Sustainability

Sustainability at Studierendenwerk Bonn

Studierendenwerk Bonn has been a certified Partner of Sustainable Bonn since 2011. In July 2022, the twelve Studierendenwerke in North Rhine-Westphalia committed to the climate policy goals of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for sustainable business in a fundamental resolution. The ambitious goal of the Studierendenwerke is: We want to be climate-neutral by 2030!

Economic dimension

Cost-optimised working methods are a matter of course for the Studierendenwerk. Potential savings in a sustainable sense are regularly identified and realised. Surpluses from economic activities are fully reinvested in the services offered, for example in the refurbishment or new construction of halls of residence.

Ecological dimension

The Studierendenwerk aims to optimise the consumption of raw materials and to continuously review the supply chains for more sustainable husbandry and production conditions as part of purchasing partnerships.

Social dimension

The Studierendenwerk Bonn is an institution under public law - a public enterprise with a focus on the common good. The services and counselling offered by the Studierendenwerk are tailored to ensure that students have equal opportunities to study.

Our environmental guidelines

  • We comply with the applicable environmental protection regulations and are also committed to the continuous improvement of environmental protection in connection with our activities.
  • We set ourselves specific environmental targets and regularly evaluate what we have achieved.
  • We take into account possible undesirable environmental impacts of our services.
  • We promote a sense of responsibility and active behaviour on the part of all employees with regard to environmental and health protection.

What we do

  • We consistently take environmental aspects into account when procuring our goods and services.
  • In the production and provision of our services, we analyse the environmental impact of our operational activities and improve them step by step.
  • We promote more environmentally conscious behaviour among our guests, customers and tenants through our range of services and accompanying information.
  • We ensure that waste is avoided and that unavoidable waste is recycled or disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.
  • We organise our business trips as environmentally friendly as possible and recommend that our employees, guests and tenants travel by public transport. We also promote sustainable mobility among our employees through incentive schemes.
  • We involve our partners in our environmental and health protection activities.

Measures

Sustainability in thought and action affects everyone. As a service provider primarily for students, Studierendenwerk Bonn sees itself as having a special responsibility. We have been certified as a "Partner of Sustainable Bonn" since 2011.

Selected measures that we have implemented:

  • Consuming only what is really requested, thanks to component selection.
  • Fairtrade: fairly traded coffee and tea
  • Wide range of vegetarian and vegan dishes
  • Renunciation of tuna fish
  • Regular campaigns for a more conscious lifestyle, together with cooperation partners
  • Against food waste: cooperation with Foodsharing
  • Energy-efficient construction and renovation
  • Water-saving aerators in all 35 dormitories
  • Saving electricity with LED lighting
  • Company bicycles for sustainable mobility
  • and much more

The project "Sustainable Bonn - Conference Venue of Sustainability" is an initiative of the City of Bonn under the umbrella of Tourismus & Congress GmbH. The common goal is to align Bonn and the region in a sustainable way, especially with regard to Bonn as the location of the UN Climate Secretariat.

Fair products in our assortment

The Studierendenwerk Bonn has been committed to fair trade coffee since 2005. Our cafés serve only fair-trade coffee, tea and cocoa. We also have selected chocolate bars and lemonades that are fair. Fairly traded goods can be recognized by the Fairtrade seal.

Fairtrade seal

The Fairtrade seal identifies goods that originate from fair trade and whose production complies with certain social, ecological and economic criteria.

All ingredients of a product that are available under Fairtrade conditions must be Fairtrade certified. This also applies to mixed products (e.g. chocolate).

LogiCUP - the reusable cup for your coffee to go

We rely on reusable cups!

Studierendenwerk Bonn has consistently switched to reusable cups for coffee to go. Started in the summer semester of 2018, the LogiCUP was gradually introduced at all our locations in Bonn and at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

It's as simple as this

You buy the hot drink to go in a café of the Studierendenwerk Bonn or from a vending machine. For a deposit of 50 cents, you get the LogiCUP - with or without lid (plus a reusable fee of 20 cents - starting in the summer semester 2022). Afterwards, you return the cup to one of the many return machines at our locations or, for example, in libraries or in one of our cafés and get the deposit back.

The LogiCUP at a glance

  • Easy to carry, easy to return
  • Vertical thermal ribs, optimal heat protection
  • Low deposit
  • All sales or return points conveniently located via app
  • Suitable for disposable and reusable lids - leak-proof

Sustainable construction

We also focus on sustainability in our new buildings. For example, the dormitories in Drususstraße, Posener Weg and Kaiserstraße are modern energy-saving houses. They consume only a fraction of the energy required by the Energy Saving Ordinance.

The dormitory in Drususstrasse, for example, is a KfW Efficiency House 55, which means it requires only 55 % of the primary energy. In addition, the transmission heat loss is only 70 %. The building's thermal insulation is therefore 30 % better.

Likewise, the core-renovated residence hall in Pariser Straße is built sustainably (KfW Efficiency House 70). During the refurbishment, attention was also paid to sustainable materials. For example, the flooring is made of linoleum instead of PVC. Linoleum is a product made primarily from natural raw materials such as linseed oil, chalk, cork and wood flour. Windows and doors are made of light metal instead of PVC.

Dormitory at the Drususstraße