Student Village

Think somebody else is paying the bill?

Don't be fooled.  Student housing fees are based on the cost of maintaining your residence. That includes the energy, water and waste that goes into and comes out of it. If you think housing fees are too high, you can do your bit by ensuring that you live within your means. Here’s how:

Easy Ways to Conserve Energy

1. TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF when you leave for class
2. Turn off your stereo, computer, TV and lights when they are not in use.
3. 90% of the energy used by laundry machines goes to heat the water, so use cold or warm water instead.
4. Use the sun to dry your clothes- solar energy is free and environmentally friendly!
5. Use the energy saving features on your PC. It sounds like a small thing but it all adds up! Use the Power settings under the Control Panel to put your computer and monitor on Standby when you are not using it.

Easy Ways to Conserve Water

1. Take shorter showers. Conventional showers use 15-20 litres of water per minute. By reducing your shower time by just 2 minutes, you can save 150 000 litres of water per year! For more information, see: Water Saving Initiatives
2. Don't leave the water running while brushing teeth or shaving. A tap left running can waste 10-14 litres of water per minute!
3. Only run full loads of laundry. Top-loading laundry machines like the ones in our dorms use from 32-59 gallons per wash cycle.   
4. Report leaks to the office. If you see a dripping tap or showerhead, turn if off all the way.  If it's a leak, report it!

Easy Ways to Reduce Waste

1. Print double-sided copies. You'll use half as much paper and have much less to carry around.
2. Use reusable containers. Reusing is more efficient than recycling because you don't have to melt down and reprocess anything.
3. Choose products that have minimal packaging. Fresh food is much better for you and there’s less to throw away.
4. Recycle. You can recycle paper and cardboard on all campuses and cans, bottles, plastics at Mount Lawley . Make sure you use the bins provided correctly and reduce contamination.

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