Wonder Woman is gone. Yes, you’ve heard it right. At City there’s no more space for Spiderman, Batman, Thor, Daredevil, Captain America or the Human Torch (ok, maybe we’ll save a small place for Green Lantern and Hulk), because our new superheroes are green in the core, dressed up as carrots and don’t fear Kryptonite at all!
In between saving a little kitty on a tree and sorting out all the waste in our campus, Nicole Rahimzadeh, Psychology student and environmental champion, spoke with us about what she did to become a Carrot Hero and about what we should do to contribute in safeguarding the planet. Read on to find out more!
Name: Nicole Rahimzadeh
Major & Year of Study: BSc Psychology, 3rd year
Country of origin: British-born Iranian
Relationship status: Single
Nicole, you’ve been involved in a lot of green projects here at City. How did everything start? In my first year, as an ‘Environmental Champion’, I volunteered during Green City Week and dressed up as the carrot mascot during the Food Fair in Northampton Square! What a lovely day that was… You don’t often get to dress as a root vegetable. Then in my second year I took part in the Green Impact scheme, which involved helping the Careers department to reach their sustainability goals. I also had the opportunity to lead a workshop on ‘Communication skills’ for other students involved in the scheme. This was also a great experience!
Why do you think it’s important to be aware of our environment? Because we should preserve the world we live in and its beauty, in order to ensure that future generations will also be able to enjoy and learn to respect the environment as well. Cheesy!
In your interview with ‘The Point’ you mentioned that you like the idea of having stickers on the floors directing to recycle bins. What motivates you to make an effort and sort your waste? I quite liked the idea of putting stickers on the floor because it would encourage people to make their way to the nearest recycling bin. It could also act as a psychological cue, perhaps unconsciously encouraging people to be more green if they are seeing such visual hints daily! I think it has become so easy to recycle these days that it is a shame not to! At City, we have great recycling facilities – there is even a bin to recycle empty used pens. My motivation comes from my care about nature – I want to do my best to help preserve it.
List three “green” things you do: – I walk and take public transport rather than driving. In London, we are so lucky that we have a great public transport system and that often places are a walkable distance from each other!- I switch off the tap while brushing my teeth!- I try to recycle as much as I can.
Speaking about “green things”, which is your favourite park in London? There are so many lovely parks! I like Hampstead Heath, Golders Hill Park and Kenwood. I also enjoy going to Hyde park to have fun on the pedalos in the summer. I also greatly appreciate the peaceful ‘Squares’ full of greenery that you find behind busy Central London streets.
Definitely too many parks to choose from! And your favourite place? Over the summer, I developed a great love for the Thames! It’s lovely walking by the Thames from Waterloo station right down to Tower Bridge. I also recently discovered Old Spitalfields market near Liverpool Street station – it’s a great place! In London, you can never be bored – there are so many cool spots to check out.
Do you have any tips for our readers to become more environmentally involved? I would recommend that City students get involved in the ‘Sustainability Leaders’ programme whereby they can volunteer to get involved in different green projects going on throughout the year. Apart from developing knowledge on green issues, it’s also great for developing other personal and employable skills, as well as being fun! Generally, I think that it’s good to do what you can and to be receptive of your environment, but at the same time enjoying it and not becoming too preoccupied with it all!