As athletes from around the world prepare to compete in the Olympics, Dal residence students are set for a showdown of their own.
They鈥檙e tightening their 鈥済reen belts鈥� in the hopes of being the 鈥渂iggest loser鈥� in the , which kicked off this past Friday.
From January 31 to February 14, students in residence buildings on both the Halifax and Agricultural campuses are being challenged to cut down their water and energy consumption by at least five per cent. But this year the stakes are even higher.
AV俱乐部 students are not only competing residence versus residence for the coveted trophy and movie night, but AV俱乐部 as a whole is also competing in the Atlantic University Annual Energy Challenge with other universities across the region to reign in energy consumption.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be to the other universities,鈥� says Rochelle Owen, director of the Office of Sustainability and organizer of the event. 鈥淚t鈥檒l engage people, show school spirit and most importantly build up the competition.鈥�
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Tracking the competition in real time
To kick up the competition, this year AV俱乐部 students can scope out in real time how they are measuring up in the competition. , electric and water usage of the residence buildings is being monitored and displayed online at all hours of the day.
鈥淚f you do a major event like shutting all the lights off for an hour, you鈥檒l see it immediately on the dashboard,鈥� says Owen. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the idea behind the immediate feedback: that you can do collective action to cut consumption and really see the results.鈥�
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Capitalizing on this, on Friday, all residence meal halls turned off the lights and had a 鈥淒inner in the Dark鈥� where students ate by candlelight for the evening.
Residences will be organizing several events over the next two weeks to raise awareness and cut consumption. Some of the fun events include 鈥済reen trivia鈥� night, movie night and a 鈥渃ommitment to the earth鈥� candy-gram event, where students trade a written commitment of how they will make to live more sustainability for a vegan cupcake.
On the Agricultural Campus, students are challenged to make commitments to take sustainable actions and make changes in their lives. Students will also be able to take part in the various campus-wide Ecolympic events like National Sweater Day and meal hall theme days.
鈥淎s this is our first year doing it, it鈥檚 all about getting people to understand how they can be sustainable,鈥� says Victoria Oliver, organizer of the Ecolympics on the Agricultural Campus. 鈥淲e want to get people excited about this so we can make it even bigger next year.鈥�
Train like an 鈥淓colympian鈥�
Want to put your best foot forward in the competition? Here are some ways to cut your consumption daily:
- Take shorter showers
- Take the stairs
- Bring your own mug and reusable water bottles
- Unplug power appliances when not in use
- Lower your thermostat
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room
- Get involved! Join the Green Residence Forum or other student sustainability societies on campus
鈥淚t鈥檚 really that you鈥檙e competing against yourself,鈥� says Raja Ubhi leader of the Green Residence Forum. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just about being smart, changing the way you think and living within your means. You don鈥檛 need to be extreme, just smart.鈥�