University of Winchester Students' Union | Union Fairtrade and Enviroment Policies

Winchester's Helping Fairtrade and The Environment...

The Environment: active measures to reduce our impact:

A Sound Impact Bronze Award for Winchester

AWARD WINNER:

(Announced April 2008)
Great News from April '08: We've active environmental procedures and policies at Winchester, along with the University to ensure that the impact of our services for member students and other users of our facilities make on the enviroment is reduced. With global warming and the future born in mind we've implemented reduce pollution and waste, and increase efficiency across the board, more recycling measures, more savings, and more thinking about environmental impact. Our new state of the art University Centre venues are benefiting from great inbuilt energy saving features.

Efforts were recognised this year with Winchester Student Union receiving our Sound Impact BronzeAward !!

See our environmental policy in detail

Winchester Student Union and Fairtrade

Along with the University of Winchester, we're committed to supporting fairtrade. As much as possible, the only impact we have on people around the world from our everyday choices is a positive one. We stock a wide range of fairtrade products at our bar outlets and shops on both university campuses.

What is Fairtrade?
Everyday we buy goods that have been sourced from across the world. This morning you may have already relied upon workers in the Caribbean for a breakfast banana, followed by tea pickers in Sri Lanka and a sugar cane plantation worker in Cost Rica.

Fairtrade webpage photo
Fairtrade guarantees producer organisations in the developing world a fair and stable price for their products. This means producers get paid a price that covers their costs and enables them to support their families and invest in a better future.

Thousands of producers currently contend with unstable global markets and powerful multinational companies. They are often forced to sell their goods for less than it cost to produce them. This can lead to poor working conditions, unsustainable debts, bankruptcy and the loss of jobs and land.

By buying fairtrade products you are helping to improve the day-to-day lives of millions of farmers, workers and their families, as well as creating a stable and sustainable future for them and their land.

The Student Union and University now serve Fairtrade tea, coffee and biscuits in all their meetings!

How to identify Fairtrade products...

Fairtrade products can be identified by the Fairtrade Mark. This universal mark guarantees that the product meets international fairtrade standards – ensuring workers in the developing world are getting a better deal. For example some of these standards include that traders must:

• pay a price to producers that covers the costs of sustainable production and living;
• pay a ’premium’ that producers can invest in development;
• make partial advance payments when requested by producers;
• sign contracts that allow for long-term planning and sustainable production practices.

See Fairtrade information from The University of Winchester
(Opens The University's Website)

More information on Fairtrade, the standards and how the fairtrade mark is governed and certified can be found from the following websites... The Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International's (FLO) website

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Winchester's Helping Fairtrade and The Environment...

The Environment: active measures to reduce our impact:

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