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Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Staff and students celebrated Earth Hour last weekend in an effort to reduce their power consumption on campus and college grounds.

Almost 200 staff pledged to reduce UWA’s power usage over the entire Earth Hour weekend by shutting down their computers and diligently switching off lights, air-conditioning and equipment before leaving their workplaces.

The result was a 1000 kilowatt saving in power – the equivalent of one tonne of carbon emissions.

UWA students also celebrated the cause with Currie Hall, St Catherine’s College and St George’s College all holding Earth Hour events last Saturday evening.

A record number of Currie Hall residents turned off their lights for Earth Hour and joined together to mingle, toast marshmallows and listen to music provided by talented Currie musicians.

To commemorate the event, the college created an eye-catching display – the formation of Currie Hall’s initials, made up of residents proudly holding their Earth Hour candles high.

St George’s College residents also enjoyed the spirit of Earth Hour by playing games – the non-powered variety – and listening to the vocal and acoustic talent of their peers by candle-light.

Residents and event organisers Rebecca and Anna Civil said Earth Hour provided a social atmosphere where awareness could be raised amongst students of the importance of protecting the environment.

The Environmental Focus Group at St Catherine’s College organized an Earth Hour event with a difference – they turned their lights on, albeit at a dimmed level.

That light was used to play games, decorate recycling boxes and enjoy each other’s company. Focus group members Kelly Sun and Zoe Callis said their event, which encouraged students to turn off lights in their rooms and instead meet for group activities, was in line with Earth Hour’s theme of ‘going beyond the hour’.

“This is something we can keep up – we’re minimising rather than sacrificing and reducing power through switching off all the individual lights in our rooms,” said Zoe.

See more photos of UWA staff and students participating in Earth Hour events in our gallery .

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Sustainable Initiatives — University Hall