Contacts, My Eye, It Worked!

So I just had to try it again, this is my third time going to an optometrist, I was at a drug store with a friend picking up his glasses, and i was just browsing since he had to get the spectacle adjusted. Anyhow, the lady working there asked if I needed anything, and I was like "nope, just waiting for a friend, thanks." ...... "wait, excuse me, do you do contacts here?"

well, a couple minutes later, i booked an eye appointment, and a contact wearing session.

For those who don't know, i've tried this like 2 or 3 times at an optometrist at Pacific Mall, and i wasn't anywhere close to getting it on, not even that, i don't even know how it was suppose to be if i got it on. Anyhow, i thought, what the heck, i've been here spinning my wheel trying to resolve my dissertation topic, and can't come up with anything solid, so i thought i'd get an early morning in, come to Boots, and then go to work.

Anyhow, I got in, the "real optometrist" gave me like an hour session, FULL CHECK-UP! soooo nice.... and get this, she even put in the contacts for me! i was like... WOW, this is cool, it can actually be done! Then i started feeling a little dizzy as the image wasn't as clear as when i had my glasses on... uncertain as to why, she explain because i had a slight astigamism. Anyway, it was cool, i was like... it'd be amazing to get lazer eye surgey! Anyway, that's for another day.

So half an hour later, i learned how to put in the contacts properly, that was beautiful! Anyway, just wanted to share that, it took me forever to get them in, but at least there's hope now! i might not be blind playing playing ice hockey :D

*Yawn - but i can't fall asleep...

yikes, it's been for the better part of the week, but i can't fall asleep. it's really annoying. i'm writing right now because i can't fall asleep. my sleeping schedule has been a bit messed since last week. but you'd think with a couple of early mornings, and sleeping early, i'd be able to get back into the cycle. but i can't, i'm stuck here, in no where land, not completely awake and energetic, nor am i able to sleep like everyone else. i am very annoyed.... maybe something's on my heart because it does feel heavy... then again, maybe it was just the coffees i had this afternoon.

well, i am going to try and do something productive.... or maybe just watch a movie... but yeah... looking forward to tomorrow, a friend is visiting town... i'm really excited about that :)

Phew! It's over for now!

Wow, just finish my last assignment. man, I haven't hit such a wall writing so much in the past 3 weeks. I probably 'read', or skim 30 journals or chapters of a book, probably glanced over 30+ that were not of use, wrote 3 papers on ethics in globalisation, Japan's post-war catch-up strategy, and sustainable engineering development plan for Cornwall. Probably typed about 12,000 words, and they each essay just got less coherent as I just lost it. Have you ever got to the point where you read and nothing makes sense, you re-read it 5 minutes, later and it makes complete sense..... only to forget it in 15 minute, and then you read it, and it makes no sense again.... the best part is, it is my OWN writing. Can you imagine me looking for papers I've read to reference? Man, this was tough, i couldn't keep the information in my head and just type.

Anyway, projections, globalisation, B, stratregy policy, B-, engineering development, C..... yeah, not my best work.... But I am done... literally, just completed like 5 minutes ago. I stayed up all night to finish the paper, but the assistance isn't in yet, so i'm stuck in the office waiting... but i'm assuming that she'll be in soon, so that i can go home :D

Anyway, a couple updates, after comin back from Geneva, i had this craving for fondue... ummmm.... :D to my surprise, i made some good fondue! Well, i didn't do anything, i bought a chunk of gruyere from Tescos... such a nice store once you get aquainted, and then i just put some garlic in, melt the cheese in low temp, and dipped some fresh french baggettes... it was pretty good! Oh, almost forgot to mention, had a gerwurtzraminer with the fondue....FANTASTIC!

The other great thing that happen in the week was that I finally gave up looking for the brown pair of shoes which i've been looking for all year! The shoes here are either not the right style, or they are too expensive. Mostly, they are just not the right style, and for those who know me, you know how darn picky i can be :P Anyhow, as i was shopping for shoes, the nth time now, i had a eurika moment! I realise shoes here don't exactly go "on sale" like they do in Canada, they just disappear off the shelf when they don't sell, and they have sales like 3 times a year to get rid of their stock. Anyway, i realize that the prices weren't really going to go down unless i get really lucky. At the same time, the sun was out, it was really getting warm, and I've been getting off the brown/fall colour mood.... i kinda wanted the bright summer colours! On top of which, i realise that I've always wanted a pair of converse, but never bought them cause i thought they were too expensive , something like $70 CDN for the black hightops. Anyway, with the exchange rate somewhere between 1.8-1.9, and the fact that these converse NEVER go on sale either in Canada or UK (really effective marketing), and that they are £34.99 here... Not to mention that i found out Schuh, a shoe store here, hehehehe...... gives 10% discount to students! So, i paid £30 including tax for my new shoes! yah! say high to the rest of the shoe family taylors....

Easter Tomorrow!

It's Easter tomorrow, i really miss my friends at home whom are able to help me reflect and focus on the importance of the day. Miss you guys at home.... I really wish there was a sunrise service group for me to be apart of.

Geneva and Avoriaz

http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/GenevaAvoriaz#

This past weekend, I was in Geneva. It was such a nice small city, I can see why it's always ranked top 5 city to live in the world. It reminds me of Vancouver a lot, there are mountains, water, and skiing all within an hour away. There's John Calvin's home church here, and also, i just found it to be a city where you can just BE, instead of finding something to DO. Check out the grandpa playing ping-pong with his grandson, as the grandma watches. Oh it's such a nice weekday morning thing to do.



Got to visit a friend's place this weekend, it was really nice to catch up with him and talk a little ice hockey, music, and what God's done in our lives. Anyway, Geneva is definitely a desirable place to live, literally, a tiny center with all different ethics live together, while maintaining their culture and roots. It was quite nice to see everyone mixing and mingling... lots of asians :D speaking chinese, french, and different languages.... It was really nice to hear all the different languages together.... kind of makes me wish I can speak different languages.





Anyway, there was still some snow left in the Alpes, we went to Avoriaz on Sunday. Man, I am rusty on the slopes... none the less, it was beautiful, nothing like gliding through the midst of something so magnificent. It's not unlike Whistler, except a lot more skiers than boarders.



Gorgeous, just absolutely gorgeous.

Anyway, spent the Monday in Geneva, man, this engineering error is so.... mesmerizing, it's like over a 100 meters tall i think (that's like 50 stories high, in a city where there is no high-rise), and it there because of an engineering mistake... how do you like that? we got creativity, even if it's just a mistake, and probably consumes unimaginable power. Anyway, it's so pretty to see the water go where the wind takes it, and at the same time, the force and danger in the water pressure to shoot up 100 meters, flexible, yet strong, piecing, but beautiful.



BTW, I can't afford anything in Switzerland... the lowest bill they give out is a 100 Francs, a shramwa is like 12 Francs.

England's West Coast

So I had my class road trip to Cornwall (West coast of England). It was quite touristy, we stayed in a town call Newquay, and it was quite a surfing town. We saw Jack Johnson there, (no we didn't, but the people in the hotel told us Jack Johnson was here, and hung out one night at the Walkabout, an Australian bar). Anyway, I never knew how far you can drive one direction in the UK. I always thought the UK isle were small... but i think we did like 8 hours of driving.... (puke!)















So, we visited Woking on our way to Newquay, and it was quite interesting and encouraged to see a city coucil take on the role of providing electricity and heating for its community, the most notable differences between crowned Thames Water (subsidary of Woking city council) vs a company like British Petrolium would be the underlining mission, Thames is there to provide power and heating for the people, even when it is cutting into their profits such as providing monitors for consumption, having a cap on utility bills, and even matching private electricity prices. While BP would seek to maximise profit for their shareholders, forcing them to act even when it might seem gray such as shutting down a customer's power when they don't pay. Anyway, it was neat to see that this was going on.... But I must say however, after seeing such a corporately responsible and relatively sustainble practice, i wasn't enticed by it...



Out on the west coast, Cornwall, we visited the Eden Project. Very neat, they basically regenerated from an old pit, which was created by extracting china clay from the ground. Anyway, these old pit sites were an issue because they were just "there", and developers needed to work with them to regenerate these areas of Cornwall. Anyway, the Eden Project was a bio-dome project, to create basically the Garden of Eden without the animals... just one kind of homosapeians, and well, actually birds live there too now. Anyway, it's just a wonderful project that turned a large pit into several gardens, a mediterrian, tropical, and UK weather type gardens. It was a really neat project as they tried to be at one with nature, aiming to be waste neutral, and really reusing as much as they can, taking the cradle to cradle approach (Where products thrown away are taken apart, and completely reused) very literally. Anyway, the garden was Beautiful.




We did a few more things while our class was out in Cornwall. But to be honest, it was just a really good time to hang out with a group of friends that we've bonded so well over the past 6 months. We did a open-mic at the Walkabout, some people tried surfing, and we just walked barefoot on the beach, climb caves, did clockwheels, learned yoga and breakdancing. (umm... seems really unrelated, well, it makes sense in my head :D)



Oh, coming back, we hit TRAFFIC! seriously, when there's an accident here on the motorways, traffic doesn't move. And worst, the M25, main route from London going north- which we would need to get on to get back to Cambridge, was CLOSE! -eeeewk... i think it took us 10 or 11 hours to get back. I think i was getting motion sickness when i got home, sitting on my chair, in front of the computer, completely motionless. And the worst part is, i will be back on the bus in 5 hours, off to Stansted Airport for Geneva. I mean i look forward to it, but another hour bus ride, waiting at the airport, and then an hour 30 plane ride... oh boy....

Pictures from Cornwall
http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/Cornwall#

Wagamama, Sunday Roast, London

Another assignment submitted this past Friday, only a couple more to go now. But I must say, it feels like I'm submitting sub-par assignments, it doesn't seem as clear what I need to do for each assignment, and when I thought I figured out a good layout for what the assignment is looking for, but it turns out there was more to it then I thought, and thus i have much less confidence in my assignment these days. Anyhow, things are good.... not as intense trying to make it to all the lectures anymore, instead, really picking and selecting speakers/lectures I want to hear, and absorbing it as much as i can. It's great to hear so many ambitious people explaining their area's of interest, whether it is technical talk on Natural Ventilation by architectures, or foreign diplomats speaking about their life experience, somehow, I find things are more connected than I had ever perceived. The movement towards a responsible type living, is at the core of some of these individuals/group's purpose. You hear about how a building can be ventilated without the requirement of heating/cooling over 80% of the year, what a great achievement that would be... and yet it is already being done. Then, you hear diplomats talk about the challenges of serving in a country with a rising economy and middle class that is unprecedented in our era, and you hear the intricacy of posturing, learning about a new culture... and to what end? Watching out for your home country's national interest.... yet in the mist of that, you can hear the appreciation and a new sense of understanding of how different country do things differently, we might perceive it to be incorrect, slow, or even inefficient at first, but somehow, overtime, the slow and steady approach has proven most robust.

Anyhow, it seems the next step is to find a full time job, and hope to fit in the schedule to sit in and learn from interesting classes. So anyway, after last Friday, I took a break and just walked around town with some friends, checked out different shops, had a coffee, lemon tart, and went to Wegamama's for the first time. I must say, i was pretty happy with the meal, it didn't hurt that we had a 2-for-1 deal here. I must say, 2-for-1 are the things of Cambridge. After that, we went to Trinity Hall for some £1 drinks... (alcohol heavy drinks), then it was St. Edmunds.... the night was a bit of a blur, just remembered a lot of shhhh-ing, getting caught trying to open a bar, and Rebecca and Phillipe rapping to Vanilla Ice.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/EmmanuelWagamamaTrinityHallPhillipe#

























Sunday, I was invited to a Sunday Roast in Stansted Moutfitchev. It was pretty cool to be in a traditional english farm. Was able to enjoy a good meal, with good friends, and see a different side of England along with some really cute kids.... :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/SundayRoast#


























After that, it was down to London to meet up with Cath and some friends. Notice there's a picture with Cath with her glasses on.... so rare.... :D
http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/CathInLondon#

Lent Term Over

School and classes are officially over last week! We're in the middle of lent.... and I've given up meat for either lunch or dinner each day until Easter. It's surprisingly not as simple as I thought, meat in my fridge is going bad, and i've bought much more veggies. However, junk food's slightly gone up.... :( (If you're ever in the UK, buy Sensation's - Thai Sweet Chili crisps/chips, you'll be happy you did :D)

Anyhow, going back to school, I must say it has been pretty amazing, I have met some wonderful people here in Cambridge. My time has been rewarding as the education is very interesting, and I am taking away some framework and practical theories (...hmmm.... :P) on development studies, globalisation, technology and competition policies, and business stratergy. It's great to be in school when you have context as to what and why you want to learn. Furthermore, my time here has been rewarding as I feel that I am in a position to offer back, whether it is spiritually, or through experience in life, I find my experience and maturity 5 years out of school, has taught me to be patient in love and caring for others. And it is most exhiliating to feel in sync and active in His plan.

So this past week, after class was done and I submitted another paper, a few of us from class decided to take advantage of the available theather selection in London, and the student pricing, and not to mention the no class on Monday mentality :D

Anyway, I really liked the musical, I love how different a perspective this story gives when it is base off the facts from the Wizard of Oz. Now I know it's only a story, and it's made purposely this way. But can you imagine how often we jump to conclusion, and new studies even show how our brians love to make shortcuts and assumptions in order that we don't have to test everything and improve efficiency. Like the study where people were shown a bunch of long words, but the some of the middle letterswere taken out. It results show that people just made assumptions and pronounce the word without the missing letter. I am ALWAYS guilty of this, but I must say it serves me right more times than not. Anyhow, to get back on track, Wicked was great, it was really funny at times, not to mention how silly it was. Oh, also been humming the songs... i am definitely a bit of an emo, i seem to hum all the epic moment/sad emo tunes....... then again, maybe it's because they were the best one in the musical... yeah... that's it :D

I also went to Hillsong church. The energy was so intense! But I actually realize how this was not the type of church for me, and had in fact a tough time worshiping and really getting anything out of the service. I really had to try and focus during worship to not notice the really cute base-player... i was like... WOW, female base-player that played with great coolness and style.... The smoke, flashing lights, and non-ciculating air also didn't help as I was just "cream-crackered" :D... but i must say, they put together a pretty tight show. And the music... the music was great... almost like going to a free concert!

Ummm... what else.... Yup, discovering another section of London! Oh man i love this city...... I'll be brief.... Brick Lane Market (4 stars), Covert Gardens (4.5 stars) --> fresh Friuli from tap on a warm sunny day (5 stars). Walking around London and its market on a sunny day is just like an advanture. Never know wher exactually where you're going to end up, but it's almost always good.

Well, until next week... Ummm... Cath is going to be in town :D

http://picasaweb.google.com/hkwong05/WickedMarch162009#

Dissapointment...

I guess you know where this is going.... but i must say, it was a disappointing lost because we were a better team, we were a team that have played better in previous games, and it hurts all that more when we just came out flat on the most important game. We trained 3 times a week all year, late Sunday nights, early Thursday mornings, late Tuesday nights. We all gave a bit of our life to the team, and when we don't live up to our potential, that is what really hurts. It's kind of like the analogy when you see someone with so much potential waste their lives away...

ps. will post pictures up later.

Varsity Tomorrow

Wow, never knew how important varsity match was. It's serious here.... team bonding was fun yet serious..... i'm really growing fond of team building journey, sharing scars, listening to each other... there are still disagreements, but we work around them to get to the goal... and it's a goal where everyone is willing to take a back seat so that the entire team might succeed.

hk

Hero’s change = my change

I was invited to take part and help my classmate Hero implement her change project today. We took surveys at St John’s Buttery to see whether people are in favour of a no-meat day, once a week. By taking part in the questioning, hearing the facts, and then processing it in my head to see how I might present this succinctly during the survey, I began to ponder what questions people might ask me in response. As a result of this process, I have come to the realization that the one meat-free day can be achieved pretty easily in my life, though I must mention that coming to such a conclusion was unintentional. I’ve discovered that the value of the survey to me is not a matter of whether I begin following the standard Hero asked for (one meat-free day per week), but that I am now more conscious of the fact that when I choose my meal, I CAN choose a less carbon-intensive vegetarian meal, and yet I don’t need to feel bad for eating meat either. I am now more aware of the facts in my meal choices, and am wrestling with the choices towards eating a less environmentally impactful meal so that I can live happily informed, and not by bliss through ignorance.

Upon further reflection, I realize that by positing my efforts and progress on my blog, my friends have the chance to, hopefully, pick up the language of sustainable living, and that my blogging has been part of my role of change agent. Hopefully, my effort to step out of my comfort zone has had an incremental yet profound effect on their perspectives of what they can do. Furthermore, I hope anyone reading this would become more conscience about recycling, while fostering the idea of re-using as an attractive alternative like vintage clothing, realise the curb in consumption when people are tracking their behaviour(water bottles & disposal cups), and also be educated that eating meat, is generally more carbon intensive, hopefully encouraging effort in less meat consumption.

Advice from an Unlikely Source

The housekeeping lady, Heidi was just cleaning my kitchen and bathroom, and we started talking about pancake since I was having some. She noticed I collected all these cardboard boxes (pizza boxes) and she explained to me how it’s rubbish that Wolfson’s paper recycling is so inconvenient. She offered to take them by the main recycling bin for me, and I explained to her my change challenge. We struck up a great conversation, and I found that she use to work for Clare College, and they have paper recycling for each room. I asked whether she would mind having to carry a separate bag for recycling, and she was more than delighted as she’s practices recycling at home. She also mentioned that the housekeeping staff at Wolfson are generally accommodating. She in fact would prefer each student having their own paper recycling, and collecting it on a weekly bases similar to that from Trinity Hall. This paper-recycling project is materialising quite nicely.

Responses from Green Officers

So I’ve received 4 responses from other green officers:

• According to Steve from St. Catherine’s College their collection for paper recycling is in the kitchen, and student volunteers empty it.
• Michael from St. John’s said that his college gives a biodegradable bag to each student; the bedder empties the bag when it is full.
• Joan from Homerton said they have central paper recycling bins in their kitchen, and that it gets emptied into the college primary recycling bin twice a week where it is collected by the recycling company. She thinks the key is not to collect too much paper at one time in an open bin as it would present a fire hazard.
• Laurie from Trinity Hall said that each student has a separate bin to collect paper, and the bin is emptied once a week. She was able to convince the bedder that the students would be throwing the paper in the rubbish bin anyway, so there is no extra waste collected.
  

I believe there is something to be learned from each response. For one, having personal recycling bins in every room is feasible since it can be argued that there is not an overall increase of workload: students will be throwing paper away regardless if there is recycling. Thus, providing a recycling bin, gives students the option to recycle. Alternatively, a central recycling bin in each block could also work as examples taken from other college show that the fire hazard concern can be overcome. Now I need to set up the meeting with Saman, the bursar, housekeeping, and maintenance to present them with the three options for recycling paper; hopefully they will buy into the idea.

A New Hope

So, do you remember how I said the product exchange between students idea was dead in its tracks several weeks ago? Well, stand back, because it’s alive again. I love how things work themselves out sometimes. I told several people about my idea of to setting up a product exchange, and the problem of there being no feasible location. Well, Uven, a Graduate Student Representative mentioned the idea to the Student Graduate Union President, and the President likes the idea. In fact, a room is coming free by the end of the school year, and I am going to get a chance to speak with the president of the grad union to present this idea, help students get settle in for free (or much lower cost), while also reducing University of Cambridge’s carbon footprint. Hallelujah! Cartoon, [Friedman, D., 2008] http://www.ironicsans.com/images/anewhope.png

Possible Locations for Recycling

So today, I went to take pictures of the college. I never realized how unique each of Wolfson’s21 blocks are. There are about 8 unique floor layouts in Wolfson, and I went to collect empirical data by taking photos of where current recycling bins are located, and possible location to place new recycling. So far, I think there is a really good potential for each wing to have their own central recycling bin. This would also be good visual tool for the bursar and housekeeping staff to see where recycling bins can be placed.

The ball is rolling!

[Steinberg, 1963] http://www.cartoonbank.com/Assets/1/66286_s.gif
I found the contact for the green officer at Wolfson, Saman and sent him an email yesterday asking for an existing green project I can champion, and that I would like to help out in any way possible. He was extremely helpful as we met today to talk about ongoing green projects at Wolfson and my ideas for change. I told him that I am not trying to add to his workload, but that I would be happy to champion any of the existing projects on his list. Saman was very supportive of my ideas, and told me the personnel that I will need to get on-board are the bursar, housekeeping staff, and maintenance staff. This was extremely helpful information, and it also helped that he wanted to see these initiatives through.

I guess from this experience, I learned that if I was looking at the situation from the point of view of the people that I approached, I would have wanted the person approaching me to have looked into what green projects were already in place. I’d like to be approached by someone who came with a serving attitude, and was willing to learn about the system, instead of being the new guy with all the ideas and answers, who then leaves after 5 months. I think this also speaks loudly about the type of person you are, one that takes time to notice what good is already happening, and then add try to it by investing your time, ideas, and effort. This would be the kind of person I would want on my team.

From speaking with Saman, I discovered that I need to do a couple things to get these changes rolling. First, we agree that it would be better to have one person contact the bursar, housekeeping staff, and maintenance staff to get their buy-in before setting up a formal meeting. Saman has offered to do this as he has a working relationship with them. As for the paper recycling, there are several issues, the most important one to overcome is that it is a fire hazard. Currently, common recycling bins (glass, plastic, and cans) are placed in the kitchen or hallway. The argument against offering recycling bins in the kitchen is that paper in the kitchen would be a fire hazard. The second issue is that we might dramatically increase the workload of housekeeping if we place recycling bins in each dorm. Instead of reinventing the wheel, my first task will be to contact green officers in other colleges to find out how they overcome the fire hazard issue, and whether the housekeeping staff in other buildings are okay with collecting paper recycling from each dorm. Second, I will survey the entire Wolfson College campus to see if I can find at least one suitable location in each wing to place a central paper-recycling bin. As I mentioned before, there are only 3 places to recycle. I admit, during the past several months, I rarely made the trip out to these recycling bins myself.

February

Photos [BBC News, 2009]

I can't believe it's the second week of February in 2009!

Oh man, I think i realize the significance of this, as I have 4 more weeks of Lent term, and it's Easter! That means a TON of assignments, and a lot of catching up. I was just getting back into the grove of things, and I've stacked... and also readjusted my schedule so that it is more manageable. I've stop being as ambitious in attending all the classes i'm interested in. I've learned to take time for Sabbath, hanging out and having brunch, cooking and making crepes with straberries, blackberries, bananas, lime juice, pomegranate, nutella.... not all together of course... but it made a good friday into a wonderful friday!

So i'm finally feeling the squeeze a bit, and started picking up on my work :D I love and also hate how i work off emotions... when i feel the urgency, i tend to work so much more efficiently. And i've been more focus... so i hope i'm retaining more of the information i'm studying!

Furthermore, been getting to know a couple friends here my college... quite by chance to be honest... but God's put them in my life, and I'm completely grateful. I found a friend that I can relate to, and it's been wonderful. We've been helping each other out a bit in our walks too, coincidence ;) It's amazing how things work out. Anyway... life's moving and changing again... so i'll definitely try to keep up in my next post.

Assignment is due in a couple weeks!

Blame it on time management, or lack of ideas, but I need to get a move on this Change assignment. I need to come up with something where I can make more progress, I am going to pursue the paper recycling idea and see where I get.

An experience with the Porter :(

I had my first “encounter” with the porters in which it seems like I am asking them to give up one of their kidney. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience as I was asking David, whether there is a location in Wolfson to store items so that students can pass on some basic utensils and products to students in the following year. In short, they pretty much told me that there is no room for storage, and that if I have anything to sell, just post it to the Wolfson junior member email. I think I ran into several problems going this route, first, I went in thinking the porters were there to help me, I was completely wrong on that. Second, I think David figure that there is something similar in place and this would be redundant. Third, I think he thought this was extra work for them, managing the extra items and there would not be of any benefit for them. So this was a completely dead end, I couldn’t even get a name to explain my idea to someone else. He kind of rushed off and left me there. It was disappointing to be rejected.

My motivation was to start a chain of exchange program, no money involve, just students leaving useful product to other students, easing the load on their wallet as that first month in Cambridge can get very expensive. Also, this scheme would help students leaving Cambridge to feel more environmental friendly as their product is finding a good home without needing to do the work to sale small items. I am convinced after sharing this idea with several friends and classmates, that there is definitely a demand for this type of system, and that it is a good idea.

Ideas… Need some ideas…

Oh wow, Philippe’s already started his project, he’s collecting data on our plastic bottle and disposable cup consumption. I need to start thinking of ideas. So far, I’ve come up with two ideas that might be feasible.

1. Setting up a product exchange between students.

Being a frugal student, and only being here for 1 year, I would have appreciated access to pots and pans, dishware, cutlery, and other relatively inexpensive, but too heavy to bring items. Since Cambridge is very international, and has a high rate of student turnover, I think there must be excessive amount of waste at the end of the school year for each student. It would be great if some of these products can be passed on to students in the following year.

2. Paper recycling at Wolfson College.

To my surprise, Wolfson College does not have paper recycling. Let me rephrase that, it does, but only in 3 key areas: next to the Porter’s lodge, in the computer room, and next to the main dumpster. I am hoping to make recycling more accessible for each student.
I am going to have to do some initial research for these ideas.