The Students’ Union at UWE and UWE Bristol

Year-long campaign on Ethical Consumption and Sustainable Fashion

In 2023-24 building on foundation work in the past, the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE Bristol) and the Students’ Union at UWE delivered a concerted campaign on sustainable fashion to students and staff across our 3 campuses, with students taking an active role in driving the campaign.

This comprised of awareness raising through communications and events, skills training, the provision of new permanent and pop-up swap shops and community reuse resources.

Throughout, we have measured our impact and collected data which, taken in total, shows a significant increase in terms of adoption of planet friendly behaviours and their commensurate impact on carbon reduction. 

Top 3 Learnings

1. We learnt that allowing students the space to learn about sustainability in a practical setting (for example our permanent sustainability hub) empowers them to see the impact of their actions.
2. Imperfect journey! This year we faced financial and staffing issues, we kept going in strong partnership to work together and create meaningful change – this journey will not be perfect.
3. Change can only be made in a partnership – crucial that the university and student union work together.