Sustainable living in your student residence

Eating well, using energy thoughtfully, keeping things in use and making changes together: sustainability is part of everyday life in a student residence. This page brings together ideas you can try on your own, with your flatmates or through student self-government. Affordability, accessibility and a supportive community matter too.

The Residence Wiki is an independent service. These suggestions are not official decisions of Studierendenwerk Hamburg or the advisory board’s sustainability committee (Nachhaltigkeitsausschuss des Beirats). The Studierendenwerk describes its own sustainability goals and measures in its official overview. ¹⁾

• Check before shopping: What is in the fridge, and what needs using soon? Plan one or two meals around it and buy the missing ingredients.
• Consider season and origin together: Use the wheel to choose produce, then check its origin in the shop. Being on a shelf does not mean it was harvested locally. ²⁾
• Cook together: Arrange a vegetable stir-fry, lentil dish or soup. Agree on portions, budget, allergies and dietary preferences beforehand.
• Make ownership clear: Label your food and agree what can be shared. Food in a communal fridge is not automatically free for others to take.
• Plan for leftovers: Choose the next day’s meal to use ingredients you already have. Follow the food’s refrigeration and storage instructions.

Bought too much or have food you can no longer use? Foodsharing offers a way to pass on suitable food. A Fairteiler is a place where food can be donated and collected free of charge. Follow the rules of each location. ³⁾

Find a Fairteiler in Hamburg: Open the foodsharing map, look in Hamburg and read the location details. Check access, opening times and donation guidance before visiting. Available food changes; particular items are not guaranteed.

• Donate: Check in good time which supplies you can use and which are suitable for sharing. Follow the acceptance rules and do not leave anything outside the designated areas.
• Collect: Take quantities you can actually use. A bag and suitable cooling where needed help with transport. Plan the food into your next meals.
• Help regularly: To get more involved in rescuing food, ask foodsharing about joining and its Hamburg groups. Collections from cooperating businesses are organised through the initiative.

Distinguish best-before (Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum) and use-by (Verbrauchsdatum) dates: Passing a best-before date does not automatically rule out sharing; suitability and acceptance rules still need checking. Food must not be passed on after its use-by date. Chilled food needs the required refrigeration. ⁴⁾

For a first attempt, visit an accessible Fairteiler and cook with the ingredients you collect. The current location rules apply; even well-intended donations need to meet the site’s acceptance requirements.

Would you like to grow vegetables, learn about plants or meet people in your neighbourhood? Explore Hamburg’s existing community gardens and ask about joining in. You do not need a garden of your own. The city provides an overview of urban gardening in Hamburg.

Make your first visit easier:

• Choose a project within easy reach: A short journey makes it easier to return occasionally. See which activities interest you.
• Check a current volunteering session: Ask whether booking is needed and whether there are costs or contributions towards materials. Sessions can change with the season and weather.
• Ask questions: Explain that you are new. Ask what needs doing and whether to bring tools, gloves or anything else.
• Respect shared rules: Ask how produce is shared before harvesting. Public access to a garden does not automatically mean anyone may help themselves.

Ask for a suitable introductory visit, then agree how much time you would like to contribute. Learning together and meeting neighbours can also be good reasons to join in.

Ventilate as needed, keep radiators clear and avoid letting rooms become too cold during the heating season. Remove damp air promptly after showering or cooking. Damp and mould also depend on the building’s condition; report problems early. ⁵⁾

• In the kitchen: Heat the amount of water you need, use appropriately sized pans with lids and switch off appliances you are not using.
• Lighting and appliances: Switch off lights in unused rooms. Before buying another shared appliance, check what is already available.
• Water and laundry: Avoid leaving water running unnecessarily, report dripping taps and follow washing-machine loading and programme instructions.

For indoor conditions, see your room and damp. Report technical faults using the routes explained under reporting defects. Discuss changes to fixed installations with residence management.

Before buying new, ask about borrowing or second-hand items in your residence. Kitchen utensils, tools and moving boxes can often be shared. Agree who looks after shared purchases, where they are kept and how borrowing and returns work.

Stilbruch in Hamburg is one place to find second-hand furniture and household goods. Check its current guidance before donating items. Faulty electrical appliances need a competent assessment; a shared repair event is not an invitation to work on electrical parts without the necessary knowledge.

Consider whether walking, cycling or public transport fits your regular journeys. You can combine trips for outings and shared shopping. For current connections and information on accessible journeys, use the Hamburg public transport journey planner.

The conditions in residences matter alongside individual habits: buildings, utilities, equipment and clear information. To raise an idea with the sustainability committee, speak to student self-government or your advisory board representative and ask for the current contact route. The page on committees and the housing advisory board explains formal roles and participation routes.

Possible proposals include organised handovers of useful items when moving out, multilingual waste-sorting guidance, shared cooking, maintained planting areas or improvements to bicycle parking. Energy projects could start with understandable consumption data, the operation of existing systems and assessing further renewable generation. These are discussion ideas, not promised projects.

Five details help make a proposal ready for discussion:

1. Starting point: What have you noticed, and which residence or communal area is affected?
2. Proposal: What exactly should change, and who would benefit?
3. Resources: What space, materials, costs and ongoing care would be needed?
4. Participation: Who would help, and who would need to be involved in agreeing the implementation?
5. Outcome: How could you tell whether it helps, for example through use of a lending scheme or purchases avoided?

When documenting a project publicly, distinguish a proposal, assessment, decision and implementation. A short dated note with the next step and responsible body makes progress understandable. Do not publish private consumption data, personal reports or confidential committee papers.