Clare is one of the greenest Cambridge colleges - we were among the first colleges to win a Platinum Award for our overall environmental performance

We have consistently ranked at the top of the University's Green Impact competition. In 2016 we were among the first colleges to win a Platinum Award for our overall environmental performance – the highest award available. We have achieved this again in 2023 and our students, staff, and Fellows continue to share a dedication to reducing the College's environmental footprint.​

Clare's Environment

100%

of our electricity comes from renewable sources

27

bird & bat boxes

10

Gold & platinum Green Awards

3

arrays of solar panels

Clare works hard to be one of the greenest colleges in Cambridge. Over the past decade the College has installed energy-saving heating and lighting infrastructure on every site, switched to sourcing all its electricity from renewable sources, quadrupled its recycling rate, and seen student purchases of vegetarian and vegan meals rise to 50% of all meals sold.

Environment Committee members have run competitions for increasing student awareness of how to save energy, pioneered a British Heart Foundation scheme for collecting unwanted clothes and electrical goods, and blazed a trail in environmentally-friendly event planning through Clare’s Sustain-a-Ball initiative. Along the way Clare has won Gold or Platinum awards in the NUS Green Impact scheme a remarkable ten years in a row.

We are always happy to hear of new ways to reduce our environmental impact. If you have any suggestions or questions, please get in touch with the Buildings team.