Sustainability committee boosts conservation efforts

Sarah Farr Guest Writer

Recently, suggestions for conserving energy have been popping up around Vassar. The tips range from turning off energy-consuming sceen savers to limiting the use of water in the shower, and are the result of the efforts of the Sustainability Committee, a group on campus that aims to reduce the amount of natural resources that Vassar uses.

According to Cat Foley ’08, a member of the Sustainability Committee, “conservation is something that is the responsibility of everyone as a citizen of Vassar [and] as a citizen of earth.” In the past, efforts have been made to put this philosophy into practice. For instance, last year’s conservation campaign allowed Vassar to purchase wind-power certificates for seven days, powering our campus for a short time with nothing more than harnessed wind energy.

Foley admitted that while this was a step in the right direction, more needs to be done. A major downfall of past campaigns has been their limited ability to track energy use on campus, making it difficult to know where plans for improvement are most needed. This year, however, metering devices have been implemented in dorms, which will allow the committee to track energy use in the near future. This will give the College an accurate gague of where the most improvement is needed. The Committee plans to take full advantage of the metering devices by hosting competitions among dorms to see how much energy they are able to save. The Committee is confident that incentives like these will significantly bolster students conservation efforts.

Foley said that saving energy is especially important right now because of the current economic crisis due to oil costs, which “increases the prices of all types of energy, [and has negative] geopolitical effects [due to] the strive to obtain these sources.”
But, Foley pointed out that saving energy does not necessarily require students to drastically change their current energy-consumption lifestyle. For instance, Foley advised that students aim to “carpool as much as possible, ride [their] bike, limit the number of appliances they use and how much [they use them], to take advantage of natural light, [and to] consolidate refrigerator use.”

The Sustainability Committee is not alone in its effort to reduce Vassar’s energy use. Vassar Greens is hosting its second annual event event “Do it in the Dark” on Nov. 17. Musicians will perform using acoustic instruments and everything will be lit using candles. The food will also be raw so that resources won’t be expended in preparing it. President Fran Fergusson is also committed to the campaign. Even Buildings and Grounds is helping by aiming to make campus buildings more energy-efficient and increasing recyling efforts.

Foley is spreading the word through a variety of facets including e-mail, flyers, and the College Center screen. Interested students can get involved by e-mailing Foley at cafoley@vassar.edu or the Sustainability Committee at sustainability@vassar.edu.