The University of Nottingham's cycle hire scheme, Ucycle, recently helped it to become the greenest campus in Europe and the second greenest campus in the world according to the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking.
The Ucycle Nottingham scheme, delivered by UK charity Sustrans, aims to enable people to switch from driving cars to travelling on foot, bike or public transport. The university's bike loan scheme, the biggest of its kind in the UK, is a major component of Ucycle. So far it's been a success, with all of the 210 bikes at the University of Nottingham being loaned out early in the academic year.
Ucycle also includes free cycle training, bike maintenance workshops and clinics and free cycling information and advice.
The £3.32 million Ucycle project was conceived following a NottinghamCycleTown proposal, which brought together organisations across Nottingham to promote cycling. It is funded by Nottingham City Council, Cycling England, the city’s two universities and the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
With most halls and student residential areas located within a five-mile radius of the universities, cycling is an easy, affordable and more sustainable way to make short everyday journeys. Ucycle began in September 2009 and runs until July 2011.
The GreenMetric project, from the University of Indonesia, classified 90 universities worldwide. It judged participating universities on several factors, including the percentage of green space on their campus, electricity consumption, waste and water management and the application of eco-sustainability policies and projects.
The University of Nottingham narrowly missed out on first place with the University of California, Berkeley, claiming the title of world's greenest university.