The LSE Waste Smart Initiative is a series of opportunities designed to promote awareness, encourage sustainable consumption, and support waste reduction across the School. The initiative brings together practical activities, educational experiences, and paid student opportunities to help the LSE community better understand the impact of waste and explore ways to reduce it.
Activities include litter-picking sessions, providing an opportunity for students and staff to take practical action to improve the campus environment, as well as visits to recycling centres with our waste management company Biffa, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to waste after it leaves campus and helping participants better understand the challenges and processes involved in recycling and waste management.
The initiative also includes the Waste Hackathon, a campaign design challenge in which student groups create media campaigns to discourage waste during move-out; a winning campaign is selected and showcased across LSE residences (see last year's campaign here). Alongside these activities, there are two paid student opportunities: Student Waste Auditors, who help assess and identify opportunities to improve waste practices, and Student Waste Ambassadors, who support waste reduction efforts during the busy move-out period.
Together, these opportunities aim to reduce waste, broaden our understanding of sustainable consumption, and empower students and staff to take practical action towards a more sustainable LSE.