It's Not Easy Being Green - Talking Sustainability

What is the history of plastic packaging in human society? What made it such a popular material to use and how did we get here? Can we break our addiction to plastic? What is the consumer behaviour towards product packaging? What are the current trends and challenges of sustainable product packaging? And is glass always better than plastic? In this podcast episode, we had a chat with Katarzyna Cwiertka – an expert on food and waste in East Asia and Professor of Modern Japan studies – about the challenges we are facing in our contemporary society regarding food and product packaging. Tune in to find out more!

Ever wondered how big the food waste really is? What strategies and solutions are put in place by the private and public sector to combat food waste? How can data be used to society’s advantage to overcome such a problem? And what you steps you can take to reduce food waste one step at a time, at a local level? Sebastian Moorhead talked to Yasmina Lambachar, a food waste researcher at Circle Economy, to get a better insight at combatting food waste not only at an individual level, but also at a global scale.

The elections for the Leiden University Student Council and Faculty Councils are coming up, starting on the 17th of May!

We at LUGO asked the candidates from the participating student parties to give us a short impression of what their stands are on sustainability. Four of them took the time for an interview.

We are discussing questions such as: Where in your manifesto do you focus on sustainability? Which concrete steps do you want to take to integrate sustainability in education? Why should sustainability-minded students vote for you?

Hear what each party had to say!

01:15 - DSP(Irene Vettiyadan)

05:11 - CSL (Dagmar Doorn)

09:00 - LVS (Rassoul Coelen)

12:14 - ONS (Floor van Lelyveld)

Questions or ideas regarding the podcast can be sent to: community@lugo.leidenuniv.nl

LUGO website: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/green-office

Music by: Sander Veenendaal

Multiple voices have been criticising Leiden University for not using its position in order to move away from fossil fuels. An article in de Mare called upon the university to “break ties with destructive companies”. But does Leiden University actually invest into fossil fuels? And if so, what is needed to change that? We wanted to get a clearer picture and reached out to Paul Flach, the treasurer of Leiden University. We asked him about the university’s role in the ABP pension fund, the different foundations of the university and the influence it has regarding what kind of investments are being made.

Article in de Mare: https://www.mareonline.nl/en/background/never-mind-warm-sweaters/

Questions or ideas regarding the podcast can be sent to: community@lugo.leidenuniv.nl

LUGO website: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/green-office

Music by: Sander Veenendaal

In our first episode we are learning more about how climate change can affect our mental health. When faced with the consequences of global warming and pollution, people often feel distressed, worried or hopeless. This is also called "eco-anxiety". But why do we feel this way and what can we do about it? Hedda Werres, writer for the LUGO blog, is sharing the insights she gained when researching about the topic. 

Music Intro by: Sander Veenendaal 

Hedda's blog entry: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/green-office/lugo-blog/lugo-blog-copy-2#hedda-werres-eco-anxiety

Hedda's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insideheddashead/

Hedda's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hedda-werres-6a307a1a8/?originalSubdomain=nl

Questions or ideas concerning the podcast can be sent to: community@lugo.leidenuniv.nl 

LUGO website: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/green-office

This is a sustainability podcast initiated by the Leiden University Green Office. Get ready for a podcast that will deal with the science behind complicated topics, yet make them personal and practical as well. Instead of simply propagandising our point of view, we’ll have experts from all fields talk about their perspectives. So don’t expect big answers – expect to be asked big questions.

Do you have questions or ideas for another episode topic? Feel free to reach out: community@lugo.leidenuniv.nl