Two degrees, that’s how much the earth is allowed to warm up, as was decided at the 2015 Climate Conference in Paris. We at HI Norway want to do our little bit to reach this global goal: On February 18th, we organized our very first Warm Sweater Day! The idea is simple: in our hostels, we turned the heating 2°C lower than usual. And all you had to do, is put on your warmest sweater!

Norway has the highest per capita household electricity consumption in Europe. Almosts all residential heating is electric, while the price for electricity is the lowest in Europe. Our heaters have a large share in the greenhouse gases emitted by our planet. Energy consumption reduction is the most efficient opportunity to reduce emissions.

Therefor, we at HI Norway organized our first ever Warm Sweater Day, an idea we borrowed from the Netherlands and Canada. We reduced the temperature in our hostels by 2 degrees, reducing our energy consumption during one whole day. By doing this, we found out, we had a 7% reduction of our energy consumption that day!

But the guests didn’t have to be freezing that day: we made sure to keep them warm in alternative ways! On our Warm Sweater Day, we organized a photo competition. People could post a sweater-related picture that day on Facebook or Instagram, using the hashtag #hisweaterday. The picture with the most likes won a free one-night stay at one of the HI Hostels in Norway for two persons! The winning picture was a highly original and funny picture, taken by Hannah Bollmann in Narvik, Northern Norway.

Guests staying at Oslo Hostel Haraldsheim, were offered a cup of hot soup that day! Also, we collected clothes from staff and friends of the hostels to donate to refugees in Oslo.

We want to thank everyone participating on our very first Warm Sweater Day.
Do try this at home, and see you next year!

Text by Robin Van de Walle
Sheep photo on the top by Jacob Bøtter