Soon, being energy conscious can earn you more than just the satisfaction of saving the environment, as the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) issues an energy conservation challenge to students living on campus—a challenge which is driven by a $20,000 grand prize.
NYPIRG, which prides itself on being the largest nonpartisan student directed organization both on campus and in the state, decided to initiate the university-wide competition in conjunction with the University’s recent efforts to abate the burden of rising energy costs across campus.
The concurrent cash prize follows an $800,000 grant supplied by Physical Facilities earlier this year. That grant was designed to promote energy conservation initiatives such as NYPIRG’s.
The first annual event, which has been highly publicized both on campus and off, officially began February 6th with a media conference of University administrators, including President Lois B. DeFleur, NYPIRG representatives and student leaders.
The competition itself will last for five weeks, and pits each of the University’s seven residential communities against each other for the $20,000 award, as well as whatever eco-friendly bragging rights winning residents may or may not want to flaunt.
“The main purpose is to raise awareness of energy conservation,” explained Becky Kaufman, public relations coordinator for NYPIRG’s Binghamton chapter.
According to Kaufman, the winning community will be decided March 10 through a comparison of statistical data and energy output monitored by Physical Facilities and engineering students. Past data has shown that communities such as Dickinson, Hinman, Newing, Hillside and Susquehanna use approximately similar amounts of energy per semester—roughly 500,000 to 700,000 kilowatt-hours—while communities like College in the Woods and Mountainview far surpass that average, coming in at around 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours each a semester.
To give students an idea of this kind of energy output, a kilowatt-hour of energy typically costs between two and twenty cents depending on where and when it is purchased and by whom. This much energy can typically operate a 40-watt lightbulb for a full day, a 19” color television for about four hours and an electric hairdryer for around 30 to 60 minutes.
So what can interested energy-smart students do to increase their chances of wining NYPIRG’s cash? Kaufman suggests a multitude of easy everyday conservation-conscious activities students can do painlessly. These include, but are not limited to: turning computer monitors off at night, using stairs instead of elevators, washing only full loads of laundry, turning lights off when not in use and even being discriminatory with printing. Of course, students who are truly motivated in environmental protection may choose to swear off laundry altogether and sit in their dorms in a perpetual state of darkness until spring break.
“It’s really just about not using things when they’re not in use,” said Kaufman.
For further information on energy conservation or the first annual Binghamton University Energy Conservation Contest, Kaufman suggests students log on to http://energysmart.binghamton.edu or http://nypirg.org/fbg/tips