30 March 2008

New Video!




Watch a promo for this year's George Goes Green competition!

Find out how to win at the all new www.georgegoesgreen.com!

Video produced and directed by CES Intern Maureen Sentman.


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29 March 2008

IT'S HERE

And it starts today!

Got your attention? Good. Because from March 29 to April 26, you can compete in the DO IT IN THE DARK energy conservation competition! You can win fabulous prizes. That’s right. And all you have to do is turn off your lights.

This year the judging will be based on the percentage of change in electricity usage from last year for each team, and also on participation. Do your best to get caught green handed! Activities such as turning off your computer, bringing a reusable mug or container to the dining hall, keeping the lights out during the day when possible, printing double-sided, and recycling can earn you points for your dorm.

You can also participate in the George Gets Ingenious Contest for the most innovative idea for sustainability on campus, which carries a $250 prize and is open to students, staff, and faculty. All winners will be announced April 26 at Earth Day in Wilmer Park.

LET US KNOW what you do to go green, and you could be featured on the blog and the college homepage and entered to win more fabulous green prizes! Send photos, ideas, tips, and suggestions to tholste2@washcoll.edu. Text photos to 410-303-8456 or upload to facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2203389452. Keep them appropriate, please. Photos will be judged based on number of times viewed, so send all your friends to the site to increase your chances of winning! This could get you famous- for real, it got me on the cover of a national magazine. As many as 200,000 people saw me in the shower.

For a list of teams, more tips on how to win, and regular updates, visit www.georgegoesgreen.com.


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25 March 2008

New Video!

A new video by CES intern Maureen Sentman, featuring the bird banding program at Chino Farms, where CES intern Melody Warner works to identify and protect species of migratory birds.


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20 March 2008

GREEN DRINKS TONITE


Green Drinks Tonite!
8PM ~ Andy's on High St.
Front room to the right.
Join us for a lively discussion of living green!


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19 March 2008

Tip of the Week

Did you know idling your car creates twice the emissions of a car in motion? Something about holding still. I've been told that starting your car up uses about as much gas as you use by idling for just one minute- 60 seconds- so really it doesn't make much sense to keep the car running, using up gas and emitting carbon dioxide.

Some interesting facts:
Idling 15 min per weekday can cost you up to $100 in wasted gas over the course of a year. American drivers use more than 2 bil gal of fuel each year while idling.

Crazy! Now turn that car off!


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10 March 2008

WTFG3?

So what’s the deal with G3, anyway?

George Goes Green started in Spring 2006, though Washington College students had been pushing the college to go green for years and years. However, at that time, it became official. If George Goes Green, you can bet the rest of the college will catch on.

So is this a mysterious conspiracy of the administration to save money on electric bills? No, not really. It doesn’t hurt the cause, but G3 was, and is, primarily student driven. It’s all about students getting involved and, George forbid, learning something in the process.

“Like what?” you may be asking. Well, believe it or not, you won’t be living in a dorm forever. One day you will be out on your own, in a nice little apartment with a TV and a fridge and lamps and all the rest, and one day, after you’ve moved in and hooked up your cable, you will get your first electric bill. Wherever you live, I can guarantee one thing: It won’t be pretty. Especially if you are unfortunate enough to have outdated heating or are running the AC nonstop. And you know what you will wish you had learned in college, right at that moment?

How to save energy.

That’s only part of what G3 is about, of course- most people are smart enough to quickly figure out how to turn down their thermostat after that first bill. G3 is also trying to teach how to think about these things, from a broader perspective. How do your every day activities effect others? How do they effect the environment? What actually happens when you flip a lightswitch?

These things may not seem important now, but believe it or not, we live in a world where in the very near future there will simply be no way around these issues. Our current sources of power won’t last forever, and when they run out, it’s go green or bust. Businesses and organizations all over the world are catching on, and with any luck, one day we won’t talk about going green. We’ll already be there. But until then, students need to be prepared with the knowledge to deal with things like sustainability, energy conservation, recycling and reusing- in all fields. On April 25, WC will host a panel of diverse speakers, from all ends of the spectrum, from a German banker to a Maine lobsterman. They will all speak on how, like it or not, they found themselves needing to understand a key concept in their jobs: going green. Our goal at the Center for Environment & Society is to impart these skills to students so they find themselves in advance of the workforce, already prepared with the knowledge to push us forward into a green future. And to have a little fun in the process.


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06 March 2008

A Sustainability Feature

Hey guys! Check out a CES video production hosted on YouTube. We will update the blog with new productions when they are up and running!


Keep checking for updates!


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