Back in 2006 Student Switch Off was launched to support students to reduce their energy consumption when living in halls of residences. Eighteen years, multiple awards, eight European countries, and over 1.6 million engaged students later the programme continues to successfully engage students and reduce energy and carbon in the sector.

Student Switch Off was created to address unnecessary energy use in student halls of residences. Recognising that students, often living on their own for the first time, may need support and reminders on the actions they have the power to take to be energy efficient. Through a year-long programme of regular digital activities, campus visits, and trained volunteers who encourage their peers, the programme achieves an average of 6%energy savings (and costs!) in residences compared to pre-intervention baseline.

It is fun (and a bit scary!) to think that many students starting university this year were born at the same time that the programme was created! Over the years it has developed and grown to adapt to new ways and channels of communicating with students and also to not only include energy saving actions but also ones around waste reduction and water conservation.

To celebrate the programme being old enough to now graduate from school to university, this year we are excited to unveil one of our biggest changes to date, a name change to Green Campus Revolution!! This acknowledges that the programme has developed, it no longer focuses primarily just on switching off lights and appliances (although this is still a key theme), but also aims to create a step change in personal behaviours across energy, waste and water whilst at university.

Our latest student survey, shows that students continue to report that the programme influences their behaviour whilst at university. Of the students we spoke to about the project,  79% told us they are taking more sustainable actions as a result of the programme (14% report they already do all they can). Importantly over 90% of these students report that they will continue taking sustainable actions going forward, an important step to reduce the impact of energy poverty on students once they move into rented accommodation.

Over the years of the programme, we have also seen many of the issues that halls face in regards to improving sustainable performance. For this reason this year we are also excited to partner with The Energy Consortium, who will offer their perspective on the issues arising from energy performance in residences and support on energy data.

With the 2024/25 academic year approaching we are looking forward to running another year of the programme and in the words of one of our student volunteers this year “Student Switch Off is a really great initiative which I would encourage everyone to get involved, regardless of their degree or stage of education. Having a diversity of responses and possible solutions to the climate crisis ensures that we are able to tackle our environmental problems efficiently and come at it from a range of different perspectives".

If you would like to explore bringing the programme to your campus you can find out more here.