A student campaign to cut energy waste at Queen Mary, University of London, ended this week with two halls of residence crowned energy-saving champions. The winners stopped eight tonnes of environmentally-harmful CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
Maurice Court and Lynden House at the Mile End campus came out on top in the Student Switch Off campaign, with students managing to use 15 per cent less energy in 2011/12 than those who lived on campus when levels were measured in 2007/8.
Across the halls usage was down by an average of 4.2 per cent, altogether saving enough energy to boil the water for 1.5 million cups of tea.
Throughout the year students living in halls have been encouraged, with photo competitions, training sessions and visits, to take simple actions to save energy, like putting a lid on their pans and switching off lights.
Student Switch Off Campaign Coordinator Jesse Scharf said: “We’ve had a great reaction to the campaign and the amount of energy saved has been a real achievement by the students. It shows what can be done with simple actions. Students can use what they’ve learnt to make sure they keep their bills down when they move on to private accommodation.”
Queen Mary’s Head of Energy and Environment, Rebecca Maiden, added: “We are so proud that all halls made such an effort to reduce their energy consumption this year. It is testament to the fact that small, collective change can achieve great things.
“We are looking forward to continuing the programme next year and providing more support to hopefully expand the programme and have even more participation and savings.”
As a reward, a special Ben and Jerry’s van came to the Mile End Campus to hand out ice cream to the winning students.
To see photos from this year’s campaign please visit the Facebook page - www.facebook.com/qmulstudentswitchoff
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