 "Photo: Jensen Power/Manitou Messenger")
St. Olaf students have demonstrated a new approach to campus sustainability through two Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF) projects – the Leave Your Mark challenge, a campaign for students to come up with their own green ideas, and the Penny Wars, a campus-wide fundraiser.
The Leave Your Mark challenge was one idea CERF had to creatively find ways to spend the $15,000 it has to fund energy efficient ideas on campus.
“The idea started as a way to generate buzz about CERF and to generate fresh ideas about how we could make St. Olaf more energy efficient,” Kate Horvat ’10, CERF Coordinator, said.
Three proposals were received – from Ralph Mantey ‘10, Soshana Blank ‘10 and Kirsten Theden ‘12. The proposals were reviewed by members of the CERF board, as well as SGA Environmental Senator Geoff Carlisle and Pete Sandberg, associate vice president for facilities. One of the proposals was returned to the applicant with further questions, to be answered at the first CERF meeting of next semester, while the other two proposals will soon begin to go through the initial test stages, which will help determine the winner of the challenge.
Theden’s idea was to install dual flush retrofits on toilets in the honor houses, a move that could cut water use by up to 40 percent. The project would pay for itself in less than four years.
“It’s not as difficult or time-consuming as I thought it would be to write a proposal for CERF,” Theden said. “I’m not a math person, so I was intimidated by the accounting portion of the proposals, but calculating the payback was really easy. I learned how to figure out if projects are economically feasible and when I can expect returns from cutting back on energy/water use.”
Theden’s proposal was accepted on the condition that the product works as well as it is supposed to.
Olivia Schares ’12 was one of the members who sat on the deciding committee for the proposals. She’s been involved on the CERF board for two years.
“I got involved because I wanted to be involved in something on campus that was implementing real changes and taking tangible steps toward sustainability on campus,” she said.
“The Leave Your Mark challenge was a great way for us to involve the St. Olaf community as a whole in exploring different inefficient aspects of energy and water use on campus that could be improved,” Schares said. “I think it started a valuable dialogue and interest that will continue into further semesters and projects.”
CERF also put on Penny Wars last week, in which they collected change from all the campus dorms to put towards sustainable projects. The dorm that collected the most change received a $50 contribution from CERF to put towards an energy-efficient appliance. The challenge earned $175 total, with Mellby winning the top prize by collecting $40.
“I think CERF creates a great opportunity for students to learn about low energy projects. They can apply what they learn in their own homes or even in the places that they work. People love saving money, so they’ll be willing to listen if someone can show them how to,” Theden said.
Be the first to comment on this article!