For the first time this year, Haverford is participating in the Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN), a competition designed to promote water and electricity conservation at colleges and universities around the world. Part of the “Do it in the Dark” campaign organized by the Committee for Environmental Responsibility (CER), it aims to promote energy conservation practices in the Haverford community.
CER, a group run by Haverford students, staff, and faculty, has an exciting line-up of events planned this month to boost the competition: A Kick-Off Party in the CPGC café with free offerings of Primo Hoagies and cupcakes on Feb. 6; a movie night with hummus and pita on Feb. 13; and, finally, a “Do it in the Dark” dance on Feb. 21. Contestants will be organized by first-year dorms, with the winning dorm getting the grand prize of cookies and hot chocolate for the entire hall!
“I believe the simplest and possibly most effective way that we can decrease our carbon footprint is by simply cutting down on overall usage,” says Gabriel Oppler ‘17, member of the CER. “We hope that this campaign will just be a first step in a long-term process of improving Haverford’s practices with regards to energy consumption.”Tritton, Gummere, and Barclay face off from Feb. 9 to Feb. 27. At the end of the competition, CER hopes to see a 10 percent total reduction in electricity usage in these halls; raise awareness about how much electricity students use; and inspire community members to form more environmentally-friendly habits.
The “Do it in the Dark” campaign has grown out of efforts by Haverford’s facilities department to reduce electricity consumption on campus. Last spring, the department and Lucid Design Group, an organization that specializes in energy management and monitoring through efficient software, installed electricity meters in 19 campus buildings in order to track electricity consumption via an online dashboard.
As one of its objectives this year, the CER hopes to increase engagement with the dashboard and Haverford community participation in the CCN. Last year, about 109 schools and 265,000 students across the world participated.