WMU launches Eco-thon to reduce use of electricity

By Fritz Klug
News Editor

Jo Wei Looi/Western Herald | From left: Western Michigan University President John Dunn, and Evan Escamilla and Nola Wiersma unveil two competitive initiatives for sustainability in residence halls.

Last November, Western Michigan University spent some $89,600 on electricity for its residence halls. Facilities Management hopes that, with incentives, they will not only reduce the amount of electricity students use, but also change their habits.

There will be 11 residence halls competing in the first Eco-thon throughout the month of February. The program is designed to give students an incentive to turn off the lights and save the university, and, in the long run, students’ money.

The competition will compare electricity usage in each hall against numbers recorded from Sept. 22 to Nov. 22.

According to Evan Escamilla, energy conservation outreach coordinator, this is the best way to chart the change.

“This shows a more accurate behavior change,” Escamilla said. Halls will be competing against themselves.

The idea is based of similar programs at Harvard and Duke, which Escamilla said were a success.

By offering incentives, Escamilla hopes students will take the time to reduce their use of electricity.

“Being a month long, we hope to break some old habits and start some new, sustainable ones,” Escamilla said.

Currently, there is no separate charge for electricity, heat, or natural gas in the residence halls.

Some of the prizes include $500 for the winning hall, a commemorative plaque, a memorial tree planted in the spring by Landscape Services, and a party with WMU administrators.

Escamilla said the program has been in the works for two years. The thing is that no one involved with the Eco-thon knows is how much the campaign will be.

“Any reduction is considered a success,” Escamilla said.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuO-Lw9-u4s[/youtube]

Facilities Management has worked closely with Residence Life to give information to students; Escamillia talked to hall councils, RAs and new volunteer EcoReps to help get the message out to residences.

The Eco-thon has a Facebook group with tips for energy reduction and news updates, as well as a tab on the Utility Dashboard that will display the weekly progress of each hall.

The Utility Dashboard, designed by student Cameron Dacker, shows different usages and costs for all buildings on campus in electricity, natural gas, water, and steam.

Dacker was able to sync up the meters across campus to the Web site, which he covered with a Flash interface.

The Eco-thon numbers will be updated each week.

On Wednesday, Jan. 27, a press conference was held in the Hoejke/Bigelow dining hall to announce the program. As students were eating lunch, university administration and faculty talked about the importance of sustainability, not only for the environmental impact, but also to reduce expenditures.

“This will help us continue our commitment to sustainability,” WMU President John Dunn said.

Nola Wiesma, a student who works for Recycling Services, spoke about the new competitive element in RecycleMania.

“The goal here is to be wise and resourceful in our use of energy,” Wiesma said.

Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell was in attendance. “We are wasteful a lot,” Hopewell said. “There are so many opportunities to reuse and recycle.”

Steve Palmer, director of Residence Life, said he hopes the Eco-thon starts something bigger than just a competition.

“We want this to go well beyond the two competitions going beyond one month, this is going beyond living two competitions in one month,” Palmer said. “This is an ongoing piece of living in the residence halls.”

For some students who were eating around the press conference, reducing their energy use is either a non-issue or an old habit.

“I have a tendency to walk out of the room with the lights on,” Nathan Smith, an Resident Assistant in the Little Three, said.

“Eventually I might, when I have to start paying my bills.”

Rory Salinas, also an RA, appreciates the Eco-thon because he turns off not only his lights, but also anything he sees that is plugged in and not being used.

“I feel like it’s not that big of a deal,” Salinas said, “it’s just the way people are, they are set in their ways. That’s what it comes out to and not just saving money.”

When Lauren Mogdis moved from the halls to her apartment, she began to monitor her energy consumption more closely. “If no one is in the room, the lights aren’t on,” she said.

Mogdis added that, when growing up, her father made her turn the lights off. But while living in the halls, she said she never thought about other things, like unplugging her computer. “The lights were the only thing I cared about.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Jan 28 2010. Filed under Breaking, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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