Trinity College Dublin
Becoming tobacco and vape free – a whole university response to e-cigarettes for a healthy planet and healthy people
Finalist, Benefitting Society
About
After a six-year negotiation, Trinity became a tobacco-free campus and showed a 79% reduction in observed smoking from 2016 to 2020. Smoking was observed through a Living Lab approach that employed student ambassadors to count smokers on campus 6-8 times per week during semester, while reminding them of the tobacco-free policy. Post COVID-19, ambassadors observed increased vaping but had no remit to approach vapers because the protracted negotiation to become tobacco-free excluded e-cigarettes. Following on from this Trinity’s Sustainability Strategy 2030 included the development of an e-cigarettes policy for Trinity under a Healthy Planet, Healthy People ethos. Trinity launched its tobacco and vape free policy in 18th March 2026.
Top 3 learnings
- Governance: Having e-cigarettes as a target in the Sustainability Strategy created impetus, made obtaining buy-in easier and opened policy channels for change.
- Research: Working with academic partners enabled research in the form of a prevalence survey.
- Teaching: Working with academic partners meant >300 students engaged deeply with the emerging trend of e-cigarettes.
What it would mean to win
Winning a Green Gown Award would be a powerful recognition of Trinity's enduring, whole-of-college commitment to sustainability and health. Beyond the accolade itself, we believe it would strengthen our reputation - within our college community and beyond - among prospective students, staff, funders, and partners who share our values of environmental protection, social responsibility, health and wellbeing and meaningful climate action.
SDG
| 2026 | |
| Benefitting Society | |
| Finalist, UK and Ireland |
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Finalist, Nature Positive
Green Gown Award Regions
Australasia
