💡​ Be sustainable in halls

‍Report issues and share feedback

Sometimes a lack of facilities or faults with them can create barriers to sustainability. If you notice a broken light, dripping tap, missing bins or recycling posters, broken seal to your oven or fridge, then report it to a member of staff in your residence. If you have ideas about how to improve sustainability within your halls then share these too with your residence staff team or university sustainability team.

Switch off lights and appliances

Some communal spaces in your halls may have motion sensor lights but where you have control, remember to switch them off when not needed. If lights sensors are faulty, make sure to report them to a member of staff in your halls. Don’t forget bedside lamps, fairy lights and bathroom lights, too. Switching off your appliances and plugs at the socket is a great way to prevent energy wastage as items use energy in standby or sleep mode.

Don’t overfill the kettle

Don’t use additional energy or waste your time by overfilling the kettle with more water than you need. 200 ml is the ideal amount of water for a single hot drink.

Put a lid on your pan

Putting a lid on your saucepan significantly reduces the amount of energy required to cook your food and cooksyour food quicker. Also try and use the right size hob/stove ring for the size of your pan, otherwise you are just heating the surrounding air.

Put layers on, not the heating

When the temperature feels a little cold, instead of turning up your heating straight away just put on a jumper or an extra layer. A jumper can add 3°C of warmth to your body. If your halls run a little hot, make sure you’ve turned down the radiator or thermostat (if you can) before opening a window.

Put on full loads of washing

Washing machines and tumble dryers use a lot of energy and water. Try to put on fuller loads rather than lots of small loads; coordinate with flatmates if needed and 30°C is generally a good temperature to wash your clothes and will help them to last longer.