Sustainability

In connection with the nationwide energy-saving measures, the Studentenwerk Schleswig-Holstein is also called upon to contribute to securing the energy supply in the short and medium term.

For this reason, an energy-saving concept has been developed which, on the one hand, includes the mandatory energy-saving measures of the federal government and, on the other hand, measures based on voluntary commitment.

The careful use of resources has been a matter of course for the Studentenwerk for many years. Numerous precautions and measures have already been taken in the past, which form a stable basis for further development in the current crisis.

The energy-saving concept includes the following measures, among others, which have either already been implemented or are currently being planned:

• Acquisition of electric or hybrid vehicles as well as company bicycles.
• Implementation of the DSW energy-saving campaign "Flip the Switch" in our student residences
• Measures to save energy on and in the halls of residence, e.g. facade insulation, renewal of windows and heating systems and much more
• Development of a plan of measures and optimisation by the GMSH to save energy for the 2022/23 heating period in all university catering facilities
• A checklist with energy-saving tips for all employees with an office workplace

The Studentenwerk SH will continue to promptly implement the legal requirements of the federal government and react to current events. In addition, we will carry out reviews on energy saving potentials independently of current saving requirements and realise them if possible. The concept will thus be supplemented by further measures in the future.

Reusable crockery is a priority for us. We offer reusable crockery with a deposit system at all locations so that bowls and cups can be borrowed simply and easily without having to download an app. Registration is also not necessary anywhere.

A deposit of €7.50 is required for bowls and €4.00 for cups. You can obtain the trays by asking at the counter and paying the deposit at the till. If you are interested in a MW cup, you can get one on request at the cash desk so that you can fill it and pay the deposit at the cash desk together with the drink. You will receive a deposit chip for our cups, which you can exchange for the deposit amount together with the cup and the lid. Please note: We can only take back intact MW crockery including the corresponding lid and pay out the deposit amount accordingly."

You also always have the option of bringing your own clean crockery. We will be happy to fill it.
We also avoid waste in other areas of our canteens, cafeterias and café lounges by

• giving our guests the opportunity to save tasty, over-produced food from being thrown away. To this end, we offer them our Zero Waste Plate at some of our locations 15 minutes after the regular meal service in the canteens.
• In our cafeterias, we offer the Zero Waste Bag, which works on a similar principle. Our guests receive leftover cafeteria specialities here.
• In addition, as part of a test phase, we are cooperating with "To Good To Go" to offer people beyond the campus the opportunity to save food.
• Prepare meals predominantly "just in time" and re-produce as required.
• allow a flexible combination of side dishes with the main course and prepare the dishes according to tried and tested recipes so that there are rarely any leftovers on the plates.
• Promote flawless dishes that are left over despite careful planning and preparation as a "limited offer" on another opening day.
• Feed unavoidable leftovers to a biogas plant to generate electricity.
• hand over unavoidable leftovers to food sharing organisations that use them themselves or pass them on to charitable institutions.

In the spirit of sustainability, we want to give coffee grounds a second life. Our guests can collect coffee grounds free of charge from our cafeterias every day. As collection times vary from location to location, it is best to speak directly to our employees on site if you are interested.
The coffee grounds can be used in a variety of ways, for example as fertiliser, to speed up composting, to keep snails or ants away, to neutralise odours or for cosmetic applications.

The organic range in our canteens and cafeterias is becoming increasingly diverse. We only offer organic coffee and cocoa as well as various organic teas. In 2019, we purchased 6,240 kilos of coffee and 38,080 bags of tea. We purchase many dairy products, such as milk, sour cream and quark, as well as some poultry products from organic farms in northern Germany. Ingredients such as tofu, bulgur, quinoa and wholemeal pasta are exclusively organic and are labelled as such in our menu. Overview of organic products at the Studentenwerk

You can find out more about organic products on the information portal on organic farming.

In the university catering facilities, coffee and drinking chocolate are fair trade and organic. This enables the workers to secure their livelihoods and improves their quality of life through health protection.
The Studentenwerk SH also supports the Fairtrade Town campaign in the cities of Kiel, Lübeck and Heide as well as the Fairtrade University FH Westküste as a co-operation partner. Further information at: www.fairtrade-deutschland.de

Farms from which we obtain our meat from species-appropriate husbandry pay great attention to animal welfare. For example, the animals are housed in stables with daylight and more space than required by law. Only GMO-free feed is used and no prophylactic antibiotics are administered. This way of keeping the animals has a significant effect on the quality of the meat.

We buy the meat from different suppliers in northern Germany, depending on the type of animal. You can read more about the requirements for keeping the animals here:

Markerup geese and ducks
Lübchiner straw pig
Severin organic eggs and brother cock

For years we have been abstaining from overfished fish species such as redfish and plaice in order to make a contribution to global overfishing. Now we are going one step further and offering catfish from sustainable aquaculture in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for more fish diversity.

In 2019, we processed a total of 19 tonnes of meat from species-appropriate animal husbandry and sold 50,000 curry sausages. We source our species-appropriate chicken meat items exclusively from brother chicken farming.

We buy shell eggs or processed eggs mainly from free-range farming.

We buy our fresh food as regionally as possible. These ingredients are produced and processed in the northern German region.
We purchase the dairy products used in the canteens and cafeterias of the Studentenwerk SH, such as milk, sour cream and quark, from the Dehlwes organic farm dairy. What is special about this family business is that it only uses organic milk from its own cows and from the neighbourhood within an average radius of 10 kilometres from the dairy. This guarantees short delivery routes and lower CO2 emissions. We also source our Wittenseer mineral water from the region, namely directly from Groß Wittensee in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district.
Since the end of 2023, we have only been sourcing organic shell eggs for our salad bar.

We are constantly expanding our vegan and vegetarian offerings. There is at least one vegan dish in the refectories every day. In addition, side dishes that are not suitable can be changed at no extra charge or sauce can be omitted to create a vegan dish from the available selection. The salad bars in some refectories also offer a wide vegan selection. In the cafeterias and café lounges, vegan cakes, desserts, salads, baked goods, bars and plant-based milk are available, and there is usually also a vegan hot food offer. The offer varies according to the size of the establishment. In 2019, we purchased 8,376 litres of plant-based drinks and sold 20,000 scoops of vegan ice cream.

At least 50 per cent of our canteen meals are vegetarian or vegan (WS: 21/22: 53.8 %*). With various campaigns, such as the World Vegan Day, the university catering promotes the vegan offer. Our commitment to an attractive vegan offer was recognised by the animal rights organisation PETA. The Kiel Mensa II and the Mensa Kesselhaus are thus among the most vegan-friendly refectories in Germany.

The Mensa Kesselhaus has been the first purely vegetarian refectory of the Studentenwerk SH since the winter semester 23/24.

*under pandemic conditions

In September 2022, the Studentenwerk SH canteens were recognised as Planetary Health canteens for the first time by the nutritional organisation ProVeg. In 2023, the Studentenwerk SH received the award again.

The award recognises outstanding concepts for healthy, plant-based catering that protects the planet. It is intended to serve as inspiration for the catering industry as a whole. Our cafeterias impressed with their varied, healthy, affordable and climate-friendly vegan offerings.

The Planetary Health Canteen award is based on the Planetary Health Diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019. This sustainable diet for the good of the planet focuses primarily on pulses, wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. In return, it contains only a few highly processed - and only a few animal products.

For many years now, the Studentenwerk has been renovating and modernizing its student residences with energy efficiency in mind. For example, entire residence halls have been equipped with new heating boilers, hot water tanks and water pipes, extensive insulation measures have been carried out and new multi-glazed windows have been installed. In addition, the lighting in many residence halls has already been converted to LED.

Energy-saving measures are included in the design of new buildings from the outset. The dormitories not only meet the highest thermal insulation standards, but also have, for example, modern ventilation systems that contribute to heat recovery, or window contact switches to automatically turn off the radiators. Common areas are also equipped with presence detectors as standard, which automatically switch the lights on and off. Last but not least, new buildings are increasingly using sustainable, low-emission building materials. Interested parties can find out how the Studentenwerk builds in the brochure "Building for students. Modern, sustainable, social".

Heating and hot water for the dormitories are largely provided by district heating from cogeneration. Waste heat generated during power generation, but also in industrial plants and waste incineration, for example, is used as useful energy via the district heating network for district heating and hot water. This is economical and climate-friendly.
The Edo-Osterloh-Haus in Kiel and the International Student Residence in Lübeck have solar systems.

The electricity used by the Studentenwerk SH for its properties is 100 percent green electricity.

Through continuous monitoring, the team of the Facility Management/Building department keeps an eye on energy consumption. Increased consumption is registered, the causes for this are determined and consumption is reduced through appropriate measures.

Current projects: Energy generation through solar systems is to be further expanded in the future.

The Studentenwerk SH offers student residents bicycle parking spaces and garages at all residential facilities as well as ten bicycle repair stations nationwide. The repair stations follow the sharing approach. They are used by many people who do not have to buy the tools themselves.

In addition, a charging station for e-cars was installed at the Emmy Hennings House in Flensburg.

The Studentenwerk SH also attaches great importance to sustainability in the management of its dormitories. To ensure that the furniture and kitchens can be used for as long as possible, individual components are regularly replaced by the janitors.
The team also regularly plants flower meadows on free green spaces around the dormitories, which bloom from May to September. These are not only beautiful to look at, but also benefit butterflies, bees or other insects that find food and a home there. In 2020, around 1,600 square meters of flower meadow were sown.

The Studentenwerk SH actively encourages its employees to ride their bikes more. This is done, among other things, by providing a bicycle garage in the Office for Educational Support or by participating in campaigns such as the Kiel City Cycling.

For several years now, employees of the Student Union have been pedaling for more climate protection in the Kiel City Cycling Campaign. In 2021, a 15-member team covered a total distance of 2,886 kilometers. In this way, over 500 kilograms of CO2 were avoided.

Another campaign held for the first time in 2021 was "Moving more together". This motivational competition, organized by the trainees, involved leaving the car behind for once and walking or running as long a distance as possible. The winner of the campaign covered a total of 813.4 kilometers in six weeks.

Current projects: Plans are currently underway to provide employees with company bicycles in the future so that they can cover the distances between the individual facilities within a site in an environmentally friendly manner.

The Studentenwerk SH provides its employees with free mineral water. For environmental reasons, the company has opted for water in glass rather than plastic bottles. In addition, the bottles are deposit bottles.

In all areas of the Studentenwerk SH, employees are continuously working on digitizing as many processes as possible in order to save paper. Successful examples of this include:

• Monthly pay slips for staff have only been available digitally since 2020.
• In 2020, the IT department introduced an internal digital ticket system, which, in addition to reducing paper, also ensures greater transparency and faster processing of requests.
• Since 2021, the Studentenwerk has had a digital invoice receipt management system, which saves around 80,000 sheets of paper annually in financial accounting alone. Outgoing invoices are also created exclusively digitally and sent by e-mail.
• Purchasing introduced the digital procurement file in 2021, which saves 75,000 sheets of paper annually.
• In dormitory administration, documents such as relocation applications or student certificates are filed exclusively in the digital tenant file.
• Although it is not yet possible to dispense with the paper file, the online platform "BAföG digital" in the Office for Educational Support contributes to paper reduction and process optimization.
• For several years now, registration for the Studentenwerk's cultural workshops has been done via an online booking system.

Current projects: By mid-2022, a new online portal for employees will be implemented, through which various internal applications can be submitted online in the future. Our Office for Educational Funding also wants to introduce the e-file.

Since 2015, the subsidiary of the Studentenwerk SH responsible for cleaning - Hochschulservice und Seeburg GmbH (HSG) - has been using 95 percent of the environmentally friendly cleaning agents from the Canadian company InnuScience. These clean with biodegradable solvents and natural bacteria. What's more, they are very efficient high-concentrates, so only a few drops are needed to achieve the right mixing ratio. As a result, consumption is much lower and there is significantly less packaging waste.

• 1/3 less detergent
• 50% less packaging waste

In order to promote environmental awareness among students, the Studentenwerk SH regularly offers seminars and workshops on the topic of sustainability as part of its cultural offerings, including, for example, the courses "Einfach plastikfrei - Alltagsprodukte selbst gemacht," "Studibalkon - nachhaltig und lecker," and "Upcycling.

Since 2020, online formats for students throughout Schleswig-Holstein have been offered in addition to classroom courses. This relieves the burden on the transport infrastructure and reduces traffic-related CO2 emissions.