This fall, 19 residence halls at the George Washington University competed against one another to curb their electricity and water consumption.
And after a semester of vigilantly turning off the lights, unplugging unused chargers and turning off the faucet while brushing their teeth, the students living in Mitchell Hall came in first place.
The Eco-Challenge, which ran from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, is an effort of the Division of Operations including Facilities Services and the Office of Sustainability.
Mitchell Hall reduced its electricity consumption by 12.4 percent and its water consumption by 18 percent compared with last year. Sophie Waskow, sustainability project facilitator in GW’s Office of Sustainability, believes Mitchell Hall’s success is due in large part to its eco-reps – students that lead their halls in the Eco-Challenge.
“Mitchell Hall had some of the most involved eco-reps, and they really increased student engagement,” she said.
Sophomore Miles Milliken, one of Mitchell Hall’s three eco-reps, found that engaging people in conversation about sustainability is the most effective way to get them to change their behavior.
“I like the environment, and I feel that humans are adversely affecting it. But I believe changing even the smallest of habits can make an impact on our environment,” said Mr. Milliken.
Mr. Milliken, along with his fellow Mitchell Hall eco-reps Kimia Pakdaman and Amitava Paul, held several events with free food, including a pizza meet and greet and a rooftop party, in order to encourage students to learn about the Eco-Challenge. At these events, the eco-reps talked one on one to as many students as possible.
“I really believe our events made a significant impact in reminding the residents of Mitchell Hall of the small and often overlooked things they can do every day that can help conserve water and electricity,” said Mr. Paul.
The Dakota came in second place, with a 19.8 percent reduction in electricity and water consumption, while Cole Hall came in third place with a 19.5 percent reduction. Fulbright Hall conserved the most electricity across the campus with a 13.9 percent reduction, and the West End reduced the most water at an 18.3 percent reduction.
Overall, the 19 participating residence halls reduced electricity consumption by 1.9 percent over last year.
“Buildings represent our largest source of electricity consumption for our carbon footprint,” said Ms. Waskow.
Ms. Waskow suggests students use natural light during the day, take shorter showers, air dry clothes when possible and set the air conditioning and heat at moderate levels.
“Conserving energy and water isn’t just a semester-long competition,” Mr. Paul said. “Although it’s great to see how much usage we can reduce in just a few months, the goal of this program is to promote habits that will lead to lifelong sustainability practices.”
GW faculty and staff offices interested in learning how to incorporate sustainability into their practices can sign up for the Green Office Program through the Office of Sustainability by emailing [email protected]. Students interested in serving as eco-reps and helping with RecycleMania and other sustainability projects in the spring can contact [email protected].
“As eco-reps, we’re appalled at the rapid pace of global warming and environmental damage, and we’d like to stop this change,” said Ms. Pakdaman. “I hope my little involvement will create some sort of change.”
Top 10 Residence Halls to Reduce Electricity and Water Consumption
- Mitchell Hall
- The Dakota
- Cole Hall
- The West End
- South Hall
- Fulbright Hall
- Thurston Hall
- The Schenley
- Madison Hall
- West Hall