Students with the Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program, are planning a free student barbecue and other campus events to get the word out about the three-week conservation competition, hosted by the Lucid Design Group.
Over the course of the contest, which runs Nov. 1 - 19, Green Campus will monitor energy consumption in residence halls. Electricity usage is the main focus, though water use will be monitored where possible. The data will be compared to baselines collected in the months prior. The goal is to be the campus with the greatest decrease in energy and water consumption.
“We’re trying to get everyone involved. We definitely want to win,” says Jon Mitscha, HSU Green Campus intern and project coordinator. “We want to put Humboldt on the map as the environmentally-proactive university.”
Although a win in the contest would affirm Humboldt’s position as a leader in environmental responsibility, winning is not the only goal. “It’s about creating awareness of our energy consumption in a fun and interactive way,” Mitscha says.
Green Campus is hosting a free student barbecue on Wednesday, Sept. 29, to raise awareness about the competition and celebrate Energy Awareness Month in October. The event will be completely solar-powered and Green Campus will collaborate with the Humboldt Student Food Collective to provide healthy, local food with low embedded energy.
“The barbecue is one of several events have planned prior to the competition to get students pumped up,” Mitscha says. “If we can get enough students excited about this early on, it will snowball into an HSU victory!”