Lights off

Turn off the lights

Being 'eco friendly' may sometimes seem complicated, time consuming or expensive, but doing this action is outrageously simple: turn off the lights!

Why

Here are a few reasons to take action.

Click for more info or scroll to read them all.

Money

No one likes that moment when the bills come in and the hard-earned cash goes out. Lighting typically accounts for 15% of an average households' energy bills.1 You could quite literally reduce your bills with the flick of a switch.

£1.9bn

a year is spent by UK households on lighting.2

500kg

CO2 used in leaving a 100 watt incandescent bulb on for a year.3

Climate change

Climate change is happening. 97% of the world's scientists agree that man made climate change is a real thing. It's happening now, but with a little effort from each one of us, we can stop it getting a lot worse. If you're still sceptical, or would like more facts to convince your friends, take a look at Climate Reality Project's 'Climate 101'.

It's no news that climate change is caused by carbon emissions, and that electricity generation is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions. So leaving your lights on when not needed is a completely unnecessary contributor to climate change.

Even if you have energy-saving light bulbs, there is still nothing better for saving energy than switching them off when not in use.

Global Goals

In September 2017, an historic agreement was signed by UN member nations agreeing to work towards 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030, otherwise known as the SDGs.

Achieving these ambitious goals will require action from governments, businesses, NGOs, and individuals alike. We can - and must - all play our part.

By making the 'Lights off' pledge, you are contributing in your own small way to the following SDG targets:

7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

12.8: By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature

13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

How

This one is super-duper easy:

Not in the room? Lights off. Daylight outside? Lights off.

You can also go the extra mile and insert sensor or timer lights to avoid leaving lights on in areas like porches and stairwells.

There is a long-standing myth that leaving lights on for a few minutes uses less energy than turning them off and on again. In fact, it's almost always best to turn lights off when you leave the room, saving you energy and money on those pesky bills.

That's pretty much all there is too it.

Success Stories

2,752

Pledges
in total

19,770kg

CO2
pledged

It was a great reminder of the small things that we can do in our daily lives that actually add up to a huge difference. Although I'm generally pretty good at turning off the lights around the house, I catch myself leaving too many on when trying to do 101 things in different rooms so this made me focus on still turning the lights off if not in the room :)

It's harder than it seems when you sign up, but it's much better than just giving a few pounds donation to ease your conscience. It's a great idea.

Find it really annoying now when the lights are left on when no-one is in the room. Will def continue

I always turn off the lights when I leave but now I try to minimize too by keeping the curtains open and using the sunlight.

I often would walk out of a room and have to turn back to make sure I turned the light off. By the end though I was even encouraging my family members to turn lights off.

I always go around switching lights off that have been left on unnecessarily, even at home. it drives some people mad but it saves so much energy and money.

Kept up with it and will continue to do so. I even have a new slogan: SWITCH IT OFF, TO BE SWITCHED ON!!!

It definitely made me think twice before leaving a light on unnecessarily!

Saved money and so easy to do!

Really easy to do, as long as you're not afraid of the dark

I share my office space with other businesses and collectively we have all been doing pretty well and keeping all unnecessary lights off, particularly now the days are lighter for longer!

It makes sense - just requires some discipline.

Such an easy behaviour change, and one that I am going to keep up!

Did really well with this, but still see lots of people who leave lights and computers on. Need to get them to sign up

Such a simple thing to do, but for some reason I would always leave my lights on in the past! Pledging definitely meant I had it in the back of my mind when I left a room - so I'd make sure to turn them off each time!

So important and easy to just switch it off :)

Was a challenge with a three year old running around! But teaching him to do the same has had a mostly positive effect.

As a family we were all able to remember to do this.

I have realised that getting into new routines around the house can save energy and cut bills

Totally nailed it and will continue to do so. Not only is it friendly for the environment but it helps cut down the cost of electricity bills as well.

References

  1. Energy Saving Trust
  2. BBC
  3. Mike Berners-Lee (2010) The Carbon Footprint of Everything, Profile Books Ltd.

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