The "Do it in the Dark" contest, sponsored by Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO), ended last Monday after a month-long effort to reduce energy usage in campus dorms. While over half of the dorms actually increased energy consumption, ECO members say the contest was a useful tool to address the campus energy crisis.
South Hall was the winner of the contest, reducing its energy consumption by 54 percent as compared to last February. While it is difficult to assess whether the contest actually changed the lifestyle of South Hall residents, ECO Co-chair Doug Rosenberg said the contest was "enormously" successful in educating students about energy concerns.
"If a few people thought about it more often than they normally would, we have fulfilled our mission," he said.
Because of its high occupancy, the former ECO co-chair, Keryn Bromberg, was surprised that South Hall won the contest. "I thought there was a potential for the smaller dorms to pull together and really rock the contest."
Bromberg realized last year that not enough of the campus was involved in energy saving because there was little monetary incentive for students to reduce their energy consumption. According to Bromberg, there is a grave need for people to change their lifestyle, rather than depend on the government to find new sources of energy.
"It's such a hot topic right now, with the debate on whether to open the wildlife refuge in Congress and allow for drilling in the Alaska preservation area," Bromberg said. "We felt that is just avoiding the problem, because it would only provide six months to a year of oil."
Residents of South Hall, however, were anything but surprised with the outcome, according to Karyn Blaser, a freshman of South. "Other dorms probably just weren't as aware of the contest," she said. "For the past month, it's been dark in the hallways. I definitely noticed people would turn off the lights in the hallway and in the bathroom when they left."
The contest was well advertised, organizers said, and to kick it off members of ECO went to the dorms and distributed energy-efficient light bulbs in exchange for regular tungsten light bulbs. Despite ECO's promotional efforts, some students chose not to participate in the contest.
"People turn the lights off in the bathroom, or in the stairwell. You can't see anything," said Melanie Spencer, a freshman in Hill Hall. "With the tuition my parents are paying, I shouldn't have to go around trying to find my way in the dark."
Other students also expressed concern about the program. Sophomore Jon Halpert, a chemical engineering student, said there was a danger in disposing of the tungsten light bulbs. "Tungsten is much more rare than electricity, and by throwing out those bulbs, you're throwing out about three percent of the tungsten existing in the world."
He questioned the incentives offered for saving electricity: "It would be a different story if the computer were gas-powered, for instance, and I had to think about spending money to power it up."
Sam Dangremond, a sophomore resident of South Hall, wondered how much was Tufts actually saved this month. "If South won the contest, isn't the cost of pizza more than the cost of the energy we saved?"
Some students said that RAs should have made a more concerted effort to motivate students. "I turned off my computer one night. I think the RAs should have emphasized it more," said Maureen Lynch, a sophomore who lives in Miller Hall, one of the dorms with the worst energy savings statistics.
ECO members agreed that there could have been a higher rate of participation, but the club's co-chair, Rebecca Batchelder, said the contest was somewhat disorganized in its first year.
"There definitely could have been more RA involvement. We didn't talk to them enough, but then again, we didn't know what we were originally going for. Next year it would be nice to have RA programs... and have a discussion on environmental programs."
Next year, ECO hopes to get more corporate sponsors to provide incentives to save energy, such as better prizes and possibly a hybrid car.
"It would be great if Toyota were to give us a hybrid car," Rosenberg said. "There is maybe a ten percent chance of getting one from Toyota and a 20 percent chance of getting one from Honda. But, I'm sure a lot of corporations would love to donate."
A few Boston companies donated free time and energy to reward Tufts students. This Wednesday, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., South residents will be treated to a Cheap Sox performance, free pizza from Domino's, treats from Boston Cookies, and concert ticket raffles from WMFO.
