BOBBY BREITENBACH/Herald photo
WISPIRG members hide from the rain on Library Mall Tuesday afternoon.
Members
of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group’s campaign Big Red Go
Green kicked off their monthlong residence hall energy competition
Tuesday, which will pit dormitories against one another in a friendly
competition geared toward raising awareness and educating students
about environmental practices.
By comparing energy consumption
numbers for the month of April with a five-year average for university
dorms, the competition will measure residents’ energy reduction and
conservation efforts.
In last year’s inaugural event, dorms
across campus reduced their average energy consumption by 22 percent,
according to a WISPIRG statement.
“The goal of the competition
is to educate students on how they can reduce energy use in their
everyday lives and to show them that their actions make a difference,”
BRGG coordinator Alicia Geary said in a statement. “Once the
competition is over, we want residents to have formed good habits and
continue to use their energy efficiently.”
Samantha McKeough,
BRGG intern and event organizer, explained this is an important event
because students in the dorms are moving out of their houses and living
on their own for the first time. This is an opportunity for them to
start forming energy efficient habits to take with them into the future.
Newly
independent college students are not always as conscious as they need
to be about their energy consumption habits, according to Geary.
“I
think that it really depends on whether they pay their energy bills,”
Geary said. “In dorms, you don’t see that bill, and many new students
have never had to pay it before, so I don’t think they’re as conscious
about it.”
McKeough agreed, adding when students live on their
own, they need to start thinking about things they may not have thought
about before, such as turning off lights, unplugging power strips and
towel-drying your hair.
It is the small things that make the big difference, Geary said.
“Things
like unplugging your cell phone charger or computer, or getting
everyone in the dorm to watch ‘Lost’ at the same time in one room (make
a difference),” she added.
In addition to coordinating the
competition, BRGG is continually working with university officials to
update energy practices in all university buildings.
One project currently being pushed by BRGG, according to Geary, is getting energy monitoring systems on dorms.
“It
would be something where you put a monitor on each building and anyone
can look at any time of the day to see how much energy was being used
in your dorm,” Geary said. “It breaks it down by person; you can look
at how much coal is being burned at the time, how much CO2 is being
emitted and other things. It’s really cool.”
University
officials have also agreed to get professional assessments for
transitioning buildings with pools to fully thermal energy, according
to Geary.
