Simon Chubb, Environmental Manager for ARU, is looking forward to seeing the impact of the pilot programme, and says “At ARU we have pledged to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of our university life, from sustainability research including our Global Sustainability Institute to the impacts of our campuses. ARUgreen is a great opportunity for our employees to play their part in cutting our carbon footprint, and at the same time make some valuable cost savings”.
ARUgreen uses an interactive online and app-based platform which encourages members to engage in a range of actions themed by ARU’s key sustainability priorities; energy saving, sustainable travel, waste reduction, responsible purchasing and health & wellbeing. Staff can opt in to activities they’d like to participate in, and weekly email reminders prompt users to report their actions. The programme uses gamification to drive engagement - members are rewarded with ‘Green Points’ and compete with their colleagues to win monthly voucher prizes. To drive mass uptake, departments are encouraged to compete against each other through the online leader board. At the end of the pilot, the top performing team will receive a £100 charity donation for their chosen good cause.
Green Rewards currently provides JUMP programmes for nine other Universities including Bristol, Reading and Glasgow. Graham Simmonds, Managing Director at Green Rewards, said “It’s great to see Anglia Ruskin University launching its pilot programme. In the last academic year we recorded 215,348 positive actions across all our university clients and we’re excited by the potential of ARUgreen”.