Students, Faculty and Staff Urged to Please 'Unplug for the Holidays'

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The U of A Office for Sustainability is sponsoring the 4th annual “Unplug for the Holidays” event. It’s a way faculty, staff and students can save energy on campus while on Thanksgiving holiday.

Being a part of this campus-wide campaign is easy. Before leaving your office or residence hall room:

1.Turn off non-essential electronics

2.Unplug your power vampires – equipment that consumes energy even when it’s turned off.

The fact is that electrical devices large and small use energy until they are unplugged.

What devices are power vampires? Here’s an easy checklist:

• Computers and monitors
• Televisions
• Power strips
• Chargers
• Printers, copiers
• Space heaters
• Office lights
• Microwaves
• Coffee-makers
• Most small appliances

 “Unplugging for the holidays is a great way to save the university money on electricity and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – all while you relax on vacation,” said Eric Boles, director of the Office for Sustainability. “Approximately half of our campus carbon footprint comes from the power plants that provide our electricity. Anything we can do to cut electrical consumption helps us meet our Campus Climate pledge to be carbon neutral by 2040.

“You can think of ‘unplugging’ as your gift to the campus and to the planet.”