Wednesday 11-04-2018 - 13:44

Campaigns Coordinator Molly chatted with Oskar Walin about his campaign on campus.

 

What’s your name, course and year of study?

"My names Oskar, I’m studying Graphic Design and I’m in my first year."

Are you part of any societies, clubs or groups on campus?

"I’m part of the MMU Environmental Society, and am in the process of setting up the Mindfulness Society. I think any activism requires a bit of meditation in some form or you’ll go mad."

What campaign are you running?

"Currently I’m running a campaign to get people using their own re-usable cups on (and outside of) campus. The University has been selling re-usable cups for quite a while, but they haven’t been visible or promoted much, so I’m basically just making a bit of noise about them really. They are £3.50 from any of the canteens, includes one free hot drink, and you get a 20p discount when you use them."

What motivated you to run this campaign? Was there anything in particular that sparked your interest?

"I think with watching Blue Planet, people really do want to reduce how much we chuck away, but sometimes struggle to know where to start — so in this case, this campaign is just a flashing arrow towards an alternative. The poster is letting people know that the cups we’re given aren’t being recycled despite their misleading papery feel (they’re plastic-lined), and so what’s the next option if you don’t want to be adding to the waste problem? Buy a re-usable cup! It's super simple, it feels nice to be doing your bit and it’s the start of us transitioning away from using things once and chucking them in the bin. No one is to blame for our current waste situation — we’re literally forced fed packaging, but by using a keep cup you’re letting the industry know that we’ve had enough of heaps of plastic and we want change."

What do you hope to achieve?

"I want to raise awareness really. Once you get your keep cup, people will see you with it and question why you have it, and if people are questioning then it’s a win. Once we start questioning then the bubble starts to burst. Plastic plastic plastic — it’s an amazing material, but it doesn’t go anywhere for a hell of a long time. A fraction of it gets recycled, and it’s not going away on its own, so why are we using it for packaging oranges? Or for Kinder Eggs? I think once we make a step in reducing our personal use of disposables we are helping to change the overall attitude of our world, sounds far-fetched but I do reckon we have that power."

What advice would you give another student who had an idea for a campaign?

"The Uni listens to students, for better or for worse — it is a business and you are a customer. It’s not about being entitled and getting angry, its more about realising you are powerful and can make changes to how things are done. If you start a campaign and make a load of noise about, say, that you’re paying £9,000 a year and the some of the executives of MMU are receiving six-figure salaries, you may prompt a more equal distribution of wages within the staff team — who knows! Even if you don’t get exactly what you intended, you will have learnt great lessons in empowerment and how to get people together. That will be a life skill you carry in to your future work, so why not!"

 

Interested in running a campaign? Find out more information on our Campaigns page or get in touch with Molly Maher, Campaigns Coordinator.