COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Friday is Earth Day, the 41-year old holiday created to honor and protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and most importantly, the planet we live on. In 1970, millions of people came together to celebrate the first Earth Day. Before the sun rises on Earth Day, announcements from The Ohio State University [OSU] and Columbus State Community College [CSCC] show the pride each institution has in their advances and accomplishments on greening their energy use.
OSU helps Big Ten
OSU is being recognized for helping the Big Ten Conference win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Challenge. OSU communication officials reported that since April 2006, the EPA’s Green Power Partnership has tracked and recognized the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power purchases in the nation. The U.S. EPA recognized Ohio State for its purchase, which contributed to making the Big Ten Conference the nation’s largest overall purchaser of green power.
Ohio State has purchased more than 51 million kWh of green power – about nine percent of the school’s annual electricity usage and enough to power about 4,720 homes for a year, OSU said, noting that The purchase of green power helps to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the university’s purchased electricity use. The university’s green power purchase will avoid approximately 81.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas. The environmental benefit is enough to offset carbon emissions related to the 12,100 tons of waste Ohio State sent to the landfill in 2010.
“This green power purchase is just one example of Ohio State’s leadership in sustainability and its commitment to encouraging sustainable economic growth,” Aparna Dial, director of Energy Services and Sustainability at Ohio State, said, according to OSU media officials.
OSU noted that the Big Ten had an annual green power usage of more than 256 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 21,000 average American homes for one year, with Pennsylvania State University leading the conference. The Ivy League, followed by the University Athletic Association are in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
Energy use down, students up at CSCC
Columbus State Community College announced Thursday what it says is clear evidence of across-the-board energy reductions. In addition to a three-percent reduction in 2009, energy use in 2010 dropped almost eight percent over the prior year, according to David Wayne, CSCC Media Coordinator. "The figures are impressive considering the college has witnessed a double-digit increase in students over the same period," Wayne noted.
Wayne the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already recognized Columbus State as having one of the 25 best climate commitment plans. Moreover, he said, as part of a strategic goal, the college added automatic light sensors, fluorescent lights, and more efficient boilers. Wayne said there will also be a focus on better management of hoods in science labs.
CSCC is also reducing energy use and pollution outdoors. "Sustainable landscape practices were instituted on our 85-acre downtown campus," Wayne said, adding that the plan uses alternatives to maintaining traditional grass lawns, including the planting wildflowers, meadows and other ground covers." The logic here is that native plants and grasses requiring less maintenance also were used on CSCC's Delaware Campus when it opened in 2010.
The overall goal, Wayne said, is to reduce lawn mowing by at least 60 percent. He said that studies have shown that over the course of one year, a single gas mower can spew 87 pounds of CO2 and other pollutants. For reference, Wayne explained that The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that one gas mower running for an hour emits the same amount of pollutants as eight new cars driving 55 miles per hour for the same amount of time.
"These outdoor initiatives also will allow students in the new sustainable landscape program to observe and track results of these alternatives to highly maintained lawns and gardens," Wayne said.
The presidents of CSCC and OSU recently unveiled a collaboration between their education institutions that will provide qualified Columbus State students with a guaranteed shot at rearning a four-year undergraduate degree from OSU. Ohio.
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