For Spring Elections 2022, we will plant 1 tree for every 35 individual voters. Each tree will remove approximately 1 ton of carbon during its lifetime and restore woodlands habitat allowing wildlife to thrive. This means your vote will not just decide who your student leaders are for the next year, but also contribute to fighting climate change and biodiversity loss.

Voting in the Spring Elections is important – the people you elect will run the student union for the next year and decide its priorities. This year, your vote will count for even more. The more people vote, the more trees we’ll be able to plant. So as well as voting yourself, make sure your friends and classmates do too!

The trees will be planted by the Future Forest Company, who run reforestation projects in the UK. Their projects are designed to maximise the amount of carbon dioxide they take out of the atmosphere so they can most effectively help combat climate change. The projects make use of innovative new technologies, such as biochar, to achieve this. The trees are planted in areas where trees have previously been cut down. By restoring these environments, the trees will not only take in carbon dioxide but provide a space for wildlife to thrive.

The more people that vote, the more trees that get planted:

1000 voters – 28 trees planted. This will plant enough trees to cover an area of over 200 square metres.

2000 voters – 57 trees planted. This will plant enough trees to cover a space equivalent to one and a half tennis courts.

3000 voters – 85 trees planted. This will plant enough trees to cover a space as large as two IMAX screens.

5000 voters – 142 trees planted. This will plant enough trees to cover an area roughly the same size as Fort Knox.

Voting opens on Monday 28 February at 10am. You can find out more about elections here.