School Newsletter-September 2025

Dear All,

Wild Easter Bush Signage on campus

Wild Easter Bush Signage on Campus (Trim Trail)

Have you seen the new signage on campus? We have an incredible campus and so many work to restore and look after our nature on campus. There is so much we can do to continually restore our campus. Try to see if you can spot all the signs on campus. Many thanks to Jane Weaver, Glen Cousquer and Cat Eastwood in getting these produced and installed.

Tree Maintenance

Would you like to help with nature restoration on campus? Following the Big Dig event, tree maintenance is taking place where trees have been planted, led by Amanda Marshall. If you would like to take part in the next tree maintenance event, please click on the links below to book your place, we need as many people as possible. You do not need to volunteer for the whole duration, but an hour or so of your time would be appreciated.

Frogs and Toads

Thank you to all those that showed interest in looking to protect froglets and toadlets that have unintentionally ended up being squashed on campus; this is the sad reality of their fantastic camouflage. A meeting will be planned over winter, and all interested parties will receive an email soon. Thank you if you have already replied, this is much appreciated.

Sustainability in the research laboratories

Roslin Institute’s laboratory sustainability group* aims to improve sustainability in the Roslin research labs.
Roslin Institute spends £24,000 each year on single-use plastic universal, bijou and 50 mL centrifuge tubes and creates 800 kg of research-related plastic waste from these consumables alone.
We obtained £10,000 from the Department of Sustainability to buy reusable glass alternatives to the these single-use lab plastics in the research labs, as well as infrastructure to process the glassware.
This initiative will increase awareness of sustainable laboratory practises and provide researchers with sustainable options for their research. This should help reduce reliance on single-use disposable plastics in the research labs and reduce the Roslin Institute’s production of research-related plastic waste.

* RI lab sustainability group: Jenny Fraser, Liz Thornton, Holly Hardy, Cathy McLaughlin, Claire Warren, Edith Paxton, Amy Pickering, Lucas Lefevre, Ela Nowak – Dabkowska, Willie Fowler, Margaretanne Dugan, Brian McTeir, and past members: Hazel Gilhooley and Lorna Bathgate.

Sustainability in the teaching laboratories

Identifying and sorting waste and recyclables into the correct waste stream is one of the easiest ways to increase sustainability. Clinical waste undergoes specific processing and disposal and is one of the more costly waste disposal routes. Incorrect disposal of general or recyclable materials into clinical waste bins is therefore costly, unsustainable, and inefficient.

Our “know your bins” scheme aims to clearly outline which waste bins are most appropriate for the various types of waste generated in the teaching areas on campus. These are now visible in teaching and clinical skills laboratories, the exotics and farm animal teaching areas as well as the hospital for small animals.

These posters aim to:

inform and give confidence to students and staff as to how to safely sort waste into the correct bin in the BVM&S teaching areas,
increase awareness of sustainable working practises and reduce incorrect waste disposal in some of the more expensive waste streams.

This initiative completements our efforts to increase sustainability in the BVM&S teaching areas and practical classes by significantly reducing single-use plastic consumption across several classes.

We hope you have a good weekend.

The Easter Bush Social Responsibility and Sustainability Committee