Spotlight on Louise Raynham

What is your role and what does it involve?

I am Facilities Officer for the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. I manage all staff and student requirements in terms of facilities; something which feeds nicely into my role as secretary to the Green Action Team (GAT).

GAT is a faculty-wide committee, which monitors the environmental behaviours across all departments. We produced the Bartlett Sustainability Review last winter and we were delighted when Wates House was awarded a bronze award in the Green Impact programme.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I joined the college in August 2009. Prior to working for UCL, I was a project administrator for a construction company while they worked on the redevelopment of the old Dickens and Jones department store on Regent Street.

I was truly appalled by the amount of waste the project generated and the lack of consciousness of green issues in their working practices, particularly when it came to paper.

Typically, copies of memos would be printed for everyone to read, and nine times out of ten, would end up in the bin. On top of this, the paper wasn't even recycled! It has left me fiercely determined that no other workplace of mine will ever be like that!

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

One of my greatest working achievements has been to lead on the introduction of the Green Induction, which is shortly to be rolled out across the faculty. It was based on an idea from a Green Champions meeting and it struck me as being so simple, I couldn't understand why it hadn't been done before!

When a new member of staff or a new PhD student starts in the department, alongside their safety induction, they are shown how to use the recycling bins, how the air conditioning and lighting controls work and how the department recycles stamps, among other things.

The idea is to teach people from the word go to 'think green'. Hopefully, encouraging them to change their attitudes in the workplace will cause them to think about their environmental impact at home too.

What is your life like outside UCL?

I took up floristry shortly after joining UCL and have produced displays for college events as well as creating flowers for weddings and other special occasions.

I run two online shops selling second-hand goods, as I believe that nothing should go to waste if at all possible. I love baking, especially with chocolate, and love going to the gym for aquacise and Zumba classes.