In line with the University of the Arts London sustainability action plan, UAL committed to take part in ‘Water Amnesty’ a project that has been instigated by the Free Radicals group founded by Professor Helen Storey (UAL, London College of Fashion) and Professor Tony Ryan OBE (The University of Sheffield). Water Amnesty is an ambitious concept designed to reduce water consumption in HE environments and also a clever way of generating income for charity ONE WATER.
“When I learnt that it takes 5,000 pints of water to produce 1 T -shirt from ‘crop to shop’ and that 5,000 children die a day from lack of clean drinking water, the inequity tore through every one of us. At its heart however, Water Amnesty is an attempt to take away the personal impotence felt when addressing a major world imbalance, such as the human right to clean water, as well as ‘gift’ the participating Universities with one way to address their responsibilities towards diminishing natural resources.”
Helen Storey MBE
The great thing about Water Amnesty is that everyone can get involved and collectively we will have a massive impact on our water consumption. All you need to do is help spread the word and follow the advice. After the Water Amnesty in November 2010, estates calculated a 30% reduction compared to the November figures for 2009.
Water Amnesty worked to raise awareness of how much water individuals and the university use throughout the day and how to calculate a water footprint. The campaign also helped to identify ways in which to cut water consumption and by collaborating with fellow Free Radicals members such as Sheffield University, UAL can. With the money saved as a result of these reductions UAL will make a donation to ONE WATER who are dedicated to providing safe drinking water to thousands of communities in the less developed world.
Read more: http://www.wearefreeradicals.co.uk/wateramnesty.html