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10:10 Schools

Joining 10:10 makes your school or university part of the solution to climate change.

The aim is to reduce emissions by 10% in one year – or as close as you can get. By reducing emissions you’ll be cutting costs and leading the way on the defining issue of our age.

10:10 schools are pulling out all the stops to cut 10% of their emissions this year, helping them save on energy and bringing the issue to life in the classroom. More than 1000 have already come on board - it’s time to join them.

You can reach us by emailing schools@1010uk.org

The 10:10 colleges and sixth forms programme is coordinated by People and Planet.
colleges@1010uk.org

People & Planet support college and school students to tackle global issues like climate change and will help you do just that. People & Planet can supply a range of support, both face to face and remotely, to provide you with all you need to reach your 10:10 vision.

 

 

How it works

By signing up to 10:10 you commit to support the national drive to reduce Britain's carbon emissions. That means urging your staff, students and alumni to sign up to cut their own emissions by 10%, helping to distribute our tags, and doing everything you can to reduce your own emissions.

Becoming a 10:10 school, university or college means making a commitment to pull out all the stops and try to reduce your carbon footprint by 10% in just one year. For most institutions 10% is ambitious but achievable. It’s the low hanging fruit: eliminating waste, increasing efficiency, that sort of thing.

However, we recognise that some progressive institutions that have made significant cuts already may find it virtually impossible to achieve a 10% cut over 12 months, which is why we will celebrate any cuts of 3% or greater. 3% per annum is the baseline ambition at the level of national government, so anything more than this represents genuine headway. 10:10 is all about giving it everything we’ve got. Until we do that, we won’t really know what’s possible anyway.

What exactly do we have to do?

Carbon footprints can be measured in different ways, but for 10:10 purposes, we’re talking about four key areas:

  • electricity
  • on-site fuel use (gas, for most of us)
  • road transport
  • air travel

These are the four areas we will be asking you to report your progress on at the end of your 10:10 year. You'll be given your own emissions reporting tool to enter your figures into when you sign up but you can see a demo version of the tool here. 

In addition, joining 10:10 means trying to find ways to reduce your other, harder to measure emissions not covered above, and doing what you can to encourage staff, students and alumni to get involved.

Why should we sign up?

Young people everywhere are waking up to the realisation that they will be left to pay the bill for the environmental damage done by previous generations unless swift and effective action is taken now - action like 10:10. Schools, colleges and universities have a special duty to be at the forefront of this drive, and signing up to 10:10 means your institution is blazing the trail towards a low-carbon future.

Using less energy will also be good for your budget. You’ll save money now as your bills shrink; you’ll save money in the future when laws force everyone else to catch up with you; and you’ll make money by keeping staff and winning students from rivals who don’t seem to be doing their bit.

Reducing your footprint is also the right thing to do, of course. 10:10 is about coming together to build a better future for people and planet.

Why 10%? Why now?

With climate change, everyone talks about long-term targets: Britain is committed to an 80% cut by 2050, and at least 34% by 2020. But scientists say it won’t be possible to meet these targets without the right action now – and that means cuts of around 10% in the very near future.