THE Power of Love was among more than 20 events held at the University of Sussex campus to mark national Go Green Week.

Students tyre-d of the usual romantic routines instead used Valentine’s Day to show their love for the planet.

They celebrated February 14 in unusual style this year by taking part in an anti-Valentine’s karaoke session powered purely by bicycles.

The events celebrated Sussex’s ongoing commitment to become one of Britain’s greenest universities and its work towards cutting its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2020 through its ambitious Go Greener project.

Dean Spears, head of university housing services, said: “Every week is Go Green Week at the university as we are constantly looking at ways for us to operate in a more sustainable way.

“As a university we have invested heavily in solar panels on our roof-tops, brown living roofs, improved cycling infrastructure and much more to make it easier for our community to reduce their environmental impact.

“Having a dedicated week like Go Green is really important though to focus the mind and to get everybody thinking together about how they we can all take small steps to make a big difference.

“It’s been great to see staff and students alike getting into the spirit of the week and having some great fun at the same time.”

As well as belting out anti-Valentine’s tunes at the campus East Slope Bar, students helped to mark Go Green Week with paperless bingo organised by members of the Geography Society and a carbon neutral gig of unplugged, acoustic performances.

The university also hosted a family plant and play session, a food waste café in collaboration with Brighton-based The Real Junk Food Project and a screening of Black Bark Films’ In Our Hands.

University staff joined a team from Balfour Beatty’s construction team in a litter pick.

They gathered ten bags of rubbish, a section from a car dashboard, a broken bicycle and mesh fencing.

Notes to editors

For a full list of Go Green Week events held at the University of Sussex this week visit www.sussexstudent.com/whats-on/go-green-week-2018-829/

Through the Go Greener Project, the University of Sussex is aiming to become one of the greenest universities in the UK by investing millions of pound to install more than 3,000 photovoltaics on to 30 campus buildings, replace 27,000 light bulbs with more efficient LED lighting, install smart metering across the campus and improve heating and cooling systems.

Our solar installation, the biggest of any higher education institution in the UK, will provide almost five percent of the Falmer campus’s electricity needs and has already produced as much electricity as a person would use in 40 years since its switch on this autumn.

The University is also home to the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP), which aims to provide the scientific support needed for a more sustainable society.

For more details on the SSRP research projects visit www.sussex.ac.uk/ssrp.