Normal to a large group of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus students, but often not for the university, or not yet: eating vegetarian or vegan, not flying, buying secondhand. Getting others convinced can be quite a challenge. That's why we organized a meeting for young pioneers: members of student associations who, alongside their studies, are committed to sustainability.
Working on making your environment more sustainable can be a real challenge. How do you get others on board? How do you keep going when it feels like you're standing alone? How do you convince people and support one another? Students working for the University Green Offices, Sustainability Hubs, Students4Sustainability, and student associations from various programs shared their experiences at Blue City. It was a moment of recognition. Successes, failures and many shared questions were discussed:
‘A lot of meat is on our menu, how can I change that?’
‘We are asked for input as a green office, but sometimes I feel like the project leader just wants to tick a box and doesn’t really desire change.’
‘Flying is still very normal. A quick weekend flight to Tirana because it’s cheaper than the train. How do you break that habit?’
‘We started working CO2-neutral and received a lot of praise, but why isn’t the university itself CO2-neutral?’
‘We want to replace cow’s milk in the vending machines with oat milk, but how do you arrange that with a large supplier?’
Perseverance to make an impact
Two researchers joined and shared their own experiences with sustainability within the university. Legal scholar Esther Kentin from the Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic had campaigned for years for deposit return cups at the university. ‘After all my lobbying, I was finally allowed to do a pre-pilot,’ she said. ‘And then—after six years of pushing— the Billy cup was introduced.’ It taught her that to make an impact, you have to persist. ‘Just keep going with your plan, keep asking questions. If you feel friction, you’re on the right track.’
Wouter Spekkink, a researcher in sustainability at Erasmus University Rotterdam, downplayed the impact of individual sustainability measures. ‘You can be happy if everyone brings their own Dopper bottle to an event. But when it comes to the plastic problem, a main problem is the abundance of plastic packaging in supermarkets.’ The system is wasteful and keeps us trapped in a wasteful lifestyle, according to Spekkink. ‘Be realistic,’ he advised the students. ‘Most people don’t want to change. Focus on the small group that does want to, and tackle the system.’
Together we are stronger.
We encourage Leiden-Delft-Erasmus students to continue sharing questions and working together, and we are happy to support joint projects and activities that contribute to the sustainability of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus universities and the education. If you have good ideas, join one of the student associations. In 2025, we will organize another meeting. If you’re interested, let us know by email: LDE_CfS@cml.leidenuniv.nl.