Decreasing the carbon footprint in halls
12 Mar 2007
Environment Champions tackle residential energy consumption
In an exciting new campaign to act on climate change, STARS has partnered up with environmental charity, Global Action Plan, to look at ways in which we can decrease our carbon footprint across The University of Manchester residential halls. Global Action Plan are working with 25 Environment Champions volunteered from across the three campuses, taking in 13 halls of residence and three members of staff. The aim of the project is to reduce energy consumption across halls and improve overall environmental performance.
In January and February, the Champions performed an energy use and recycling audit across the Halls of Residence which included spot checks on common areas and a questionnaire. Audits undertaken by the Champions revealed that a massive 72% of lights were left on when not in use.
Further, 56% of appliances were found to be left on standby, rather than switched off at the plug; microwaves and televisions were the top culprits.
Bin audits showed that 18% of rubbish thrown away was paper, something which can easily be recycled.
On 21 March the Environment Champions will be launching this campaign with a range of activities at Owens Park on the Fallowfield campus.
Champions will, over the next month, be encouraging students across the Halls to reduce the amount of energy wasted. The aim is to reduce the number of lights and appliances left on when not in use by over a third by May of this year.
What You Can Do:
1. Switch off lights when you leave the room (includes bathrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms)
2. Turn all appliances off at the plug when not in use (think mobile phone rechargers, televisions and microwaves)
3. Come along to the launch event on 21 March at Owens Park
This will be the first stage in an on-going campaign to make The University of Manchester greener, and STARS will be at the forefront of it.
If you would like to be involved, please contact:
- Sarah Cameron, Project Manager, at sarah.cameron@globalactionplan.org.uk
or - Lesley Humes, STARS office, at lesley.humes@manchester.ac.uk