Pemi Hall has been declared the winner of the annual PSU “Do it in the Dark” energy saving competition, with Grafton Hall and Mary Lyon Hall taking second and third.
“Do it in the Dark” is PSU’s way of promoting their environmentally friendly style, while teaching students in residence halls good energy saving habits. The competition occurs for eight weeks, from Oct. 1 through Dec. 1. During that time, students are encouraged to unplug or turn off anything that they could in order to save energy. The main goal is to help students realize that conservation is key, and to make them aware of how much energy can be saved every day. Each residence hall competes to see who can save the most. The amount of energy used by each residence hall is then compared to the amount of energy used during the same week the previous year. Any activity that saves a bit of energy is beneficial.
With the help of promotion by the residence hall sustainability fellows, students learned quick and easy ways to save energy. The residents took the competition and ran with it this year. Unplugging computer and phone chargers, turning off lights and televisions when they are not in use are all easy methods students used to save energy. Other easy ways students saved energy were by taking shorter showers and shutting down their computers rather than just putting them to sleep.
This year the residents of Pemi Hall managed to save 18,142 kilowatt hours (KWH) of energy, a decrease of 39.10 percent from the amount of energy used this time last year. The PSU residence halls, including Langdon Woods as a whole saved 54,107 KWH, a 7.06 percent increase in energy savings from last year. The amount of energy saved is the equivalent of running a standard washing machine 28,000 hours nonstop. The total energy saved added up to $9,213.
The good habits formed during the Do it in the Dark competitions are seeming to stick. “A lot of my residents are still turning off the lights,” said Grafton CA Lauren Cawley, “The hallway is always dark.”
“Overall, the increase in environmental initiatives here at Plymouth State has led to a positive change in student’s awareness/lifestyle in the residence halls,” said Sustainability Fellow Kelly Donovan. “The students recognize that their behaviors affect our climate. At both the community level and globally, ‘Going Green’ has become not just a trend, but a movement.”
As a reward for their hard work saving energy the past two months, Pemi Hall will have half priced laundry the entire month of Feb., and as a consolation prize, Grafton Hall will have half priced laundry for one week in Feb.