Challenge minimizes energy, encourages lights off for 1 hour

As part of the IU Energy Challenge to minimize energy consumption in dorms and greek houses, Earth Hour is a global initiative to turn off lights and other electrical appliances from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Mike Steinhoff, intern coordinator for the IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability, said IU’s involvement began with an e-mail from the provost and president to make IU a “flagship campus” with the Earth Hour event.

“It was really great to have the administration commit and say, ‘hey, something’s going to happen,’” Steinhoff said.

The Office of Sustainability has coordinated with the Physical Plant to turn off decorative lights around campus during that hour, Steinhoff said.

The library, Sample Gates and fountains around campus will all be darkened. The athletics department will also turn off lights on intramural fields.

At the same time, students with IU Volunteers in Sustainability will travel throughout campus to check classrooms, hallways and public areas for lights that are burning needlessly.

“Lights are the easy thing to do,” Steinhoff said.

The action is a “symbolic event designed to engage people from all walks of life in the climate change discussion to send a strong message to our political leaders that we want them to take meaningful action on climate change,” according to the Earth Hour Web site.

This event occurs during the month-long Energy Challenge, which coordinator Mckenzie Beverage said is geared toward spreading awareness about conservation.
“You’re hyper-aware of what’s going on,” she said. “That will be a big message to the University that students do care about conservation, and they’ll notice.”

Michael Hamburger, co-chair of the IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability, said the Energy Challenge is “all about recognizing the scope of major global-scale issues and seeking solutions that involve a series of small-scale decisions that we all make in our everyday lives.”