.

    Administration
    1. Use of paper recycling bins
    2. Reuse of key cards, instead of printing them all the time
    3. The heating is on a timer.
    4. We unplug all appliances when not being used.
    5. We turn off all electrical items when we close the office at night.
    6. We have moved from using paper registration cards to asking guests to sign a virtual form
    Catering
    Reduce

    1. Continuous monitoring of food production
    2. "Cook to order" policy for residents
    3. Efficient storage and stock keeping to
    4. Keep levels at a minimum
    5. All waste is segregated into general, recyclable, compostable
    Reuse

    1. Use leftover vegetables for making soup/stocks
    2. In process of working with the "Too Good to Go"concept, with a view to eliminating waste completely
    Recycle

    1. All leftover food composted
    2. We use compostable bin bags in all areas
    3. Sandwich platters for graduations etc kept, cleaned and re-used for other events
    4. Coffee cups and salad containers are fully compostable and have been for years
    5. All cardboard boxes bailed on site and sent for composting
    Renew

    1. Filter water machine used for events, with washable glass bottles
    Campus Services
    Reduced mowing of grassed areas - Since 2018 the Grounds department has been gradually reducing the areas on the campus that are intensely mowed. Switching from weekly mowing regimes to cutting the grassed areas only once or twice a year. This has lowered our emissions by simply not running the diesel machines as regularly. In 2021 we had over 1 million square feet of grassland managed under a reduced mowing regime.

    Switching to EV and Electric machinery - We have been actively reducing our fleet of diesel and petrol machinery for the last few years. Our aim is to become carbon neutral in the coming years, with all petrol and diesel machinery coming to the end of their lifespan as they are being replaced with electric alternatives.

    As part of the Green campus initiative, we are looking at diverting the waste streams on the campus to ensure that we are recycling and reusing as many "waste" items as possible. Actions such as collecting clothing/household items from outgoing students and offering these items to incoming students the following semester. Refurbing old computers to be used again with REHAB and simple actions such as collecting old bedding from students to give to Kildare Dog Shelter. All these little actions are diverting waste that would traditionally go into landfill, thus reducing the volume of waste having to be collected from the campus (fewer bin lorries etc)
    Housekeeping
    Elimination of single-use toiletries
    We are in the process of eliminating the single use of toiletry and replacing them with larger refillable bottles, which will reduce the consumption of materials used for packaging

    Water saving
    A. Making the guests aware to
    • limit shower length
    • using the small flush on toilets when appropriate
    B. Investments
    • time delay sink taps- already in place in the communal areas
    • Shower control flush -already in place in the communal areas

    Reducing the energy consumption
    • A notice next to the temperature control suggests that
    • We already reducing the vampire draw consumption by shutting down the sockets
    • Usage of LED bulbs when appropriate( they are already used for ceiling lamps and beside beds lamps)
    • Implementing a system of sensor lighting for communal areas when appropriate
    Reducing the consumption of linen
    • Instructions for the guests where to place the linen if they want that changed
    Reducing the consumption of chemicals
    • introducing a dilution cleaning control system for the usage of concentrated cleaning eco-friendly chemicals which will reduce packaging consumption and the impact on the environment