PowerDown Energy Competition

Post date: Mar 24, 2014 10:45:34 PM

The Claremont Colleges are participating in PowerDown2014, a competition to reduce energy usage. The 5Cs are all competing against each other, and on each campus dorms are competing against each other.

Whichever college reduces its energy use the most as a whole wins the 5C competition, gets to host the closing ceremony, and gets the Green Cup!

Whichever HMC dorm reduces the most on campus wins DORM FUNDS!

Do your part in saving the environment while also winning for your campus and dorm! Pledge your support and get helpful information: https://powerdown.wufoo.com/forms/pledge-form/

Also, HMC is not competing to reduce water, but the pledge form and other materials have tips on water-use-reduction which is important to think about since we are currently in a serious drought.

Once the competition starts, you'll be able to track our progress here: http://buildingdashboard.net/hmc/#/hmc

Look forward to a number of fun, environmentally-friendly events throughout the next three weeks, hosted by ESW/MOSS!

ESW/MOSS dorm representatives are also gathering pledges from their dorms to reduce energy usage. The pledge, should you wish to take one yourself, is attached to this news post.

Tips to Conserve Energy (And some Event Ideas, too!)

Winning the competition means reducing the most energy. How do you and other students do that? The tips below are simple ways for individuals to take action and for your hall to make a group effort. Get people into the competition by making it easy for them to make a difference!

Turn off the lights (or better yet, don’t turn them on) and let the sun shine in. Make it an event to have an hour-­‐long lights out.

Use Compact Fluorescent or LED light bulbs.

One compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) saves $30 in energy costs and prevents the emission of 1,000-­‐1,200 lbs. of CO2 a year. Plus, they last 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb!

Plug in power strips – or unplug your appliances when they’re not in use.

Your electronics use energy even when they are switched off. A power strip stops this “phantom load” with the flip of a switch. We can save up to 10% of our energy by foiling the phantom. No strip? Pull the plug! (Be sure to keep your refrigerator plugged in to prevent unintentional food spoilage.)

Activate the power-saving settings on your computer so it sleeps within 10 minutes. Turn off and unplug the computer at night. Left on all day, the energy to run a computer costs $115-­‐160 per year! It emits 1,500 lbs. of CO2 into the atmosphere. More than one hundred trees are needed to absorb this amount of carbon dioxide.

Use cold water on your laundry.

Cold cleans just as well (other than deep stains – soak ‘em!), and it doesn’t shrink your favorite jeans. Hot water uses up to 90% of the washing machine’s energy, so cool it with cold!

Make each day of the week count!

Try designating different actions that your whole hall can adopt for each day of the week. Make Monday, “Take the stairs day,” make Tuesday, “No TV night,” make Wednesday, “Game night,” etc. Share the idea, post a list on all of the bulletin boards, and use Facebook to communicate. Repeat the list for weeks 1, 2, and 3.

Go outside and play.

Get everyone together to play volleyball or throw a Frisbee during the day. At night, organize a game of flashlight tag or walk to the Creamery. Games are free, healthy, and fun. Plus, when you’re outside, you’re not using electricity inside. What if the weather’s bad? Have a board game or movie night. Even if you’re using power, gathering the group together is better than using electricity individually.