The Library and the Environment

The Library is committed to reducing its environmental impact and working with colleagues within the School to ensure sustainable working practices, in line with the School's environmental policy.

Our achievements to date include:

 Reduce

Paper:

Did you know that the Lionel Robbins building used to be a WHSmith paper warehouse? The Library is now working hard to reduce the amount of paper in the building.

Our photocopiers have clear guidance on double-sided copying, while our self-service machines now only produce receipts on demand, saving paper from unwanted print-outs. We've also now made our admissions forms entirely electronic and documents that used to be photocopied are now electronically scanned instead.

Where paper is still necessary, such as with some of our printed guides, we've changed the format and sizing so that we can deliver the same information using fewer resources and of course we're trying to encourage our users to use the electronic versions instead.

Above all, the Library is working towards an expansion in the number of electronic publications and where feasible using electronic versions of books and journals, instead of printed copies.

Energy:

All our new photocopiers are energy-efficient. We've been reminding our staff to switch off equipment when it's not in use (Staff PCs are set to do this automatically – powering off overnight). Of course the Library already has energy-efficient lighting, which turns itself off when an area is not being used and air conditioning is only used where essential within the Library building.

The Library is spread across four floors of the Lionel Robbins building, but we're encouraging our staff to use the stairs rather than lifts where possible, which is good for our health as well as for the environment.

The Library also:

• Has got rid of most of our bottled-water coolers, and instead we use mains water coolers wherever possible, which have a much smaller carbon footprint
• Encourages use of laptops and projectors for internal meetings rather than having staff print out minutes and papers
• Uses electronic communication for most internal information

 Reuse

If you've used the self-service machines on the ground floor you've probably seen the plastic bag dispensers which are all filled with second-hand bags, provided by staff and students. That's not the only thing we reuse: packaging is reused by internal departments, so when we purchase books we can use the packaging they came in to send our interlibrary loans out to other libraries.

The Library tries to get old stock reused by selling off out-of-date books via our annual Book Sale (the proceeds go to charity). We're also shifting to using rechargeable batteries where possible.

The Library also: 

• Encourages staff to use reusable cups/crockery for meetings and events, instead of using disposable polystyrene cups
• Has a stationary reuse scheme, so old folders, envelopes, and notebooks are not wasted

 Recycle

The Library tries to recycle wherever feasible, and makes use of recycled material. Recycled paper is used for all staff and student printing and copying, whilst paper recycling is promoted, with paper bins placed next to student printers within the Library. When printer and toner cartridges come to the end of their life they're no longer thrown away, but get recycled too, and we're now recycling used batteries.  

Bins for other forms of recyclable material (including plastics, organic waste, and glass) are located throughout the library. Even Library book stock is not exempt: unwanted books aren't thrown away: instead they're sold, or donated to charity, or recycled.

 Sustainability

Green suppliers and supplies (those that are fair trade, eco-friendly and/or organic) are used in the staff kitchen by default, so Library staff drink fair trade coffee and then clean their mugs with eco-friendly washing liquid.

 New initiatives

Teams within the Library won two Bronze Green Impact Awards in 2010, but for 2011 we're working towards an Impact Award for the Library as a whole. We've already launched a number of new initiatives, including: 

• The Library is participating in the School's "Bin the Bin" campaign with communal recycling stations
• We're looking for ways to reduce the amount of paper used for the administration of fetch and hold requests
• We're increasing the number of printers that have double-sided printing as their default setting, and we're promoting more sustainable printing options (e.g. using less toner, printing two pages to a sheet)
• We're continuing to improve solutions for recycling of toner cartridges and book stock
• Where it's necessary to replace Library servers we're purchasing more energy-efficient models but we're also committed to reducing the number of servers by virtualising as much of our hardware infrastructure as we can
• We've stopped printing the Library Annual Report, making it an online-only publication
• We're promoting sustainable staff travel
• We're collecting used postage stamps, to be given to charity

 Planning for the environment

The Library has identified five areas where we think we make the largest negative impact on the environment:

• Paper – wasted paper from printing of notices and receipts, and from use in Library staff areas
• Produced materials – printed user guides and reports
• Packaging – in particular boxes and packing material used when we purchase books, or send material for binding or as interlibrary loans
• Travel – by Library staff on School business
• Energy – the Library is a large building, and we use a lot of energy to support our services.

However we have a plan to tackle these areas:

Paper

• We're increasing the number of printers that have double-sided printing as their default setting, and we're promoting more sustainable printing options (e.g. using less toner, printing two pages to a sheet). We aim to have all staff PCs set to print double-sided by default, by March 2011
• Where paper has only been printed on one side we're encouraging reuse of blank sides, before the paper goes to industrial recycling.We aim to have one-sided paper recycling stations at all printers by March 2011
• The Library is reducing paper usage by moving to smaller printers for e.g. notices and fetch request slips. We aim to be using A5 printers for our main circulation activities by June 2011
• We want to encourage staff to use paper more sparingly, printing only when necessary, and in ways that minimises paper usage (e.g. two-pages to a side; environmental fonts). We will be publicising more environmental use of paper and printing techniques to Library staff as part of our regular environmental bulletins, and encouraging use of projectors rather than printouts for meetings.

Produced materials

• We've stopped printing the Library Annual Report, making it an online-only publication, and we've reduced the size and format of printed guides for students and Library visitors. We will continue to review all Library publications, and when printing is necessary, choose the smallest feasible format
•   The Library has been moving to the production of electronic course packs, rather than printed versions, for some time. We'll continue to work with academics and publishers to ensure that wherever feasible course packs are available electronically, significantly reducing the environmental costs of producing them. We aim to maintain at least 85% of all course packs being produced electronically and will work to increase this percentage.

Packaging

• For Course Collection material we are purchasing electronic copies where possible, reducing the environmental cost of acquiring and shipping physical books. The Library has set an e-books first policy, which we will follow for all Course Collection purchases, acquiring electronic copies ahead of print copies.

Travel

• Almost all travel on Library business is now booked through LSE approved travel agents, and the Library Office make bookings in accordance with existing environmental guidelines from the School. The Library will continue to book all travel in accordance with LSE guidelines.

Energy

• Where it's necessary to replace Library servers we're purchasing more energy-efficient models, but we're also committed to reducing the number of servers by virtualising as much of our hardware infrastructure as we can – thus reducing the Library's energy overheads. We aim to have virtualised two-thirds of all our servers by end of 2011
• We're planning on reducing the number of printers, instead using a smaller number of multi-function printer/photocopiers, which will use less energy overall. We'll be starting this in March 2011, and rolling out to all Library departments as existing equipment becomes redundant.

The Library works closely with IT Services on environmental matters, through the Environmental Management Working Group. For information on IT Services and the environment, see http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/LSEServices/divisionsAndDepartments/itservices/about/environment/home.aspx |

If you'd like to know what the School as a whole is doing to promote sustainability, see the Sustainable LSE pages at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/LSEServices/divisionsAndDepartments/estatesDivision/sustainableLSE/home.aspx|