Energy | March Sustainability Update

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Office of Sustainability

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Mar 3, 2011, 10:42:50 AM3/3/11

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Santa Clara University - The Jesuit university in Silicon Valley

SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE, MARCH 2011

Residence Energy Challenge

The Residence Energy Challenge is making a big impression across campus. Open to off-campus residents, the Challenge is a way for students to get involved with sustainability and learn how to save energy. The Housing Office is sponsoring the grand prize; winning residents choose from: a communal Nintendo Wii or PlayStation, tickets to a Giants game (10 tickets/ton CO2 avoided) or a donation of water filters to a Honduras village in the name of the winning building's residents. The winning off-campus house will be reimbursed for its electricity bills during the Challenge.

Chris Watt, Director of Utilities, University Operations

It's pretty difficult to spend a day on campus without noticing something the University is doing to reduce energy consumption and increase its reliance on renewable energy. Students, faculty, and staff, more often than not, pass by without giving these initiatives a second thought. Though Chris Watt, Director of Utilities and Contract Maintenance, claims his last name had nothing to do with spurring him into a career dealing with energy, he has thought about the University's energy consumption on a daily basis for 25 years.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS Strategic Plan Includes Sustainability at High Level The 2011 Strategic Plan is the first to make sustainability, along with social justice, a University goal and priority. SCU's understanding of sustainability focuses on the triple bottom line: environmental protection, economic development, and social development. The 2011 Plan stresses the importance sustainability as a multidisciplinary topic, one that "can be illuminated by all fields and perspectives." More news this month: -Farmers & Pesticide Poisoning -Students, AASHE Board -Sierra Club Internship -Sustainability Journal	Events Spring Quarter Clothing Exchange to benefit HomeSafe members The GREEN Club and SCCAP will present SCU's first-ever Swap for Good during the first week of Spring Quarter. Students, faculty and staff are invited to donate or exchange clothing. Participants are encouraged to take one less item than they brought, so the item can be worn by a woman or child at the HomeSafe domestic violence shelter. Also happening this month: -Sustainable Energy & Social Responsibility 3/3 -Spring Break with BUG -Garden Club Meeting 3/30 -Native Garden Tour 4/17 -Sustainability Teach-in 4/19-20	What Can I Do? Tips to reduce, reuse, recycle, and respect while conserving energy on campus. Reduce: help peers remember Reuse: repurpose items Recycle: light bulb recycling Respect: CFL cleanup DID YOU KNOW? Campus buildings are coated with highly reflective paint, improving building energy efficiency.

ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY UPDATES
SUBSCRIBE The Office of Sustainability will continue to e-mail Sustainability Updates to SCU students, faculty, and staff through non-Essential SCU Global E-Mail Distribution Lists. Others are welcome to subscribe to our listserv using the link above.	ARCHIVES Read past Sustainability Updates. Articles are sorted by tags for quick browsing.	SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS Have a suggestion for a program or person we should showcase? Want an upcoming event included next month? Please contact the Office of Sustainability with your idea.