Did you know that, according to the EPA, about 71.5% of the electricity in the U.S. is generated from non-renewable resources such as oil, gas, and coal?
What can be done to change this? There are obvious things such as turning off lights when not using a room, turning down the heat in the winter, not using electricity as often, etc. But what about as a college student at Western? As students at Western, we are actually rather lucky that we do have opportunities to effect some change in the amount of electricity being used by our campus. Also, we have ways to learn new information that other campuses may not offer.
Did you know that the HRL (Housing and Residence Life) website has a feature that allows students to see how much electric energy is being used by their dormitory? This feature is called the Energy Efficient Dashboard (or just Dashboard). (http://www.wku.edu/housing/dashboard.htm) Dashboard allows students to see their dorm’s electric usage and even compare it to other dorms on campus. The feature also translates the amount of electricity being used into other forms of energy use such as miles driven in a car, carbon dioxide emission, or dollars spent. Dashboard is updated every 60 seconds so students know they are getting the most up-to-date information as possible. As students at Western we should take advantage of this wonderful tool and use it to our best ability.
Another resource offered by Western to promote eco-friendly change is the GreenToppers. GreenToppers is a student-led and ran organization that is focused on informing people about environmental problems as well as informing people on how they can make changes in their lives that will help preserve the environment. GreenToppers also offers and supports events around campus for students to get more involved. If you’re already well informed about sustainability and environmentalism, GreenToppers is still for you as it is also a place for people who are already environmentally minded to have their ideas heard and put into action. Being known all throughout Bowling Green, the GreenToppers allow students to have their voice heard by important people all around Bowling Green as well as campus. If you thought you couldn’t make a difference, think again. The GreenToppers is your portal to have your ideas on sustainability heard.
The Office of Sustainability does a great deal of hard work every single day to make Western a more sustainable campus, but since a university thrives through its students, Western needs student voices to make the changes happen. Before Western makes a change it wants to know that the change is something that will be supported by the students. This means that as students we have a responsibility to keep pushing for sustainable movements on campus. This is your chance to get involved!
For more information on anything written in this blog contact me, Adrianna Silver, via email at: adrianna.silver@gmail.com
