Lasell College recently hosted a greenhouse gas reduction contest. In this contest, students wrote proposals on how Lasell could reduce our carbon footprint. I was not a judge as I had helped students develop the proposals. Now that the contest is over, I have had an opportunity to read them over and I must say, the entries were all great. Students proposed carpooling plans, solar panel initiatives, recycling programs, and even lighting conversion programs. In the end, the committee had to select two winners. First-place and the prize of $750 went to Andrew Gundlach and Dan Iles. The runner-up was Felicia Tempesta.
Andrew and Dan's proposal had three main components. First, they proposed reducing the set-point of campus thermostats. They surveyed area colleges and discovered the set-point was much higher than on other campuses. They also surveyed students and found most complained about the temperature being too hot. Second, they proposed using electricity management technology on campus that would reduce consumption by over 25%. Finally, the proposal called for the creation of a course called Environmental Assessment and Change. Their proposal was well researched and organized in a clear and concise format.
Felicia proposed a solar power project on campus. In her proposal, Felicia did a great job of researching costs and identifying sources of financial assistance. It was clear from Felicia's entry that a solar panel project is something Lasell could do.
While there were only two winning proposals for this contest, the other entries certainly will not end up in the circle file. Students that submitted proposals did a tremendous amount of research and proposed ideas that could be implemented on campus to reduce our footprint. The Green Campus Task Force and the President will continue to consider all of the ideas.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to to everyone who submitted an entry. We appreciate your hard work and clever ideas.
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