Administrators and students deliberated on plans to make the University more environmentally sustainable at yesterday's Council of the Princeton University Community meeting.
Shana Weber, the University's manager of sustainability, updated the group on the University's progress and plans. Weber stressed that campus sustainability efforts are mainly driven by student work.
"Students serve as the ambassadors of sustainability on campus," Weber said, citing the U-Bikes and the compact fluorescent bulb exchange program as examples of successful student-led initiatives while noting that there is a concern about responsibly disposing of the bulbs, which contain mercury.
Connor Cobean '08 proposed putting energy meters around campus and creating a competition for energy conservation. "Fifty percent of energy choices depend on lifestyle choices," he said. Since students are not responsible for utility bills while living in dorms, he said, a new mechanism is necessary for students to become more aware of their energy use.
Cobean presented the example of a two-week energy competition at Oberlin College in 2005, which reduced electricity use at the school by an average of 32 percent, saved over $5,000 in utility costs and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 68 metric tons.
Whitman and Forbes Colleges already have some meters in place. Cobean said he hopes for an updated network of meters to be available by January and for the competition to be underway by the spring semester.
President Tilghman said she is "intrigued by the meters" and called the plan "a great idea," but she asked how the meters can be used in the long term to maintain students' "attention spans."
Wesley Loo '10, a member of the Princeton Ecology Representatives Program (Eco-Reps), suggested assigning Eco-Reps to RCA groups to encourage underclassmen to develop sustainable habits.
Ruthie Schwab '09 and Kathryn Andersen '08, leaders of the Farm to Fork Program, presented the future of the program's two projects. Schwab said that the sustainable garden plot will expand, thanks to a design by several graduate students from the architecture school.
Andersen emphasized the success of the Farmer's Market this past fall and proposed hiring a staff member to oversee sustainable food at the University. "We're not crazy," she said. "This is not some ... granola movement that a couple of students decided to jump aboard."
Tilghman raised concerns over the Princeton Stadium lights that are left on while the stadium is not in use. U-Councilor Maria Salciccioli '09 proposed the possibility of innovative lighting to simultaneously preserve safety and protect the environment. Weber said LEDs could be a "promising" solution.
Earlier in the meeting, University Provost Christopher Eisgruber '83 presented the Fiscal Year 2008 funding requests from various University offices, totaling $2.6 million. The requests are currently being considered by the Priorities Committee and will later be submitted to Tilghman and the University Board of Trustees.
Eisgruber said that "although the committee has tough choices to make, they will make those choices upon the background of vigorous financial health" as a result of PRINCO's investments on the University's endowment.
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