On a Friday evening, as students leave their classrooms and labs, another group moves in — Illini Lights Out. Its mission isn’t an exam or experiment, but simply to find any glowing light left behind. One switch at a time, ILO volunteers brighten the University’s path toward sustainability by turning off unnecessary classroom lights to save energy and cut costs.
Armed with clipboards, volunteers form small groups and head into buildings across the Main Quad. From classrooms to hallways, they flick off unused lights, close open windows and record the number of bulbs they’ve switched off.
The work takes less than two hours, but its impact stretches far beyond a Friday night.
ILO began as a one-off event in April 2016, when the Energy Conservation and Building Standards SWATeam decided to test whether a small group of volunteers could make a measurable difference.
In just one evening, participants switched off 1,533 lights and closed 71 open windows, saving the University an estimated $250 to $300 in energy costs.
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The event’s success earned ILO funding from the Student Sustainability Committee to expand into a yearlong program that continues to this day.
For Miriam Keep, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment’s sustainability programs coordinator, ILO holds personal significance.
“This is my first role in sustainability,” Keep said. “But I think it is a really important issue for the times that we are living in right now, so it has been a really good learning opportunity for me.”
Keep said that while ILO focuses simply on switching off lights, the program’s broader goal is to build lasting awareness about energy use and environmental responsibility.
By involving students directly in sustainability practices, she hopes they carry those habits beyond campus life.
As the number of participants continues to grow, Yesenia Adrianzen, ILO event coordinator, EcoRep and senior in LAS, said seeing more students take part each semester has been especially rewarding.
“It is so exciting that we keep getting more and more volunteers,” Adrianzen said. “At the start of the semester, we had maybe 70 volunteers, and at this past event we had 215.”
At the ILO event on Sept. 19, volunteers shut off 2,011 light bulbs, saving the University $305.96 in energy costs.
Each semester, ILO dedicates several Friday nights to its events. Volunteers meet in the lobby of the Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building at 5 p.m. and receive a cookie from Bevier Café upon completing their tasks.
Mia Anguiano, an EcoRep and sophomore in ACES, wrote an email to The Daily Illini detailing how the events bring students together around a shared purpose.
“Observing the array of students who come to these events with all different backgrounds and reasons for being there is what fulfills me the most,” Anguiano wrote. “Even though all of these students are different in their own regard, they all still found their way to volunteer their time to sustainability, which is what matters most.”
Students interested in joining the next ILO event can register through the iSEE website. Open to students of all majors and backgrounds, each event offers a meaningful way to spend Friday evenings creating a brighter, more sustainable campus.
