Green club night organised by Edinburgh University students toasts success

The social enterprise, Conscious Change, began organising club nights which were more sustainable and reduced environmental impact at the beginning of the year.

Henry Henderson, James Bird, Imogen McAndrew, Martha Smellie, Tim Maxwell and Sophie Davisson are the social enterprises members

Students at the University of Edinburgh who formed a social enterprise to reduce the environmental impact of daily life launched what they believe to be Scotland’s first sustainable nightclub in the Capital last month which sold out the full capacity of the club.

Members of the enterprise, named Conscious Change, were inspired to create the zero waste night club Zero Chill to show that sustainability and caring for the planet is something to enjoy, embrace and have fun whilst doing.

The event, which took place on January 17 at Cowgate’s La Belle Angele demonstrated that environmental impact can be reduced even on a night out.

The club night sold out in a matter of hours (Pic: James Gourlay)

Vegan and biodegradable condoms were also offered at the event and sourced locally.

Imogen McAndrew, an organiser of the event and a member of Conscious Change said: “The club night was an opportunity to get people in that wouldn’t normally associate themselves with sustainability.

“It was a way of adding people in and sharing that we can celebrate, but compromise nothing.

“People got really invested in it. The theme behind the night was inspired by Patrick Geddes, who was an influential city planner in Edinburgh who introduced the idea to ‘think globally, act locally’ and we’ve used that as our motto.”

Imogen added that when organising the event, she even questioned the venue on their energy usage with regards to the LED lights used.

After announcing their first event, the 700 available tickets sold out on the day.

Tim Maxwell, a member of Conscious Change who helped organise it said: “It was incredible, we did not anticipate that sort of overwhelming response.

“I was incredibly proud of everyone organising it, but also that people coming along are now part of the conversation.”

Following on from the club night, the collective want to build on the community they have created, with more Zero Chill club nights as well as using the money made from the night to invest into their social enterprise to put on sustainability workshops and other events.

Tim added: “It could start off as a club night and then move into something so much bigger and so much more citywide.”