Green Impact is our interactive sustainable action platform, providing a toolkit for effective activities colleagues can take as teams to improve sustainability across Imperial and at home.

Green Impact is a UN award-winning programme, run internationally by SOS-UK (Students Organising for Sustainability UK) which has been tailored to align with Imperial’s Sustainability Strategy 2021-2026 and goal to achieve Net Zero by 2040.

A team can be any size and could cover an office, floor, building, or even a whole department!

There are numerous actions that you can take to earn points towards awards and to boost your rankings on the Imperial leaderboard. The actions cover multiple themes including:

  • Energy
  • Waste & Recycling
  • Biodiversity & Community
  • Travel
  • Procurement

And many more!

The year will culminate in our first Green Impact awards ceremony in October where we will celebrate our highest achieving Bronze, Silver and Gold teams and special awards for individuals who have made the greatest impact!

So, whether you are part of a small team, or work on a complex site, everyone at Imperial can make a difference. Why not start your Green Impact journey today?

Imperial's Green Impact Launch event. The Green Impact scheme is a sustainability competition for departments.

Green Impact Launch Event

Watch the launch event to learn the basics of Green Impact. This session covers an overview of the Green Impact scheme, the programme yearly cycle, the online toolkit, forming your team and how you can acheive awards by taking part.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use the toolkit?

There is a toolkit user guide on this webpage on the right-hand side. If you have any technical issues you can contact toolkit@sos-uk.org. 

 

 

How do I form my team?

Teams can be made up of a variety of sizes, ranging from entire departments to a single office. The most important thing is that all actions taken in the toolkit can be applied across the whole of the area for the team.

Not everyone in the office area needs to be signed up with the online toolkit, but we suggest having 2-8 people per team so that actions can be delegated to where people feel most motivated. 

Who can help me with completing the toolkit?

Anyone within your team can support you to complete the toolkit and we would encourage you to get as many people involved as possible. If your colleagues also want access to the toolkit, just get them to register, choosing your team after they have registered so they can see your team's progress and comments.

If you have any problems, please get in touch with your local Green Impact lead or SOS-UK project manager: find their details on the homepage.

How does the scoring work?

To gain the various award levels you will need to achieve the following:

  • Working Towards - start doing any of the criteria (Green Impact is all about continual improvement!);
  • Bronze - Achieve 80 points from across the toolkit;
  • Silver - Achieve 160 points from across the toolkit;
  • Gold - Achieve 240 points from across the toolkit.
     

What are the timings for the programme?

Typically, the Green Impact programme will run annually in line with the academic year.

However, for 2023-2024 we launched our toolkit in February and to give all the teams plenty of time to take actions have set a final submission date for toolkits on 30th September 2024. This will be followed by an awards Ceremony that will take place in October 2024. At which point all toolkits and teams will be re-set and we get to track our actions again!

What is the special category?

The criteria within the toolkit were designed to be applicable to as many teams as possible. However, we recognise that many teams have significant impacts outside of the criteria which they are addressing in creative, innovative, or impactful ways.

We chose a number of special awards to recognise the important work that teams are implementing to improve their sustainability, and to celebrate those individuals who are driving those changes. Please use this section to nominate yourself or others and the winners will be entered into the national Green Impact Awards which are announced each winter.

What is the comments box for?

The comments box is there to support the audit process and to share good practice. The comments section allows you to tell your auditor how you completed each action, and it can also support your team in keeping track of what has been done as each comment is threaded showing you who’s left the comment and when. You should write a brief comment for each completed action, and you may want to supplement this with uploaded evidence such as a photo, document or a link to a webpage.

What happens if we don't get a bronze award?

If you are unable to complete all of the criteria for a bronze award, you will still receive a working towards award to demonstrate your participation and commitment to improving sustainability.
 

What are the time commitments?

Any time spent towards Green Impact is fantastic! There is no minimum (or maximum) time commitment, but we suggest a monthly check-in with your team is a good way to keep moving forward. 

Is this initiative open for students?

The Green Impact Initiative is designed for Imperial staff to take action in their office spaces as they are responsible for many of the facilities and behaviours that can be tackled.

However, students can get involved with Green Impact through the end-of-year student audits and by raising awareness of the programme with members of staff to get their areas involved. If you are interested in taking part, please get in touch via sustainable@imperial.ac.uk with the subject heading 'Green Impact'.