Start organizing your shower races, Northwestern. In the month of February, dorms and Greek houses duke it in the out battle of the greenest. North by Northwestern sat down with Green Cup Co-chair Michael Giannetto to talk about the competition.
The McCormick junior got involved with Green Cup, run by Students for Ecological and Environmental Development, with the goal of getting the student body to be more aware of their actions and to learn to be sustainable.
The competition started in 2006 as a way to get people to think about their day-to-day consumption of resources like water and electricity. Over the years, the competition has been adapted to fit Northwestern students. In the past, Green Cup has been either two weeks long or six weeks long. “Now it’s found its way to be a month-long competition,” Giannetto said. “We find that that works a lot better for organizational and publicity purposes.”
Another change is that the Greek system has been given its own competition. “Students have much less control in the dorms. A lot of lights have to be on just for security purposes,” Giannetto said. “In the Greek houses there’s more control and more unity so it’s better for us to work separately, but towards the same goal.”
Green Cup is also partnering with other groups on campus, such as Engineers for a Sustainable World and Dance Marathon. The Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern helps fund Green Cup, as does a Be the Change Grant from the Center for Student Involvement.
That funding goes towards the prize for the Green Cup and Greek Green Cup winners. The incentive for cracking down on that water usage and turning off those lights at night will be a cash reward for the Greek winner and a selection of prizes for the dorm that wins.
“One possibility is a green party at the eco-friendly restaurant Uncommon Ground in Lincoln Park, and they would give a presentation about their rooftop garden,” Giannetto said. “We’re also working on getting a bike-share program for the dorm.” The winning dorm can also opt for a cash prize.
The winners will be the dorm and Greek house with the highest percentage reduction in water and energy usage, comparing February’s stats to January’s. “We award points throughout the competition,” Giannetto said. “If a dorm does nothing throughout the first three weeks and then the last week they reduce a lot, we don’t necessarily want them to have a greater advantage than someone who’s been consistently making reductions every week.”
To win the competition, students should be aware of the little things. “A lot of students don’t turn off their laptops at night because they don’t want to go through the hassle of starting it up again,” Giannetto said. “Some don’t even think it’s using energy as it’s sleeping, but it uses a fair amount.”