I came to Uni wanting to get the full ‘experience’, and basically jumped at any opportunity to get involved. Now in my third year, I have amassed my fair share of experiences and have become better at navigating the LSE.

When wanting to get involved in Environmentalism or Sustainability at LSE, it might seem difficult to know where to start. There are so many different projects, events and campaigns, there seems to be a saturation of things happening at LSE. The SU, the Uni itself, the Volunteer Centre, departments, LSE Careers…these are all groups which organise their own initiatives and knowing the structure of how things work is important.

Over my three years, these are my top 3 LSE sustainability & environmentalism experiences. I would recommend these to anyone wanting to start volunteering in the area.

1)Apply for the Sustainable Projects Fund (SPF) or a Sustainable Futures Project Team

Managed by the LSESU Sustainable Futures Society (SFS), the SPF is a £20,000 fund which comes from the tax on plastic water bottles at LSE. Applying to this fund will allow you to make actual, tangible change on LSE campus. Plus, by applying you will meet the SFS team, who will help you every step of the way. You could also be connected to other applicants, and meet people in the process. If applying to a fund seems daunting to you, you can also apply to be part of a Sustainable Futures Project team. These are small groups of students who already have money to implement solutions in different areas of sustainability at LSE: from sustainable investment, to food and plastic waste. Working directly with LSE Catering and Sustainable LSE is a great way to make structural change that will be truly sustainable!

I myself applied to the SPF to create a documentary on sustainable fashion, and am also part of the Sustainable Futures cycling club.

You can get involved in this by getting in touch with @lsesu_sustainablefutures

2) Apply for a one-off volunteering session in the area through the LSE Volunteer Centre

I have worked with many different organisational bodies at the LSE, but there is none I recommend more than the Volunteer Centre. They truly get things done. Applying for a one-off volunteering session related to sustainability & environmentalism is very easy, and rewarding; you can also meet other, likeminded students. I especially recommend watching out for the Felix Project, who are a partnered charity to LSE and I have volunteered with several times.

You can sign up to receive updates from the Volunteer Centre on LSE Careers Hub. There you can indicate which areas you are most interested in, and will receive tailored volunteering opportunities.

3) Follow the work of Sustainable LSE and take the Sustainability e-module on Moodle

Just like the Volunteer Centre, Sustainable LSE are a great team working at LSE. They are very open to supporting students in their projects, and host some great initiatives. I think that anyone interested in sustainability and environmentalism at LSE should follow their social media and subscribe to their newsletter. This is a crucial way to stay updated with what is happening at the University. They are also behind a sustainability e-module that any student can easily (and quickly) take on Moodle by searching ‘Sustainability at LSE’. Again, this is a perfect way to understand what is happening at LSE, which areas need intervention in, and how you can help.

The link to enrol in the e-module is: https://moodle.lse.ac.uk/enrol/index.php?id=6902. Sustainable LSE are on Instagram (@sustainablelse) and twitter (@SustainableLSE).

If you’re not currently volunteering because you’re not sure how to get involved the following can help:

• visit our website to learn more about what we do book a one-to-one appointment to discuss how we can help you find a suitable role browse one-off and ongoing opportunities on CareerHub. Volunteering has the potential to transform a university experience for LSE students and we look forward to inspiring many more to get involved in the upcoming academic year.