Green initiatives continue on campus

Among fees students are required to pay each semester, $5 is paid to aid in making the campus more eco-friendly.

The Green Fee is a mini-grant program that delegates money each semester to students for on-campus initiatives. The proposals are approved by the student-led Green Fee Committee.

“I feel if they did up the fee to $20 or $25, there would be more money in the pot and stuff that’s more beneficial in the long run,” senior exercise major Tyler Summey said.

Other students feel as if the fee is suitable as is.

“I think it’s an adequate amount of money. It’s subject to what it falls under, and what it’s used for,” senior rhetoric major Clay Ireland said. “Obviously we need more bike racks, our facilities could be better, but do I think we need a recycling receptacle in every building? No.”

One of the programs set in place by the Green Fee Committee is dedicated to energy conservation across campus.

“We’re putting timers on the drink machines to find out if we can save energy when the building closes down,” said Sam Ovett, junior environmental science major and holder of a Green Fee grant. “It’s set up to turn off an hour after the building closes and turn on an hour before the building opens.”

The machines run on refrigeration compressors which are heavy on consumption,

“They use up a lot of energy, about 1.5 kilowatts per hour, which adds up,” senior physics major Emily Hill said. “Especial

ly when you have 7 machines in one room.” The machines will turn off for at least eight hours per day which will save 12 kilowatts every day per machine.

“It was about seven SUVs that you would take off the road annually, is what we estimated if we turned these machines off,” Hill said.

The Green Fee Committee granted $285 to purchase the necessary timers for the drink machines. Programs dedicated to making it easier for other students to be green, such as covered bike racks and bike repair stations, have also been approved.

One main initiative is the money saved by GC by implementing these green devices.

“I don’t know how much money GCSU is going to save by putting in new bike racks,” senior psychology major Geoff Foster said.

The Green Fee is a part of the Georgia College Sustainability Council’s main campaign, the Green Initiative. The Green Fee grant programs contribute to the overall goal of the Green Initiative which is:

“To make our campus more sustainable and promote sustainable practices within our community,” Ovett said.

Last year, the Initiative commissioned the special topics class that conducted the on-campus energy audit.

“We’re working on doing surveys for the dorms so we can find out how much energy is used per student,” Hill said.

Not only does the Green Initiative encourage large scale programs, but also for students to contribute every day.

“Pay attention to what you’re doing and live consciously,” Ovett said.

Posted by MarkWatkins on Oct 20 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.