Green and charities

If you have any questions or suggestions about recycling, Green–issues or charity events in Corpus, feel free to contact the JCR Green and Charities Officer.

Green issues

The College has a Green Committee, on which sits representatives from the JCR and MCR. The Committee meets twice a term and has so far drawn up and implemented an Environmental Policy and a Policy for Energy and Water Management within the College, and keeps track of what is going on in other Colleges to improve our strategies and facilities in accordance with them. Corpus was placed 8th in the overall College’s Green League in 2010, and in fact, came top of all the Cambridge colleges in the water management category.

The JCR also has its own Green Society. This is a group of people who have expressed an interest in helping to make Corpus a greener and more charitable place. They support the JCR Green and Charities Officer, encourage recycling and awareness of green issues within College and are available to help with emptying recycling and other such tasks. For more information about the JCR Green Society, click here.

Radiator thermostats

All radiators in Corpus should now be fitted with a thermostat so that if your room gets too hot you can simply turn your radiator down instead of opening your window and wasting energy! However, a few rooms seem to have been overlooked, so if your radiator does not have a thermostat please email the JCR Green and Charities Officer and they will let the Bursar know so that the situation can be rectified.

Recycling

Corpus is constantly working towards being a more environmentally friendly college. We have a reasonable recycling system in place in the communal areas of College such as the Bar, Library and TV Room. At the moment, it is up to students to implement their own recycling efforts in individual rooms and gyp rooms; collecting items and then taking them regularly to the main recycling centre in Stable Yard.

The recycling facilities in the College’s Newnham and T–Street accommodation are fantastic, with blue wheelie bins provided and emptied by the local council, into which you can put a whole variety of items without the need to separate them out.

We still however, have a long way to go. You can keep doing (or start doing!) your bit for making Corpus greener by setting aside those cereal boxes, old revision notes and wine bottles and taking them to their respective recycling locations around College. In addition, please do approach your JCR Green and Charities Officer with any ideas and suggestions you may have.

Where to recycle what…

The list below is a little bit dull, so you may want to download the corpusJCR Green Map and stick it above your bin to remind yourself of what you can recycle where in College.

  • TV Room: Glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminium cans, paper
  • Taylor Library: Paper (all the bins are for paper only)
  • Pelican Bar: Glass bottles, plastic bottles, paper
  • Post Room: Paper, stamps, batteries, ink cartridges
  • Bursar’s Garden: Main paper recycling bin
  • Computer Room: Paper
  • Stable Yard: Cardboard, food waste, glass bottles (clear, blue, green and brown), empty aerosol cans
  • Hall: Aluminium cans

If you have any questions about recycling in Corpus, or have any ideas about how our recycling provision can be improved, please contact the JCR Green and Charities Officer.

Charities and corpusJCR

Corpus students, individually and as a College, are enthusiastic and committed to doing their bit for charity. We are involved in Cambridge RAG (Raise and Give), and events such as the Fresher’s week Scavenger Hunt, Halloween fancy dress Formal and RAG Blind Date and Jailbreak have become fixed events in the Corpus calendar.

On the individual side of things, our students are regularly collecting sponsorship for challenges ranging from 10 km races, to marathons, to skydives. These events can be publicised by the JCR Green and Charities Officer on the TV Room notice board and in college–wide emails, so please get in touch if you have something in the pipeline.

Corpus students are active participants in organisations such as Amnesty International and Student Community Action (SCA), campaigning and working to help improve the situations of others on both a local and international level. Corpus also has a proud tradition of donating any profits from our bi–annual May Ball to local and national charities. This year, this money will go exclusively to Cambridge Winter Comfort, supporting people in Cambridge who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes by offering them basic amenities, opportunities for educational development and recreation, and a range of services designed to help them achieve greater autonomy.

If you have any ideas for charity events, or have any charities that you would like corpusJCR to support, please contact the JCR Green and Charities Officer.

Charity donations

From past events, corpusJCR has donated to the following charities:

  • Lent 2011: World Land Trust
  • Michaelmas 2010: WaterAid

Cambridge RAG

RAG stands for “Raise And Give”. Cambridge RAG is one of the largest RAGs in the country and is one of Cambridge University’s largest societies. Cambridge RAG are a group of students who put on both large and small events, university–wide and within colleges, to raise money for charity. RAG also carry out street collections called Raids every Saturday, with Mega–Raids (in conjunction with other universities) and collection tours after Michaelmas and Lent terms.

RAG organise fund–raising events such as:

  • Jailbreak,
  • Blind Date,
  • Beer festival,
  • Pyjama pub crawl.

There are three levels of RAG to get involved in:

  • Go Raiding: The street collection every Saturday in Cambridge.
  • College Level: Represent Corpus by selling tickets for university–wide events and putting on events in College.
  • Central Committee: Put on Cambridge–wide events. Anyone can get involved with this.

For more information on any of RAG’s activities and to get involved e-mail r...@cusu.cam.ac.uk or the JCR Green and Charities Officer, who also acts as one of Corpus’ RAG Representatives.