Cutting carbon across Europe in 2015
By encouraging simple actions like putting on a jumper instead of the heating, and only boiling as much water as you need, our energy saving campaign Student Switch Off saves huge amounts of carbon across halls of residence in the UK.
Last year, the EU supported us in expanding this into seventeen universities across Europe under the name of SAVES, and as we move into 2015, we’re really proud to have laid the groundwork for amazing emission reductions in the year ahead.
Over 100 students have been trained as energy ambassadors, helping their flatmates and neighbours cut down on energy wastage at home. Thousands have taken the online quiz, and we’re seeing more and more energy saving photos uploaded to the Facebook pages.
Students' passion to save energy is accelerating across the continant. SAVES has truly begun.
It’s been an incredible year, and we’ve learned a lot from taking the campaign into new contexts. In many countries, including the UK, bills are all inclusive, and there’s little incentive for students to be energy efficient during their time in halls. Adding extra incentives through the campaign is how we make the savings.
In other European countries, however, austerity measures have put students in a very different relationship with their heating and lighting. These are new challenges for our campaign, and we’re proud to have worked collaboratively to overcome them in 2014.
Energy sectors and halls of residence across the world can be very different. But the one thing which students have in common is a shared desire to be at the heart of an energy efficient education system. And that’s what SAVES helps them to do. It starts at home, from the very beginning of their degree.
Over the next 12 months, we expect to see great energy savings, cutting carbon and cash, and helping students to be part of the sustainable education system they want to see.
