Ecosia is a non-profit organisation that dedicates 100% of their profits to the environment by planting and protecting trees worldwide. They work with local communities to ensure the right trees for the area are selected, helping to restore ecosystems, sequester carbon, and support regenerative farming. Ecosia have also built solar farms generating double the energy required to operate their systems.
Want to find out more? Visit Ecosia to see their impact.
On 15 June, we made the switch to Ecosia as our standard search engine. This means that when you open Google Chrome, Edge, or Safari and make a search this will use Ecosia to perform the search and will direct you to the Ecosia search results page.
When the change will take place
For staff devices using Windows, the change is already in place. For student Windows operated devices and all Mac devices, the change will be gradually rolled out over the summer as machines are rebuilt.
How Ecosia make money for environmental projects
When making a search through Ecosia, as with all search engines, some results returned will be ads which generate income when users click on them.
The reason we are making this change
LJMU is committed to driving sustainability across all areas of our operations. By switching to Ecosia as our search engine, this is a really easy way for our staff and students to make a positive environmental impact without having to implement any changes themselves.
Using a different search engine
Simply search for the search engine you want to use. You’ll then be able to click through to them from the results provided.
Changing back
LJMU’s Climate and Sustainability Group have made a decision to switch to Ecosia as the standard search engine as a commitment to sustainability. LJMU default settings are set up by IT Services, but users can change their personal settings themselves. See the knowledge articles below for instructions on how to do this in each browser:
Learn more about Ecosia
Visit the Ecosia homepage.
Find out more about how Ecosia works.
We purchase all of our electricity, including that which supplies our datacentres, via TEC and our current supplier is EDF. All EDF’s UK electricity products defined as ‘renewable’ are 100% backed by renewable certificates that have been obtained and retired by EDF, in line with World Resources Institute GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance. We can therefore report them as zero carbon under 'market based' emissions reporting. At LJMU we do not use offsets, as per our offsetting policy (Word, 55.0KB).
We provide guidance on AI use within our teaching and assessments. This encourages course leaders to address the emerging role of AI in their subject field, providing guidance on AI integration in a way that upholds academic integrity. For more information about our Educational Policies and Guidance, visit our webpage.
For students, we provide information on Academic Misconduct, which includes information on the use and acknowledgement of Generative AI within work. Liverpool Business School have also developed a ‘micro-credentials’ short course on AI literacy to equip students with the skills and knowledge, as well as evidence, to demonstrate their AI readiness.
To help reduce energy consumption in data centres and transmission networks, we have reduced the data transfer of our website by:
- reducing the size and streamlining the homepage banner, which decreased the initial load of data transferred over the network when users land on our website
- streamlining our navigation layout which prevents additional background data transfer requests as we removed large scripts that load hidden page previews when the user’s mouse hovers over a link
- relying on local caching, which means that parts of our website such as the logo, stylesheet and core navigation menu are stored on the users device memory so future page visits don’t require this data transfer.
We use Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and DTP to supply all of our IT equipment. Both organisations are ISO 14001 certified, demonstrating their commitment to environmental sustainability and continual improvement.
Our suppliers deliver our IT equipment in packaging that is made of less than 1% plastic. Upon delivery, they take back the packaging for recycling themselves.
We have taken numerous steps to reduce the energy consumption of our IT systems.
- We have 363 teaching spaces and 346 meeting rooms across campus, all of which are fitted with IT equipment that have Extron control panels. Using these control panels, we’ve set our projectors and display equipment to operate in eco mode, reducing power consumption and heat output. In teaching spaces, the equipment is programmed to power down after one hour of inactivity, while in meeting rooms this is set to 30 minutes.
- We have introduced docking stations only in our staff offices so staff can connect their laptops, and additional PCs are no longer provided
- Students and staff are able to utilise a virtual desktop from a personal device. This allows them to access university databases and cloud based software including Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive from their personal laptops which typically have lower power requirements. Processing files locally in this way prevents continuous data traffic to onsite PCs which is energy intensive
- ITS uses ‘Nightwatchman’ to power up and shut down onsite PC and laptops. This allows ITS to control devices so that important software updates can be rolled out when required, while ensuring that machines are switched off at appropriate times to reduce energy use.
One way we have reduced the impact of our digital infrastructure is by reducing the turnover of our equipment. In 2025 we took the decision to extended our upgrade cycles from three to four years for staff and student laptops, and from three to five years for desktop PCs. This means our community keep their equipment for longer, we purchase equipment less frequently, and the environmental impact is reduced.
Once our IT equipment, including PCs, laptops, monitors, and server and switch equipment, has reached the end of its life, we have a contract in place with DTP and HPE to ensure this is managed in the following ways:
Reuse
We work with partners who collect our equipment, remove all LJMU data, and make small clean-ups to equipment so they can be passed on for reuse.
Remanufacture
As well as removing data and making small external clean ups, some of our equipment needs refurbishments to extend their life, which our partners carry out for us. These refurbishments might include software updates, such as upgrading systems, or hardware updates such as installing a new battery. Once items have been refurbished, they can then be passed on for reuse.
Recycling
For our items which can’t be refurbished, our partners recycle our equipment, ensuring critical raw materials, such as copper, lithium and rare earth elements, are recovered.
For our printers, we have a take-back scheme in place with our supplier who change the ink cartridges themselves and manage their recycling.
Our Impact
In 2024 and 2025, we partnered with UK-based social enterprise FRC who collected, data wiped and refurbished our old equipment. This was then passed on for reuse.
- 211 laptops and PCs were provided to LJMU students free of charge.
- 284 items, including PCs, laptops and monitors, were donated to charities, not-for-profit organisations, and digitally excluded local residents.
- 526 items, including PCs, laptops and monitors, were sold at below market rates to local primary and secondary schools.
