Hello! Welcome to Be The Change! We are a society campaigning for sustainability in Exeter, both on and off campus.

We provide a supportive space for students to tackle issues we are passionate about, with a focus on environmentalism. Being member-led, we are always looking for new projects and welcome anyone with an idea or passion for making change! Be The Change strives to be a friendly, supportive and accessible group to discuss and advocate for people and planet. 

Some examples of what we achieved over the last few years include:

• Won the Sustainability Guild Award for our work on Sustainable Sundays and our 2023/2024 campaign 'Microplastics - Let's End The Cycle'
• Two members of committee were selected to attend the Students Organising for Sustainability Conference in Lancaster in 2024, where they heard from industry experts and fellow student activists about their work within environmentalism 
• Created our ‘Sustainable Sunday’s' which is a bi-weekly coffee morning where we talk about various environmental and sustainability issues / topics. From this we create resources from our research on Canva and publish them on our social medias. 
• Created our 5 Demands campaign. A letter of our demands was sent to top University staff explaining and detailing action that must be taken in order for students to be satisfied that the University is working urgently towards a just, accessible and carbon neutral campus. 
• A group attended COP 26 in Glasgow representing BTC and sustainability action on campus. 
• Sustainable fashion: organised clothes upcycling workshops, sustainable clothes swaps and charity shop crawls, collabing with the Guild's ‘Give it a Go’ team for some and LGBTQ+ Society for others. 
• Wellbeing: Wellbeing and Climate Emotions Insta page (@ecogrief.exeter).
• Plastic pollution: ‘Save our Seas’ guest speaker event, held regular litter picks and beach cleans, collabing with Open Water Swimming Society.  
• Intersectional Environmentalism: participated and were part of the founding few Universities in the KCL Environmental Conference (2022) where we presented to an audience around the importance of Intersectionality within environmentalism. 

Our Goals and Objectives for the 2024/2025 Academic Year: 

Isabella’s Goal (Co-President): 

I would like to encourage partnerships with other societies to achieve mutual goals. I would like us to prioritise aiding students to make their own change while also providing a campaign for them to focus on.

Emily’s Goal (Co-President):

I want to advocate for an intersectional approach to environmentalism, ensuring BTC is an accessible space for all. We must champion inclusivity at every level, and ensure that everybody feels catered for, listened to and supported. 
Becky’s Goal:

Freya’s Goal (Publicity and Social):

I am looking forward to hosting more events and working with more societies! I hope to create events that are accessible and promote the idea that you don’t need to know everything about environmentalism to join BTC.

Kirsty’s Goal (Publicity and Social): 

I want to encourage the use of second hand items within the university, whether its textbooks, homeware or clothes, inspiring others within this community and beyond to reduce their consumption of new items, hopefully engaging new members and making uni more sustainable!

Becky's Goal (Treasurer): 

Honestly to enjoy all the things we do this year, and continue to learn, unlearn and relearn about important social and environmental justice issues, through our campaigns, Sustainable Sundays and events.

Molly’s Goal (Campaigns): 

My goal is to encourage everyone to become interested and involved in creating and maintaining environmental campaigns taking place on campus and make positive changes to the uni! 

Phoebe’s Goal (Wellbeing):

This year, I would like to continue the committee’s work on managing eco-anxiety and offer support to anyone struggling or just needing a chat! Additionally, I want to strive to ensure that accessibility within the society is optimal and improve general awareness surrounding the issues of sustainability within the disabled community. x

Beth’s Goal (Outreach): 

I would like to continue the success of Sustainable Sundays this year as well as reach out to as many different people, companies and societies as possible to spread the ethos of BTC both within the university and the wider Exeter community. 

Emily’s Goal (General):

 I would love to focus on the importance of carefully spreading climate information without the fear that it can sometimes enable. As well as talking about a range of issues at sustainable Sundays! 

We welcome all suggestions from members around where to focus our campaigning efforts this year. We have biweekly meetings to work on our projects, and enjoy a good social – usually combined with trying out some of the amazing local eateries around Exeter.

So if you're enthusiastic about making a difference, we would love to have you on our team!