The event entitled “Do It In the Dark: Get Turned Off!” is meant to fight apathy regarding the environment by encouraging students to think about reducing waste and energy use. Dorms and apartment blocks have the month of November to prove they have done the most or been the most creative in reducing their environmental impact.

Josh Duvauchelle, the Humanities and Social Sciences representative on TWUSA, has been planning the event since July.

Duvauchelle originally wanted to use energy metres for each residence building to monitor students’ energy consumption. After talking to a number of facilities and maintenance staff, however, Duvauchelle discovered this was not feasible for the short-term. TWU currently has one energy metre for the entire campus.

Duvauchelle’s inquiries have incited interest within different departments on campus, including Housing Services and Community Life, to create a more energy-efficient university infrastructure.
The focus of the contest was changed from accurately measuring energy consumption to looking for students’ effort and creative ideas.

Resident assistants and apartment reps will fill out an action report for each conservation initiative their dorm or apartment implements. TWUSA will accept these reports until midnight Nov. 30. The greater the number of reports a dorm or apartment submits the greater the chance of winning.

Each action report requires students to outline their target, goals, implemented changes and results.Jared Elenko, the RA of Fraser Hall 3H, says that his dorm was interested in the contest when he first told them about it, but that the ideas really started to flow when they heard about the prize money.
“Seems like every day they have new ideas,” he said.

Some of the dorm’s conservation initiatives include unplugging appliances that are not in use, unscrewing hot water taps on their sinks and not turning on heaters.  The boys are also taking advantage of “No Shave November” to use less water.

Elenko mentioned that their main idea is to use pop bottles to displace water in their toilet tanks, resulting in less water consumption.  The dorm is also considering purchasing reusable napkins to use when eating in the cafeteria.

When asked if they are worried other dorms will steal their ideas following the printing of this article, Elenko said the boys joked about keeping the contest’s goal in mind.

“If someone wants to copy our ideas they can – it’s about saving energy.”

Duvauchelle hopes that students will realize how easy it can be to reduce waste and energy use and maintain the changes following the contest.

“The most important part is getting people to start in the first place,” he said.

Elenko says that his dorm will probably keep some of their changes in place, such as the pop bottles.
A panel of judges will meet in the first week of December to determine the contest winners and divide a $700 prize amongst them. The panel will include Duvauchelle, representatives from Community Life, facilities and maintenance staff, and students.

Winners will be announced before the beginning of the final exam period.