“Wearin’ of the Green” Comes Early This Year
Blair Vies in Green Cup Challenge to Save Electricity

Visitors to Blair’s campus this January found a snowy white wonderland. Starting Monday, January 26, however, they’ll find a green and white color scheme, as Blair makes good on its intent to enter the Green Schools Alliance Green Cup Challenge. Blair Academy’s Sustainability Committee members have been working to implement this four-week, electricity saving program that extends until Monday, February 23. For kick-off day starters, the Blair community found itself dining on a smorgasbord of green food during lunch, with more on the Monday dinner menu. And at School Meeting, details of the Cup contest were announced right after the String Ensemble played “Greensleeves.” As it happened, the kick-off coincided with the fact that, on the same day, President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a waiver requested by California and 13 other states allowing them to set stricter standards on emissions than federal requirements.

Faculty member Rob Merrifield, co-chair of the committee, explained the premise of the competition: “Approximately 40 independent schools on the east coast will be involved this year in the challenge, including other MAPL schools such as Hill, Peddie, Mercersberg and Lawrenceville. During the competition period, each school attempts to reduce its use of electricity as much as possible. By reading their electric meters during January and February, then comparing that usage to the same time period three years previous, each school can calculate its percentage reduction. While, of course, there is some element of competition between schools to see which can lower its electrical use the most and win the Green Cup, the real purpose of the contest is to encourage members of all schools to improve their energy-saving lifestyles. The real winner is the environment as we reduce pollution from power plants.” (See www.greenschoolsalliance.org for details.)

Committee members view this contest as an opportunity to educate hundreds of people about how important and easy it is to reduce their use of electricity. Students from each dorm – otherwise known as “green ninjas” – will take charge of that building’s effort to reduce its electrical use. After all, getting involved in this challenge is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills and do something positive for the environment and Blair.

Everyone will get into the act, as they say, from dorm residents, to faculty living on campus, to the staff working in various buildings at Blair. The Timken Librarians intend to create displays promoting sustainability, while day students will assist in ensuring that classroom lights and computers are turned off when not in use. Faculty are replacing the incandescent light bulbs in their residences with CFLs, which save 78% more electricity and are known to last 7-8 years. Creative ways to spread the word and help win the Cup are encouraged.

Last year, members of Earthshine – Blair’s student environmental club – created and sold T-shirts urging community members to “flick off” the lights; sales allowed them to buy 225 CFLs to replace all the incandescent bulbs in the campus dining room for a significant reduction in electrical use. Current Earthshine members are selling T-shirts touting water conservation in their goal toward outfitting all Blair dorms with low-flow shower heads that use half the water of the present ones.

Assistant Headmaster for Finance & Operations Jim Frick lauded such efforts in his Fall Annual Report message. “The business office will continue to work with Earthshine members and the Sustainability Committee as a whole to further educate everyone here on how to best conserve energy and reduce Blair’s carbon footprint.”

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Updated 1/27/09

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