Upcoming projects promote sustainability

Earth Week, Green Initiative Fund and IU Energy Challenge are only some of the ideas in the works for the IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability interns. And they’re looking for all the student participation they can get.

Throughout the year, the task force strives to improve green operations and raise awareness about a variety of environmental issues on campus. The upcoming projects are part of the plan to achieve these goals.

For these events to be a success, members of the task force said they need students to participate actively and volunteer their time toward the cause.

“We really want to engage the student body,” said Aimee Light, a sophomore Task Force on Campus Sustainability intern. “Anyone can do it. It’s a pressing issue.”

Light, along with the rest of the interns, is in charge of her own sustainability project.

The first opportunity for students to make a difference will be during the IU Energy Challenge, which will take place March 25 to April 22.

The challenge is to see which of the 10 participating dorms can save the most energy and water. Collins cannot participate because it does not have its own meter.

Last year’s energy challenge resulted in the conservation of approximately 446,139 kWh of electricity and 613,919 gallons of water, which avoided an estimated $26,000 in utility costs.

School of Public and Environmental Affairs graduate Mckenzie Beverage, who is the intern behind this year’s project, said she is confident this year’s students will exceed last year’s numbers.

Intern Coordinator Michael Steinhoff said he hopes students will make the effort to do the little things, such as turning off lights when leaving the room or taking shorter showers, to amount to big energy savings.

Following the energy challenge is a two-week event to commemorate and celebrate Earth Day. Earth Week, April 12 to April 24, will feature a series of events that intend to educate, inform and entertain.

Plans for the celebration include a concert at Dunn Meadow on April 17 and four nights of panel discussion on global, corporate and campus sustainability, among other activities.

Earth Week is a collaborative effort with a number of other environmental groups on campus and in the community.

“It’s amazing how many student groups there are working together for the same cause,” Beverage said.

The task force’s next event, E-Waste Collection, will take place April 30 to May 2. The event will station collection points for old cell phones, alarm clocks, computer monitors and other electronic devices in Bloomington and Indianapolis, with Bloomington’s collection point at the stadium.

This event allows students the chance to properly dispose of old electronics at zero cost to the community.

The first two days of the collection will be geared toward business and organization waste, and the third day will be geared toward students and community members.

One of the sustainability task force’s ongoing projects is the Green Initiative Fund, which is an effort to add an option to donate $5 to the Green Fund during online class registration.
The money donated would be used to make campus more sustainable.

To successfully add the donation option, the task force needs to obtain the signatures of 10,000 supporters of the addition by the end of the semester.

Anyone interested in any of the events organized by the Sustainability Task Force is encouraged to contact Steinhoff or one of the interns.

“Being environmentally conscious isn’t a hard thing to do,” Beverage said. “Once you make it part of your routine, it’s really easy.”