Energy League in halls of residence
The Energy League
The Energy League is a competition between almost all halls of residence that awards the halls that have reduced their electricity consumption and improved other environmental footprints the most from last year to this year. All Unite, imago and UPP halls are included: Bill Mo, Butler Court, Cayley, David Collett, Elvyn Richards, Falk-Egg, Faraday, Harry French, the Holt, John Phillips, Rigg-Rut, Robert Bakewell, Royce, Rutherford, Telford and Towers.
What do you win?
Each term, the top three are awarded as follows:
First place:
£200 towards the hall RAG total
Second place:
£150 towards the hall RAG total
Third place:
£100 towards the hall RAG total
In addition, Switch Crew members (see below) of the winning hall are given free Union vouchers, as thanks for their part in helping their hall win!
The overall winner of the year is also announced and given a trophy at the B.E.S.T. Awards in April.
AND, your placement in the Energy League is taken into account in the Union's Hall of the Year competition.
How do you win?
Three factors are taken into account:
-- Your electricity usage
-- The amount of glass you recycle
-- Your hall's involvement in Union E&E events.
What can YOU do?
The main thing you can do is join the Switch Crew for your hall. These are volunteers in halls who drum up support for the Energy League. You'll help with Black Out nights, with the glass collections, and getting your mates excited about events. You'll work together with the FREEC rep on your hall committee to decide the BEST way to get your hall excited.
There will be competitions runs throughout the year (with fab prizes), relating to electricity consumption and recycling, and these will be open exclusively to Switch Crew members. Also, the Switch Crew in the winning hall each term will receive FREE Union vouchers.
The first Switch Crew competition will be to produce a photograph with a message to be used to promote the Energy League in your hall.
The photo:
-- must be of you doing something relevant to the Energy League (switching off a light, recycling a bottle, etc.)
-- must have a message on it. This can be either in the form of a caption that you send us with the photo, or text that you add to the photo (a speechbubble?), or a message written on a whiteboard in the background of your image, or anything else you fancy.
-- must be emailed to sarahettlinger@lufbra.net NO LATER THAN NOON on Tuesday, November 2nd.
-- may be published at Environment Day on November 3rd, when the winners will also be announced.
We will find a winner in each hall that has more than 3 submissions. Halls with more than 5 submissions will be given 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. Prizes will be vouchers to Ethical Superstore. Photographs will be judged on originality, effectiveness of message, and artistic flair.
To sign up as a Switch Crew member and take part in the competition, email Sarah Ettlinger. Well done to TOWERS for having the largest number of volunteers so far!
For more information about the Switch Crew, or the Energy League in general, email sarahettlinger@lufbra.net with any questions.
Electricity
One way to ensure YOUR hall wins is to take part in the Black Out (formerly known as Switch Off) nights. These are nights when each hall is individually targeted and challenged to switch off all electrical devices for the night. Check with your hall committee (FREEC rep) for exact dates throughout the year. If you want to help put on the nights, become a Switch Crew member by talking to your FREEC rep or emailing Sarah Ettlinger (sarahettlinger@lufbra.net).
Click here to find out other ways you can help your hall reduce its electricity consumption.
Glass
All halls on campus recycle glass in specially labeled boxes. At least twice a term, your hall committee will organise a glass collection, where all the glass your hall recycles is added up and weighed. Make sure you keep all glass in the box and watch out for when your collections are happening.
Union E&E events
Keep an eye on the Calendar of Events for the Union's Ethics & Environment section. Help out as a volunteer or just come along and your presence will count towards your hall's placement in the Energy League.
A success story from last year
A big congratulations to Royce for saving a maximum of 13% electricity compared to the same time the previous week! The switched off for their annual summer ball this year and, during the course of the night, managed to cut their energy consumption from 303 kWh to 288 kWh - an average of 5% through the course of the evening, with savings spiking to 13% at 9 pm.
Congratulations Royce!