ESN Uni Wien Green Week

From October 20th to October 24th, ESN Uni Wien held its second Green Week with five different events that were attended by over 250 exchange students. The Green Week founded by ESN Uni Wien in May 2019 raises awareness of environmental issues and educates about global challenges. This semester's edition focused on topics such as animal mass production, conventional fashion, the cosmetic industry and Viennese waste infrastructure. Furthermore, participants got introduced to the ideas of recycling, reusing and reducing. In addition to the events, the Green Week hosted a daily photo campaign on Facebook and Instagram. The kick-off of the Green Week happened in the Vienna Woods, Vienna's 'green lung', where participants hiked through the beautiful Viennese wine region on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The next day, the ESN section hosted a movie screening of the award-winning documentary "Cowspiracy" which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. On the day after, participants of the Clothes Swapping event could exchange their valued but no longer used clothing for clothing they will use and got an insight into this environmentally friendly concept. It was continued by the DIY Natural Cosmetics Workshop where plastic-free home-made cosmetics out of only natural materials were made. The Green Week ended with a guided tour at Fernwärme Spittelau, a waste incineration plant, to get an insight into Vienna's waste-, recycling- and disposal-system, as well as the environmentally friendly generation of thermal heat and hot water. "The ESN Uni Wien Green Week was a good surprise! It contained the wide range of activities, starting from Hiking in the Vienna woods ending with the Natural Cosmetics Workshop, raising awareness of the most relevant issues connected to saving our home - the Earth." - Anita, exchange student from Estonia "I especially liked about the Green Week that there were so many different events and we learnt a lot about current problems. It was much fun and I really enjoyed it." - Katharina, exchange student from Germany "The idea of the Green Week was to offer events that have an impact into the lives of the exchange students. Even during your exchange semester abroad, it is important to educate ourselves and to become active citizens who take action in finding solutions for current struggles such as environmental sustainability." - Tamara Bachmann, President ESN Uni Wien