Green Committee of Leiden Observatory

Astronomy is a dirty business, at least in terms of its carbon footprint. Frequent, long-distance flights, the operation of observatories at remote locations, as well as the execution of CPU-intensive simulations lead to per-capita greenhouse gas emission significantly larger than those of the general population. Fortunately, inexpensive solutions, that would significantly reduce our carbon footprint immediately, are available.
In this group, we are evaluating the emissions from our astronomical research. This is the first step in order to reduce our own emissions significantly and become role models for demanding realistic change while we continue to collaborate globally. Perhaps more importantly, we are also working together on projects that can convey awe for the wonders of the universe, a sense of the uniqueness of our planet, and a feeling of global citizenship -- the most important ingredients to provoke a feeling of urgency about the climate crisis, that ideally leads to climate action.

The committee is open to your suggestions on how we can make the observatory more sustainable. Please contact us at green-committee@strw.leidenuniv.nl. Currently active committee members are:

The website is organised as follows: The data collected about the STRW (emissions, survey results...) are located in the "STRW data" box. The "Guidelines" box summarises the already existing guidelines and policies from the University and STRW, as well as new guidelines and recommendations from the STRW Green Committee. In "Ongoing and implemented actions", we list important and new actions that have been or will be implemented at the STRW. We also also give several tips and tricks to help reduce our CO₂ emissions, whether it happens in our plates ("Vegan/Vegetarian recipes") or at work ("Resources and tools"). Past talks that have been held at the STRW in the context of sustainability are located in "Archive of sustainable lunch talks."