OSU plans event to power down for an hour and save energy

Thursday, April 11, 2013

On Tuesday, April 16 Oklahoma State University employees and students are being asked to participate in a campus-wide experiment to see how much energy can be saved if they power down all non-essential lighting and electronics during the lunch hour.

Student organization ECO-OSU is partnering with the Offices of Sustainability and Energy Conservation and several student organizations to promote Turn It Off Tuesday: SGA Sustainability, Innovative State, BAE GSA, Net Impact, and the OSU Chapter of the Society for Environmental Scientists.

“It will be interesting to see how much we can save collectively on campus through the actions of many individuals,” said Ryan Haase, ECO-OSU president.

OSU Energy Educators will calculate the savings achieved during the hour and make an announcement at ECO-OSU’s Earth Fest Friday, April 19.  

“We’d like to start a tradition where we power down during the lunch hour every year on the Tuesday of Earth Week as a way to raise energy conservation awareness,” adds Haase, “but we hope the lasting impression will be for all of us to power down during every lunch hour, and every evening and weekend we are away from campus.”

An important element of Turn It Off Tuesday will be to turn off only non-essential lighting and equipment.  “There are research projects and safety provisions that require a constant stream of energy and should not be powered down” warns OSU Utilities Director, James Rosner.

So, if it’s not essential and it has a switch or plug, turn it off on Tuesday, April 16 from 12-1 p.m.  “Even if you don’t take lunch at noon and need computer access or other sources of energy, if you have natural lighting in your space, you might at least turn off the lights,” offers Ilda Hershey, OSU Sustainability Coordinator, “every little bit helps when everyone participates.”

The one-hour event is part of OSU’s Earth Week activities.  For more information on OSU sustainability efforts go to: http://www.sustainability.okstate.edu/.