Green and Sustainability Libraries

Libraries are perfect hubs for green and sustainability awareness. Filled with information and resources, but also play a role in being environmentally conscious.

Green and Sustainability at Edinburgh Napier Library

Academic books can go out of date, particularly in computing, health and sciences. Do you ever wonder what happens with these? We donate our outdated stock to Better World Books. Better World Books is a “for-profit social-minded business that collects and sells books online with each sale generating funds for literacy initiatives around the world”. Books typically go to landfills, but Better World Books sells these books, with profits funding library programmes. If books are not able to make a sale, they are recycled and used for animal bedding.

We have reduced our physical footprint, with more digitisation and e-resources to save paper and trees.

Green and Sustainability at Edinburgh Napier.

At the university, we are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as well as Scotland’s National Performance Framework. Much of our research and curriculum is dedicated to the SDG14, there are embedded toolkits and case studies that are available for academics to frame their programmes to meet these. In the School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment,  sustainable construction is focused on heavy.

On top of this, we have made strides from biodiversity to reducing waste.  80% of our waste is recycled, while the remaining 20% is used for fuel production. All our campuses and accommodation’s energy usage is monitored, and LED lighting is used throughout.

Did you know that Craiglockhart campus contains around 50 different plant species, which include a rare fungus and a yellow barista. We also have the Lion Gates Garden that sits just outside Merchiston Library, or you can take part in a gardening club at Sighthill. And we are proud that all our campuses are hedgehog-friendly.

Green Libraries

Upon reading for this article, I stumbled across the Warsaw University Library, and I helped myself not to talk about it. It is one of the most impressive green libraries, is Warsaw University library. To such an extent that it has become a major tourist attraction in the city. In 2002, a garden was opened on the University of Warsaw library’s rooftop. It is one of Europe’s largest rooftop gardens. The garden is divided into two sections: the lower section and the upper section. The lower section even includes a fish pond that ducks have taken kindly to. It is open to the public from April to October, and it’s a must-visit if you’re ever in Warsaw.

Read about International Forest Day that happened earlier this year.