At the Queen Mary Students’ Union Hub, we hosted our very own Climate Action Pledge board. Inviting students across campus to reflect on the small steps that they can take to commit to a more sustainable future. We wanted to hear directly from you and the actions that you wanted to take! And the response was incredible
Sometimes our smallest action can help bring about the biggest change. Climate action does not always begin with large policies or international global agreements. It often starts from the small and individual steps that play a big role in driving change that is sustainable and realistic in the long run. At the Queen Mary Students’ Union Hub, we hosted our very own Climate Action Pledge board. Inviting students across campus to reflect on the small steps that they can take to commit to a more sustainable future. We wanted to hear directly from you and the actions that you wanted to take! And the response was incredible. So many students engaged in creating pledges that reflected the actions that they wanted to take as part of Climate Action Week. 
But how much difference can your actions really make? Let’s have a look.
In this article, we will be looking into the Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which is a universal unit of measurement that is used to standardise the climate impact of greenhouse gases. This is useful to help understand the impact these pledges can have in reducing our carbon footprint.
Pledging to walk more and eat more plant-based foods
One of our most common pledges put forth by our students had pledged to walk more and reduce car journeys. According to the Culture for Climate Scotland, the average petrol car journey emits 0.34 kg CO₂e per mile. Assuming each person who had pledged to walk more had replaced one 5-mile car journey with walking for one week, they could save around 1.7 kg of CO₂e. If five students made this change for one week, this could save a total of 8.5 kg CO₂e in a single week! But the pledges didn't stop there with many of you also pledging to eat more plant-based meals. Shifting towards a more plant-based diet is also another excellent way to remain sustainable and reduce individual carbon emissions. According to an article by the Exeter City Council, eating vegetarian one day per week can save nearly 100kg of CO₂e per year, which is about 1.9kg of CO₂e per week per person. With three pledges to eat more plant-based meals, this small dietary change is projected to reduce approximately 5.7kg of CO₂e in a week.
Recycling more waste and reducing the use of Fast Fashion
Many pledges also recognised the importance of recycling habits in contributing to sustainable change. Recycling waste is also one of the most efficient, sustainable, and practical ways to reduce carbon emissions. According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), recycling just one tonne of plastic can save around 1.5 tonnes of CO₂e compared with producing new plastic. Following through with each pledge, this is projected to avoid over 0.25kg of plastic packaging over the course of one week and could therefore prevent around 2.3 kg of CO₂e emissions. Fashion consumption is another major contributor to environmental emissions. Small choices, such as repairing clothes or buying second-hand items, can make a significant impact to reducing your carbon footprint. Research from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) shows that repairing or choosing second-hand clothing can help reduce substantial emissions. For example:
With three members pledging to buy second-hand or repair clothing, there is an estimated suggested savings of 22.5kg of CO₂e! It’s interesting to see how even the smallest changes in our conscious choices can play a huge role in reducing our emissions.
Reducing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other sustainable actions
We also found that many were extremely mindful of their use of AI, pledging to be more mindful of their digital consumption and acknowledging that AI contributes to climate change. A 2025 study by Cornell University found that the typical AI prompt uses around 0.34 watt-hours of electricity, where the final range can be much higher depending on prompt complexity. Assuming one person avoids 10 AI prompts a day a week, this could potentially save 24 Wh of electricity per person, or around 119 Wh in total, assuming all five take part in the prompt. It really does reinforce the idea that even the smallest of our day-to-day actions can play such a crucial role in mitigating CO₂e waste and saving energy!
Many of you also pledged to commit to causes serving a variety of other actions, including:
Combining all of these pledges could prevent approximately 39kg of CO₂e emissions in just one week, demonstrating how your smaller individual actions can collectively create a much bigger environmental impact.
The Climate Action Week pledge board demonstrated that staff and students at Queen Mary are ready to be a part of that change. Although each pledge reflects a small individual step, when combined, they create a much bigger, inspiring picture - proving how collective commitment can lead to a powerful and lasting impact. Each action, each small step, and each pledge represents a step towards a more sustainable future and a reminder that collective progress begins with individual action.
So the question is: What small steps will you take for a more sustainable future?
Because driving sustainable climate action doesn’t always end with a pledge on a board, it continues with the actions that we take on a day-to-day basis. When we come together, these very choices have the power to shape a more sustainable future for our local campus and community.