97.8 percent of OU students agree with the statement, “OU should conserve energy.” If students are so concerned with conserving energy, residence halls are an excellent place to begin conservation efforts. However, it has yet to be determined if students are willing to conserve energy themelves, or if they think the university can work magic to conserve the energy itself. 50 percent of students still feel it is their right to consume as many resources as they want.
The Residence Challenge is an annual competition between all residence halls at Ohio University to see which hall can conserve the most energy. This year, water consumption is not being measured because not all water pumps and gauges on campus are functioning correctly. The current consumption is compared to the previous year's consumption for that building. The percent change is used to determine a "winner."
Although 97.8 students believe OU should conserve energy, not all of them are willing to make the necessary changes.
Of 25 residents surveyed, the top reason for not conserving energy is laziness/forgetfulness.
Amber McConnell, a first-year student, said, "I like when it's bright in my room and when I leave I forget to turn (the lights) off."
Students from the top energy-conserving halls from each green will be rewarded with an all expenses paid trip to Cedar Point on May 10 or 17, 2009. However, not all residents will be sent; only a percentage of them. Each week, the residence halls receive posters indicating the level of their energy conservation and the percentage of CO2 saved.
Residence halls are also an area to target because students living in them are not paying directly for utilities and therefore are not as concerned with the overall cost of energy consumption. Many students do not consider the fact that the cost of their energy usage is paid for in increased room rates.
"If I knew how much the energy was actually costing, it might convince me to conserve a bit more," McConnell said.
We are currently in week 6 of the challenge, Bromley has the greatest conservation on West Green, Biddle on East Green and Brown on South Green; check out the rankings now!. The winner will be determined after week 7.
Don't forget that you can make a difference! Turn off your lights and appliances!
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6 years ago
It is so contradictory that so many students think OU should conserve energy, but they are apparently exempt from that effort and should consume resources as if they will never run out! Do those students not see themselves as part of OU? Those two statements just didn't make a lot of sense to me. It is great that the university has a residence hall challenge, but I think if the university wants to make a difference in the community at large, it needs to include the students that live in apartments and dorms. I think it would be neat if off campus living had some sort of training on how to be aware of energy consumption in the home. Would anyone else be interested in that kind of event? Just curious to see if I am the only one or not.
ReplyDeleteI really like this blog, I'm one of those who thinks that I'm conserving energy, but in actuality, I could be doing more. You talk about what people aren't doing, so maybe incorporate an entry about people who are living as green as possible. Maybe you could post an entry about the green house that OU has (I unfortunately forgot the name of it at this precise moment though).
ReplyDeleteOkay, a small correction to my comment. I liked the two bolded statements at the beginning because they create conflict. I don't want you to think because I said they don't make sense that they don't belong on the blog. They are essential to the post. Also, I meant that the university needs to include students living in apartments and houses, not apartments and dorms. Obviously, the residence challenge covers dorms. I really wish I could figure out how to edit comments!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was found out I was paying for recycling pick up at my house, but I was not provided with a container. Is it the city's responsibility to provide a recycling bin? The landlord's? Let me know so I know who I can complain to. Thanks.
Hi Tina-
ReplyDeleteWhere do you live? I will try to obtain that info for you!
-Erica