Oscott Gardens wins the ‘Student Switch off Campaign’

• May. 25 by Victoria Elmore (2)

Oscott Gardens are the latest university halls to win the ‘Student Switch off Campaign’.

Last week the halls of residence, located on the Perry Barr campus were named the winners and will receive a massive end of year party, which is looking to be a ‘World Cup’ bonkers event.

The ‘Student Switch off Campaign’ was initiated by Neil Jennings in 2005 whilst he was doing his PhD at the University of East Anglia. Through his drive and ambition the initiative ran as a pilot in 2006/07 and helped to reduce energy usage by over 10%. Since then the campaign has continued to grow and recent figures have shown a huge increase in the reduction electricity expenditure.

The campaign that has been described as one of the most exciting and successful running campaigns in the green university sector now has over 11,000 students signed up nationally from around 33 different universities.

Harry Day, one of the campaign leaders said:

‘The Student Switch Off has established itself as one of the leading energy saving campaigns in the UK. We are reaching 80,000 students and this year we have stopped 1,500 tonnes of carbon from being pumped into the atmosphere. It’s amazing to see so many students taking real action on climate change.’

The runners up for the Birmingham City University campuses were Westbourne, followed by Coppice and finally in fourth place was Hamstead. The campaign that is sponsored by Ben and Jerry’s also offer incentives for students to upload energy-saving images by presenting them with vouchers for a 500ml tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

Birmingham City University alone have so far saved over 74, 704 kWh of electricity which is equal to £6,500 in electricity expenditure. This represents 40 tonnes of C02 that has been saved from being pumped into the atmosphere, which is the carbon equivalent to 448 return flights from Manchester to London.

The campaigns main energy saving actions, that they ask students to carry out are:

• Put a lid on the pan whilst cooking (reduces energy by 90%)
• Put an extra layer on, not the heating
• Boil as much water as you need
• Turn off your electronics at the wall
• Unplug your mobile phone when not using it

Take a look at the website for more images and information about getting involved in the campaign http://studentswitchoff.org/