Sustainability
We have a range of initiatives in place across the residences as part of our commitment to creating an environmentally friendly and sustainable living place for our students.
Community Fridge
The Community Fridge allows food that has reached its sell-by date but is still safe to consume would normally be thrown away to be rescued and offered completely free to staff, students and the community. Through growth and developing new partnerships, the two Fridges receive more donations than ever, meaning more food is being diverted from waste streams and more people benefit from the resource.
- About Us
The Community Fridge project launched in 2017 at the student residences, through a funding application.
There are around 800 community fridges in the UK and although they are all independent from each other, they share the same ethos. We are proud to have two thriving Community Fridges on our sites!
In March 2023, the university staff were joined by a group of external volunteers, to collaborate on this amazing initiative.
Through growth and developing new partnerships, our project received a further grant in 2024 to improve facilities. This has allowed us to provide an even better service to the students and local community. In the spirit of giving and receiving, the Community Fridge also welcomes you to donate food, should you wish! Please ensure any donations are sealed, unused and within the use by/best before dates.
In January 2025, the project was recognised with the award of "Superstar Fridge" by the Community Food Network. As a result of this incredible achievement, we were invited to help mentor other similar projects across the country.
- Useful Information
Food is available for free and there is no need to provide proof of income. Unlike a food bank, our service is not means tested and therefore open to anyone. We welcome members of the public to join us during student term holidays, outside of academic semesters (Easter, summer and Christmas holidays).
Deliveries are made every evening between 21:00 to 22:00h. The delivery schedule for the two sites are Monday to Friday at The Edge, Saturday and Sunday at The Ridge. However, during student holiday times, deliveries are at The Ridge only. Please note that delivery times may vary, especially during adverse weather. The safety of our teams is paramount and therefore, deliveries are not always possible during this time. Wherever possible, on-site staff will place a notice on the fridge to provide an update.
Both Community Fridges are located within the university campuses. On site parking is available, within close proximity.
We politely request that all users adhere to our house rules, to ensure safety and respect for all.
- Treat all staff, volunteers, visitors and property with care and respect
- Queue in an orderly manner, giving space and respect to the people around you. Please listen attentively to any information you are given, as circumstances can vary and it is important for everyone to be informed.
- Please only take one item, but you may rejoin the queue as many times as you like until all the items have gone!
- Do not touch, open or tamper with any item you are not going to take
- Helping our volunteers to unload their cars is not compulsory, although greatly appreciated!
- Please allow our teams space and time to unpack and load the deliveries. We appreciate your patience while this task is being carried out, without interruption or approach, to allow us to complete in a timely manner.
- The consumption of alcohol is not permitted
- We welcome families and request that children are supervised at all times
- Animals are not permitted on site, with the exception of guide/service dogs
- Get Involved
The site addresses are:
The Edge, 34 Endcliffe Crescent, Sheffield S10 3ED
The Ridge, 4 Woodhead Way, S10 3AQ
If you would like to be part of the Community Fridge initiative, have ideas or suggestions, offer feedback, or like more information, please get in touch by email to Andy Woffindin a.woffindin@sheffield.ac.uk.
- The Community Fridges averages 700* items per day
- This equates to around 120kg of food items
- For every 1kg of food rescued, an average of 4.32kg of CO2 is saved from the environment - meaning the Fridges save 3024kg of CO2 per day!
- If the average item costs £2, the Fridges rescue £1400 worth of food daily
- For every kilo of food rescued, anywhere between 90-15,000 gallons of water is saved. That's a lot of H20!
*figures are based on averages, collections vary each day.
Free Shop
The Free Shop is held every year during Intro Weekend in September and in February for Semester 2 arrivals, and forms part of our Donate, Don’t Waste initiative. Previous residents can donate some of their unwanted kitchen and homeware items at the end of their tenancy, which are then cleaned and stored ready to be given away at the Free Shop.
- The first Free Shop launched in September 2013
- Over 4,000 students have benefitted from the scheme
- With over 32,000 items received, reused and donated again
Donate, Don’t Waste
Donate, Don't Waste is a scheme run by the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield City Council, and charity partners to help make it as easy as possible for students to donate reusable items and dispose of waste responsibly.
As students prepare to move out of University accommodation, they are encouraged to donate any items that they don’t want to take with them. British Heart Foundation donation points are located across the residences for items such as shoes, clothes, bric-a-brac, etc. Kitchen and homeware items, including pots, pans, and crockery, are collected to be given away at the Free Shop for new student arrivals in September and February.
Since starting in 2013, the Donate, Don’t Waste scheme has helped students in Sheffield divert 66,000 bags of useable items from landfills by donating them to the British Heart Foundation.
This is equivalent to:
- £925,000 worth of donations
- 469 tonnes of items
- 4,776,677kg CO2 equivalent (compared to being sent to a landfill)
- Over 9.4 tonnes of food has been donated by students to S6 Foodbank since 2015, equating to 17,465 meals.
Hard to Recycle Hub
The Hard to Recycle Hub was introduced to Endcliffe in 2023 to provide options to donate items that can’t go into normal recycling streams. The scheme collects items for:
- Bras for Aid4Gambia
- Pens are donated to a local junior school
- Crisp packets are recycled
- Clothing donated to The Charity Shop in Woodseats
- Books given to the university libraries for academic use
- Used stamps sent to Branby Horse Sanctuary
- Batteries are recycled
Green Impact
Green Impact is a national programme to encourage sustainable initiatives within the work place, the Accommodation and Commercial Services team has taken part for many years, with a focus on introducing and promoting environmental schemes within the student residences.
2022/23 - Gold Award
- Energy Saving awareness campaign delivered to students living in the residences to encourage sustainable behaviours.
- Installed the Recycling Hub in the Edge to facilitate the donation or recycling of items that can't go into normal waste streams
- Introduced a Free Shop for semester 2 arrivals using donations from semester 1 leavers
- Hosted the Sustainable Fashion Show and Clothes Swap in collaboration with Residence Life and the British Heart Foundation
2021/22 - Silver Award
- Big Spring Clean awareness campaign and pop-up event at the Edge with our charity partners and a clothes swap.
2020/21 - Bronze Award
- Promotion of Food Waste Action Week with week long campaign and sign up promotion for staff and students to join BetterPoints app.