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The Spectator
HEAG Green Week Ends With Clean-up
by Ben Trachtman '12Science & Technology Writer
October 02, 2009
Last week, the Hamilton Environmental Action Group (HEAG) hosted Green Week, a series of events to help raise awareness about sustainability for both Hamilton College and the world in general. The week started off with a farmers' market showcasing goods and crafts from local businesses. It then continued with a lecture on conserving natural spaces from Biology Professor Ernest Williams and a showing of the documentary Food, Inc. The final two events of the week were a poll about what kind of measures students at Hamilton regularly take to help the environment, and an all-campus cleanup.
The poll, which was sent out by email, asked the respondents to fill out a survey entitled "How environmentally conscious are Hamilton community members on a daily basis?" Those who responded were entered into a random drawing for prizes which included gift certificates to Minar and Opus.There were 243 students who participated in the survey. See page 13 for the results of the survey and the winners of the drawing.
The all campus cleanup covered Rogers Glen, the Light Side, and the Dark Side, and was the most effective in the glen and around the dorms. HEAG encouraged those not participating in the cleanup specifically to still help out in picking up trash wherever they saw it not just during Green Week, but year-round.
The student body certainly got involved over the course of the week. Many of the events had great turnouts, such as people packing into the Glen House for the showing of "Food, Inc." and crowding the farmers' market outside of Commons Dining Hall. "It was a lot of fun," said Audrey Espey '12 when asked about her thoughts on the week. "It had a great message, too, and I think everyone took it to heart."
These are the things that Catie Ferrara '11 wanted to hear at the end of the week. "I think this was one of the best Green Weeks we've had in a while. The organizers got some really engaging activities together, like "Food, Inc.," which attracted students, faculty, and community members who might not otherwise join weekly HEAG meetings," she said. "We always hope the ideas have stuck, and we can extend 'Green Week' attitudes and initiatives for more than just one week." Judging from the turnout and enthusiasm at the various events, it seems like the community got the message this year even more so than in past Green Weeks. HEAG hopes that as awareness increases, Green Week will get bigger, too. At this pace, Green Week could become one of the core annual events on the Hamilton calendar.
With the goal of continuing the momentum of Green Week in mind, HEAG is already moving onto their next project. HEAG's dorm energy battle "Do it in the Dark" lasts throughout the month of October. This competition is designed to reduce energy usage in dorms across campus. This reduction in electricity use translates directly into a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the College and thousands of dollars in savings. Ferrara recommends "turning off lights, unplugging laptops, washing clothes on the cold cycles and taking shorter showers" as small and easy measures to take in order to reduce energy consumption.
In addition to reducing energy costs and usage, this event is meant to raise awareness about Hamilton's Energy Dashboard. The Dashboard keeps track of the energy usage in several buildings on campus—including McEwen Dining Hall, the Blood Fitness Center, and several dorms—in real time. It can also be used to track the history of consumption over the course of one day or an entire year for a particular building or convert a building's electricity usage into pounds of carbon dioxide or coal, gallons of gas, or even laptop hours. The Dashboard can be found at http://buildingdashboard.com/clients/Hamilton.
Energy usage during the competition is measured weekly and compared to usage over the past three Octobers. Last year, Milbank and Kirkland won the competition, and the entire campus successfully reduced its overall energy consumption by 14 percent. The dorm with the highest percent reduction this year will win 20-ounce stainless steel reusable water bottles.
HEAG has certainly hit the ground running this year. Their initial publicity blitz during Green Week has made the campus aware of both their presence and their message, and now the student body has a chance to show how it feels during "Do it in the Dark." HEAG has high expectations for this year and hopes to have a significant impact on the campus's energy consumption and carbon emissions.