Green Impact FAQs

All University of Melbourne students and staff, and retailers located on a University of Melbourne campus can join our Green Impact program.

You sure can! If you are studying/working both at home and on campus you can still be part of the Toolkit. However, if you are not located on campus you can sign up as an individual.

The program opens in April and closes in October each year. View the program dates on the Participants Portal to see current dates for this year.

We only recruit Project Assistants in June/July of 2023, and Student Auditors in October. Sign up to our mailing list to get up to date information about these positions.

Staff based teams can be assigned a student Project Assistant to help them complete toolkit actions if they choose during the Winter Break. Teams can email the Sustainability Team to request a Project Assistant.

Student teams are not eligible to be assigned a student Project Assistant. If you would like to assist a student team, we advise you to sign up as part of a club, society or college team. More information on the different ways you can sign up as a student.

Actions are designed to improve the environmental and social performance of your workspace and cover categories including biodiversity, climate action, diversity and inclusion, energy and water, engagement, health and wellbeing, procurement, teaching and learning, and waste.

Actions are split into different award levels, with each level  increasing in difficulty as you move through the toolkit.

Follow the steps to sign up to your toolkit provided for staff and students. If you still feel lost, use these steps to guide you along.

For teams:

• Set up a meeting with your team to decide who will be the primary and secondary contacts. Determine the frequency of meetings and assign actions for each member to complete before the next meeting.
• Download the toolkit as an excel spreadsheet by selecting the excel symbol in the top right hand corner of the toolkit. You can then save this as shared document within your team and start allocating actions to each member.

For both teams and individuals:

• If you want to get creative, think outside the box and create your own sustainability project. You can log this in the wildcard categories in the toolkit.
• Set up a meeting with or request a presentation from the Sustainability Team to help you come up with a plan that will work for your area.

Contact the Sustainability Team

Green Impact is a friendly competition with each toolkit action given a number of points relative to its level of difficulty. When you complete an action and upload evidence to the toolkit, you will gain the amount of points allocated to that action.

Only if you are signed up to the Toolkit as a retailer. Retailers must complete all actions with evidence in the Retailers tab in order to receive a certificate at the end of the program.

Otherwise, no. You can complete any action from any applicable tab in any order. You don’t need to complete every action within a tab to gain those points. Choose to use the toolkit in a way that works best for you.

If your team has both an office space and lab, hospital or vet space you can complete both the Lab, Hospital and Vet tab and the rest of the Teams Toolkit. However, when your points are tallied towards your final score at the end of the year,  only the tab with your highest score will count towards the leaderboard and will be awarded at the Awards Ceremony.

For example, if you have 300 points from the Labs, Hospitals and Vets tab and 500 points across the rest of the Teams Toolkit, you will be included in the main Teams Toolkit leaderboard and be certified with your award level from this section only.

Neither office teams nor labs, hospital or vet teams can complete actions from the Retailer tab.

No, retailers can only log actions within the Retailers tab, as they are expected to complete all actions in order to be certified as a Green Retailer.

If your team has both an office space and lab, hospital or vet space you can complete both the Lab, Hospital and Vet tab and the rest of the Teams Toolkit. However, when your points are tallied towards your final score at the end of the year,  only the tab with your highest score will count towards the leaderboard and will be awarded at the Awards Ceremony.

For example, if you have 300 points from the Labs, Hospitals and Vets tab and 500 points across the rest of the Teams Toolkit, you will be included in the main Teams Toolkit leaderboard and be certified with your award level from this section only.

Neither office teams nor labs, hospital or vet teams can complete actions from the Retailer tab.

In the ‘Special’ tab you have the chance to nominate yourself or another participant for Awards that are announced at the end of year Awards Ceremony. Simply through submitting these nominations you can gain extra points towards your final score and, if selected, the winners can go on to qualify for the Green Impact Awards Australasia – so it’s a great chance to be recognised for your efforts in sustainability.

Submit your toolkit before the deadline in October. Most teams submit their toolkits the day of the deadline so they have plenty of time to log as many actions as they can. The deadline will be announced closer to October and be made available on the Participants Portal under 'program dates'.

1. Once you submit your toolkit, you are no longer able to log actions or upload evidence to the toolkit. You can, of course, continue completing sustainable actions but the points won’t be added to your final score.
2. After the deadline, the Sustainability Team with the help of volunteer Student Auditors will review your toolkit to check all appropriate evidence has been uploaded. We will let you know what day this is being completed as some members of your team will need to be available.
3. You will have 2–3 days to resubmit any missing evidence to improve your score, based on the advice of your Student Auditors.

Then, all you need to do is sit back and relax while you wait for your invitation to the end of year Awards Ceremony in November.

You’ll get the chance to celebrate your achievements with other Green Impact teams and members of the Sustainability Executive, while you snack on delicious food and drinks and hear which teams came out on top with the most points. There are prizes given to the top Award winners, with special prizes and acknowledgements also given, while all participants are recognised for their efforts with a certificate.

Award winners receive a certificate as well as a prize to reward their efforts for sustainability. In the past, prizes have included:

• A TerraCycle Office Waste Collection Box pack to help your team reduce office waste sent to landfill
• A sustainability-themed book pack to share with the team
• A windowsill planter equipped to grow restaurant-style microherbs including basil, parsley and chives
• Adoption of bushfire-injured koalas, with the money going towards their recovery at a sanctuary
• Donation to a charity such as the World Wildlife Fun or Oxfam.

Awards given out include:

• First, second and third prize in the Teams Toolkit
• First, second and third prize in the Individuals Toolkit
• Most Sustainable Club
• Most Sustainable College
• Green Labs, Hospitals and Vets Award
• Green Retailers Award
• Student Champion
• Staff Champion
• Engagement Innovation Award
• Environmental Improvement Award
• Community Action Award
• Green Impact Ambassadors
• As well as an award for every team involved, based on their achieved award level.

Winners of the University of Melbourne Green Impact Awards are often nominated and qualify for the Australasian Green Impact Awards. View winners from previous years.