Cobalt Issue 27 - Inside the Hourglass

SSUE:SPRING2023
NSIDETHE
OURGLASS

President's Letter
Mohammed Sultan
Dear readers,
Inside the Hourglass
When Warwick Sustainability reached out to us and wanted to do
a ‘sustainability’ themed magazine, I was a bit hesitant. I didn’t
know how we could adapt this seemingly dull word to our format
of the magazine. So I went to our exec team, asked for
suggestions, and here we are. “Inside the Hourglass” encapsulates
a sense of timelessness, a feeling of fear, an urgency, a call for
action. All of our writers and poets and even the recipes found in
this magazine are an attempt to deal with this great catastrophe
that stands before us. The climate is changing, the earth is
warming up, the scenes are apocalyptic. The ice is melting, the
waters are rising, everyday we move towards disaster.
This issue exhibits a wide variety of interpretations of this title
“Inside the Hourglass” and I urge you to note your own feelings and
thoughts around this title.
Yours,
Mohammed

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Green for Go
Earth and Me
Cobalt Sustainability
Elegy
I'm a Bird
Bird Photo
Killing Time
4
5
6
8
10
11
12
Things Inside Our Home
I Don't Care
Sand Inside Hourglass
Cheese Courgette Pasta
Sticky Mince Stir Fry with Rice
Spicy Tomato Tofu Paella
Why is Being Eco-Friendly so
Difficult?
13
14
16
18
19
20
22
Francesco Gallarotti (Unsplash) | Nathan Dumlao (Unsplash) | Manolo Chrétien (Unsplash) | Georg
Regauer (Unsplash) | Karolina Grabowska (Unsplash) | Karsten Winegeart (unsplash) | Elias Tigiser, Rudolf
Jakkel, Valeriia Miller (Unsplash)

Green for Go
Nature in balance
Desecrated by not caring
United we stop this
Offspring of parent
Inherits polluted world
Time to break cycle
Advance of humans
Built on unsustainable base
Fix base: safe advance
Gary Stocker

earthandme
liketheclifs,
myskin,pale
andcrumblingchalk
acomfortinknowing
oneday
Iwilbeintheclifstoo
thereisapainnow,
inmybones,deep
deep,
deeperstil
somethingonlycoldcanreach
andscratchwithicyclaws
Iam notoldyet
butImovewithefort
andpainandgroans
notunlikemygrandmother
beforeshepased
theysaidthereisnothingwrongwithme,
sowhydoesithurt?
stil,Iam notdead
andIdonotenvythedead
so,
inesence,
thoughIstruggle,
Iam aworld,
Iam whole.
BenBarnet

From Warwick’s
Sustainability Team
Way to Sustainable
Warwick’s Strategy 2030 commits us to
growth and embeds sustainable development
into our strategic plans and activities. Our
sustainability strategy, which is called ‘The
Way to Sustainable’, reflects our collective
journey of continuous improvement. Our
ambition is that every member of the Warwick
community, our partners and our networks
join us as we work together to find ways to
be more sustainable. We have identified
five goals that relate to the UN Sustainable
Development Goals. These include
embedding sustainability in the curriculum,
realising biodiversity net gain on our campus,
and achieving net zero carbon from our direct
and indirect emissions. We will achieve these
goals through the four pathways of research,
education, engagement, and sustainable
operations.
Hedgehog Friendly Campus and
other biodiversity projects
We are committed to protecting, creating,
and enhancing spaces for biodiversity across
our campus as well as providing space
for people to enjoy nature and the great
outdoors. There are numerous examples of
projects that have taken place in recent years
including:
• Achieving the ‘Hedgehog Friendly Campus’
bronze award;
• Enhancing Claycroft ponds through
revetment creation and planting;
• Regular litter picks and a new Wednesday
Warwick Wombles litter picking group;
• Reinstating hedge laying by the entrance
roundabouts to create a variety of habitats;
• Planting more than 1,000 trees / hedgerow
plants; and
• Taking part in Plant Life’s ‘No Mow May’
initiative and sowing new wildflower areas.
Like what you see? Make
sure you’re following us on @
WarwickUniSust and check our
web pages to sign up to initiatives
like these.
Waste and Single Use Plastics
Warwick is continuing its work to
tackle waste and to move towards
circular economic practices. For
example, we are making it easier
to separate and properly dispose
of waste on campus through
using better signage to direct
where waste items need to go and
through providing up-to-date lists
of waste collection areas outside
accommodations on our website.
Our ‘Pay As You Feel Market’
and RAWKUS collections also
continue to offer staff and students
opportunities to get more involved
and learn about waste streams.
The Warwick community has
begun its journey toward tackling
single use plastics. The campus
has already done much to remove
single use plastics through its
events, conferences, and day-today
procurement and will continue
to push forward to tackle this issue.
Did you know that the Students’
Union will also very soon have a
plastic free shop offering from its
reception desk?
Cut the Flow
Cut the Flow is an inter-block
energy and water saving competition
across the halls of residence on
campus. Two prizes are awarded at
the end of each term to the block
that reduces their energy and water
consumption the most. In term
one of the 2022/23 academic year,
Arthur Vick 1 (energy) and Emscote
(water) were awarded first place

- they will be rewarded a hamper of sustainable
goodies from local shop Zero.
We have four Cut the Flow Assistants who
regularly visit accommodation to raise awareness
of the initiative and share top tips on how you can
increase the likelihood of your block winning the
next prize.
Ready for the challenge? You can easily save
energy by:
• Turning off the lighting even when leaving a room
for a short time;
• Turning off equipment (ovens, hobs, laptops etc.)
when not in use;
• Only boiling as much water as you need.
Water-saving can be just as easy. Why not try:
• Taking shorter showers;
• Snubbing the tub and avoid baths as they use
more water than showers;
• Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth,
shaving, or washing your face?
Green Champions and Green Action Teams
There are over 250 Staff Green Champions at
the University, many of whom are involved in Green
Action Teams within their departments. These teams
help their departments to make green changes, and
they also raise awareness of what we can all do
to help the environment. There are seven active
teams, and we are working to set up more groups
in other departments. Laboratory teams in Life
Sciences, WMS and Chemistry are also working
hard to reduce their carbon emissions and create
an environment that supports research quality by
joining the global Laboratory Efficiency Assessment
Framework (LEAF) initiative.
We recently relaunched our Student Green
Champions Network. If you have an interest in
sustainability, then becoming a Green Champion
opens up other opportunities such as to develop
transferrable skills, meet like-minded people, see
more of campus and the surrounding area, learn
more about how the University operates and how
decisions are made. Our Champions can choose
from a wide range of activities to participate in
- they can raise awareness on energy and water
consumption, advocate for
sustainable travel options,
engage with plasticfree
initiatives, promote
sustainability in creative and
engaging ways to the wider
community, and many more,
while earning skill points
towards their Warwick Skills
Award. Sign up today!
Where can you find us?
After their success in term
one, our pop-up Sustainability
Stands are making a return
– you can catch us weekly
across campus and talk
about sustainability initiatives
and what matters to you.
Find all timings and locations
in our events calendar.
We are also excited to
facilitate Green Week (6-
12 March) on campus for
the sixth time. Be sure to
check out our timetable in
February and engage with a
large variety of events from
academic talks on circular
economy through to visiting
the apiary to attending society
events.
Want to learn more?
Interested in participating?
Got any ideas? Email us
sustainability@warwick.
ac.uk; visit our website
warwick.ac.uk/sustainability/
environment; and follow
us on social media @
WarwickUniSust. We’d love
to hear from you.
Environmental
Sustainability
Team

E L E G Y
Karl York
Lizard, United Kingdom. The most southern point of the United
Kingdom and a great place of natural beauty. This elegy is dedicated to
the Cornish coast, the south west of England, and the great Atlantic.
I
Old father
Praise be
Please sir
Remain thee.
Old father
Arson sweet
Please sir
Bless me.
II
Holy desire, a black winged unicorn
Black, then green, then green, then white
These signs tell me to go back
But green turns green and I know what
that means.
Colours they fold into the fold,
They belong to me.
When red turns red
I burn thee.
God’s aspiration
Beneath me
The holy spirit
Receives me.
White turns red, red turns red, red is me.
Obsessive about life
A new thirst
Grips me.
Grips onto desire,
Onto life
This planet
I begin a strife.
III
A new diet
I thirst
I seek
Human flesh
A new diet
Paves the way
Maybe all life
Instead.
A new world
I can escape to
God’s own desire
A candle I blew.
I wonder why
They don’t fear me
I’m a saint
Passion, hot, free.
So I’ll keep on burning
Eating and ravaging
They will come to mourning
On my grinning winning.

IV
I met a traveller from an antique land
but he had nothing to say
no words to bear, no lives to spare.
He looked down at me feverously
talked me down incredulously,
stick-wounded me insidiously.
In his eyes I saw grey spheres
Shakespeare’s tears
a dozen-dead men
millions of dead-end careers.
In his nose I smelt the deep,
warm, humid, decaying, dying corpse.
Anorexia-inducing noise of a bottle of Eau
de Cologne
from some brand I only saw on boys.
Toys, joys, appear, then hoise.
White Noise.
That old traveller was a drunkard, a joke
undeserving, unknowing, unattentive and
then a gun smoke.
That old traveller, desperate and sad,
walked past me
to a new, antique
land.
V
An ascension
an ending
life ahead pending
a new world dimension.
We regenerate.
We heal.
We plan
a meal.
Old dictators gone.
Life anew.
A blue-sun coup.
A green yawn.
Old father
thank thee.
Please sir
accept we.
Old father
good night to you
Please sir

Iam abird
FranRunnacles
Iam abirdandIflysofree
andIlovethisworldforwhatitgavetome
Theskysoblue,myuntethereddelight
Nothingtostopmeinmyflight
Thetreesprovideanaturalperch
Thisone’smyhome,mycozybirch
Butadarkershapethisworldassumes
Thecloudsgogreywiththefumes
Ourtreesreceivetheirhackingsaws
Ourhomesarelosttomanmadewars
YetstilIswoopandsoarandsail
Comerainorsnow orwindorgale
AndthenIseeaspeciesnew
Afeatherlessbeast,anIvoryhue
Awonder,amarvel,trulysublime!
Itswingscarryitmuchfasterthanmine
AndsoonedayIgotomeet
Thisbirdthatchurnsoutsomuchheat
Igreetitwithkindnessbutgetnoreply
Beforeitconsumesmeandleavesmetodie

Inside the
Hourglass
Shreya Krishnan

Killing Time
Felix van Oordt
Mechanically monotonous as a steel hourglass, I stop you again to tie
Another tired frayed string to you, smothering and clinging to you,
I try to decide the best way to live for you. I know how you lie
When I sit across you, your jaded parole officer, in lieu
Of your distraction, one not to give a reaction
As you tailor me for my funeral suit.
It's an obsessive compassion
That, in relentless fashion,
I can't risk being late
To notice your
Empty dinner
Plate.
Time
Is running out.
You don't notice,
No time to ask why.
Don't worry for me, love
I'm your shadow, like a glove
I'll let you stretch me and mould me
And, when push inevitable comes to shove,
I'll lay beside you, cheek to cheek, buckle my knee
And let whatever rots inside you claw through my skin.
I'll let you consume me, even though you'll throw me up again
They won't know where we've gone, just exactly where we've been.

T H E T H I N G S I N S I D E
O U R H O M E
Raahimah Saeed
we
are so
invested in
the things inside our home
wardrobe cabinet drawer cupboard
smart phone telephone laptop desktop
knife fork plate spoon bowl mug cup
glass t shirt trousers
dress skirt hoodie
handwash shampoo shower gel allpurpose
cleaner glass cleaner rubber
gloves vacuum cleaner tablet mop
newspaper reading book revision notes
we forget about
the things inside our home
bacteria fungus virus lichen archaea
haddock cowfish stingray shark tuna starfish
aspen birch cedar elder dogwood elm willow
tulip buttercup bluebell rose lavender hibiscus
strawberry banana apple mango lychee melon fig
carrot potato asparagus lettuce mushroom pumpkin
ladybird spider dragonfly beetle caterpillar cricket
parrot pigeon duck swan pheasant dove eagle lark
lion sheep camel deer tiger zebra bear donkey
mountain grassland river ocean pond tundra
sun lightning hail thunder wind fog cloudy
monkey tree frog rough green snake
duck leech snapping turtle newt
oak pine fern orchid iris

CHEESYCOURGETTEPASTA
Ingredients:(1portion)
•75gpasta
•½ acourgete
•½ anonion
•5leveltbspnutritionalyeast(couldsubfor75gfinely
gratedvegancheese)
•4garlicclovesor2tbspgarlicpowder
•100mlofveganmilk(addmoreifnecessary!)
•1tbspveganbuter
•1tbspsoysauce(optional)
•Chiliflakesforgarnish(optional)
Method:
1.1.Cookyourpastawithboilingwaterandapinchof
saltfortheinstructedamountoftime.
2.Meanwhile,grateyourcourgeteandfryitupinthe
buterwiththeonionandgarlicforaround5minutes!
3.Addthemilk,nutritionalyeastandsoysauceand
lettoreduce!Ifit’stoothickaddmoremilk,iftoo
runnyaddmorenutritionalyeast!
4.Addsaltandpeppertotastethenaddyourcooked
pasta!
5.Servewithsomechiliflakesandgratedcourgete!
A recipebyWarwi ck Ve gSoc

Sticky
Mince Stir
Fry with
Rice!
W A R W I C K V E G S O C
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 medium peppers
½ onion
3 garlic cloves
30g agave or golden syrup (can sub
for sugar)
50ml soy sauce
5g cornflour
200g vegan mince
20g ginger (root or paste is best but
can use powder)
125g rice
Method:
1. Wash your rice a few times then
place it in a pan on a medium heat
and cook with 225ml of boiling water
and a pinch of salt. Let this cook for
around 12 minutes!
2. Meanwhile, cut your peppers and
onion and fry with a drizzle of oil and
pinch of salt and pepper for around
3-5 minutes
3. Add your vegan mince and fry for
another 5 minutes.
4. When the mince has gone browner,
add the chilli, cornflour, ginger,
garlic, soy sauce and agave/ golden
syrup.
5. Serve up with the rice and add some
sesame seeds and spring onions as
garnish!

WHY IS BEING ECO-
FRIENDLY SO DIFFICULT?
The human ego has been a
powerful driving force of
environmental destruction.
Throughout history, almost every
celebratory win for human
civilisation has been a tragic loss
for the environment. The industrial
revolution, which allowed us to
reap the benefits of the apogee
of technological innovation, has
equally allowed for the
contemporary plutocrat to make
immeasurable profit, satisfy their
self-indulgent corporate needs
and fund their lavish lifestyle at
the expense of the environment.
The worship of capital in today’s
society is driven by individualism:
money is sought after because
buying and consuming has
become cathartic to the average
citizen, which is why 64% of all 32
billion items of clothing
produced each year ends up in
landfill. Therefore, with a rising
movement of people discarding
consumerism for the sake of the
planet, environmentalism can be
linked to a certain form of
altruism,
removing the self interest to
instead promote the interest of
the other, the future of
humanity, the planet. But then
why is it still so difficult for
people to be altruistic?
Buying an outfit on SHEIN,
eating more burgers than we
should, and forgetting to bring
a reusable coffee cup are all
common behaviours, yet these
'habits' have environmental
consequences.
Meat
consumption is a practice that
has been present in almost
every society across the planet.
Asking the average person to
stop eating burgers, chicken or
steak could mean asking them
to abandon a big part of their
diet and lifestyle. Equally,
SHEIN, despite its disastrous
environmental output, is so
incredibly accessible and
affordable to the point of
revolutionising the online
shopping industry, that
discouraging people from
buying SHEIN clothes proves to
be a very difficult endeavour.
It is not only the fault of these
companies who indulge in
profiting and neglect their
environmental effects, but we
are also liable for these
impacts as we endorse these
industries. Is it really worth it to
maintain these 'habits' and our
acceptance of the
environmental repercussions,
because we are too lazy to
change them?
As a student, we have been
subject to flatmates forgetting
to switch the bathroom light
off, discussing how much of the
heating we should turn on and
being frustrated when the
faucet is still running. However,
leaving the light on has severe
implications for our carbon
dioxide emissions, heating
results in severe energy
consumption and leaving the
faucet on generates significant
amounts of wastewater. We
are constantly concerned with
how much electricity will cost
us, yet the effects on the
environment are frequently
overlooked.

We have all been guilty of
overbuying and failing to check
the expiration dates,
unfortunately resulting in
discarding items that could have
previously been salvaged. 26,082
tonnes of food goes to waste
every single day, primarily due to
our own negligence. Over 70% of
food waste in the UK is
generated at a household level,
thus individuals bear a significant
amount of the responsibility for
wastage. We have a moral
responsibility to understand the
implications of wastage and take
accountability for it. Small
gestures such as reducing how
much we buy or composting our
food can significantly help, so
why are we not doing this?
All of these examples ultimately
beg the question: why have we,
as a society, allowed our home
planet to reach such levels of
climate devastation and yet still
struggle to make any substantial
and material difference to
mitigate the now urgent
circumstances? There is a
general conception that humans
are innately selfish and only act
in their own self interest. In fact,
there is a theory that goes as far
back as Pluto, ancient Greece,
which states that if all sanctions
imposed by the social contract
were lifted, humans would act on
their violent, selfish tendencies
without regard for others.
Whether this has been proven
as fact, it is undeniable that
everyone has selfish
tendencies: we all want to
indulge in the simple pleasures
in life, whether it is grabbing a
coffee in the morning in a
plastic cup, or getting a new
coat because it looks nice,
even though we already have a
couple on the hanger waiting
to be worn. Even if we are
aware of the ubiquitous
environmental impacts of
unused clothes that end up in
landfills, carbon emissions from
the shipping, or the
exploitation of forests to make
paper cups, they are so far
removed from our daily lives
that it has become difficult to
realise the effects of our
actions.
Shifting the blame on the
average citizen is easy. They’re
only small changes, why can’t
all make them and commit to
them? It’s easy to say we will
lower the heating to lower its
environmental costs, but the
fact that it is slightly more
tedious and laborious to find
and slip on more clothes will
make us immediately fall back
onto the more efficient solution.
It’s easy to say that we can
let our clothes dry on a rack
rather than in an electric
dryer, but the efficiency and
ease of a dryer is just too
alluring. It’s easy to blame the
person, but the process of
abandoning things that made
our life what it was is more
challenging than it seems on
paper.
Therefore, while it will be a
laborious process, perhaps the
key to mitigating climate
change is a shift in mindset
and attitude, a removal of the
ego from the environmentalist
scene in order to make room
for the other. Caring for the
environment could hence be
considered an altruistic
sentiment, a heartbreaking
forfeiture of one’s pleasures
and indulgences for the sake
of the greater good. But in the
current circumstances, only
through the painful
abandonment of unnecessary
and harmful habits, whether it
be on a domestic, behavioural
or corporate and industrial
scale, will we be able to see a
glimmer of hope through the
climate crisis.
Warwick Boar
Climate