Throughout July, we're inviting you to 'Take the Jump' and reduce your carbon footprint (and you can win a £100 prize too).
What is Take the Jump?
Take the Jump is a set of six challenges aimed at reducing your carbon footprint. The six challenges are:
Show us something you’ve given a new lease of life, repaired, or found a new home, rather than throwing it away or buying a replacement.
Steps challenge: use a fitness tracker to monitor your steps when you take a walk instead of driving.
Reduce food waste: plan your meals and incorporate three extra plant-based meals per week. Submit recipes and photos of the meals, using seasonal and locally-sourced produce.
Share an item you’ve got from a charity shop that you’re proud of! What’s the oldest clothing item you still wear!? Tell us its story.
Local journeys – show us where you’ve been (using public transport or pedal power). Or count your steps and sending us a screenshot of how much you’ve been walking instead of driving!
Make one life shift – here are some ideas:
- Join a local or national sustainability campaign
- Make your home more energy-efficient
- Write to your MP to promote sustainable policy in your area
- Publish some online content advocating for a sustainability issue or topic
- There are loads of other ideas on the Take the Jump page.
The challenges begin on Wednesday, 1 July. You can find out more about Take the Jump below.
Discover more about Take the Jump
What should I do?
1. Choose which of the six challenges you'd like to do and sign up for them (choose as many as you like). Throughout July, you'll be sent emails to remind you about the challenge, with some tips on what you could do!
Sign up to Take the Jump
The first 50 students to sign up will be sent a tree from the The Woodland Trust (if you've got no room to plant a tree or don't want one, you can donate your tree to a planting scheme).
2. At the end of July, email your entry to oustudents-projects@open.ac.uk (this can be anything which shows your efforts, like a poster, a collage, a colection of images, or even a video diary).
3. Our student judges will choose one winner from each challenge (they'll look for students that have made a real environmental impact and taken significant steps to reduce their carbon footprint). Winners will be able to select one of these prizes:
Take the Jump challenge – terms and conditions
Need some inspiration?
Come to one of our online events where we’ll be talking about the challenge (focusing on specific topics):
Take the Jump kick off session: reduce your carbon footprint this July
Wednesday, 8 July
6pm
Take the Jump! Can I really grow my own veg? How to start a garden (with Steph, Sustainability Volunteer)
Monday, 13 July
6pm
Take the Jump! Eating for the Environment (with Shonil Bhagwat, Professor of Environment and Society)
Wednesday, 22 July
6pm
Coping with Eco-anxiety: how to cope with the climate and ecological crisis
Wednesday, 29 July
6pm