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Christmas Switch Off Results
10 January 2017
Congratulations to everyone who joined in with the Christmas Switch Off. The savings you’ve helped make really is proof that we can all play a part in improving UCL’s environmental impact.
Over 100 departments pledged to switch off over the Christmas Closure, thanks to all your efforts we saved enough energy to keep the lights on a Christmas tree running for over 1,800 years! That's a 17% reduction compared to UCL's usual energy use[1]. The energy saving prevented 2600 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted, which would weigh the equivalent of almost 4,000,000 mince pies!
If we switched off like this every weekend, UCL could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by around 2,600 tonnes and save over £650,000 on its energy bill every year.
We know that for some appliances and equipment, it wouldn't be practical to switch off for such a short period, but hope these large savings highlight the impact we can all make through simple changes to behaviour.
The winning department
Congratulations to the Division of Psychiatry. For the second year in a row, they have won the UCL Christmas Switch Off, with 53 students and staff pledging to Switch Off over the Christmas period. This is a testimony to the work of the Division’s Green Champions who achieved a Gold Award at the UCL Sustainability Awards 2016 for their efforts in engaging their department in environmental issues. They will be awarded a £100 voucher for Ecotopia, an online shop for energy-saving gadgets and eco treats.
Get more involved
The Switch Off can’t end here. Saving energy is just one change that we hope you’ll continue to make. But if you’re feeling inspired, why not get more involved?
UCL's Green Impact programme is open for the 2016-17 period. It's an accreditation and award scheme that's all about staff and students working together in their departments to improve their environmental performance. Find out more and get involved with Green Impact.
There are lots of resources on our website to help you save energy in your department. If you’d like an energy survey of your department to help identify potential savings you could make, please do get in touch.
For the purposes of our infographic: the holiday period is from 24/12/16 - 02/01/17: electricity used during this time: 1,691,698 kWh, gas used during this time: 1,722,411 kWh. The control period is from 28/11/16 - 23/12/16: average electricity used during this time: 2,160,680 kWh. average gas used during this time: 1,940,813 kWh Figures are based on a mince pie weighing 65g and Christmas tree lights being 50W. Figures also assume that consuming 1kWh of electricity produces 0.41kg C02 and costs £0.12/kWh and consuming 1kWh of gas produces 0.18kg C02 and costs £0.035/kWh.
[1] Comparing UCL's energy use over the holiday period with the previous fortnight
