Students living in residence halls on the South 40 and fraternities are turning off lights, unplugging microwaves and printing fewer pages to win the WUSTL Green Cup.
The Green Cup recognizes both the residential college and fraternity that reduces its energy use by the highest percentage.
The Green Cup contest, which lasts four weeks and ends April 22, allows residential colleges and fraternities to earn points for each percentage-point drop in per-person energy use over the competition.
Energy use in each building is measured with meters recently installed in South 40 residence halls and fraternities. Data from those meters is uploaded to greencup.wustl.edu, which tracks the buildings’ current and past energy use and the competition’s current standings.
Students also can earn points for making a video on how they plan to reduce energy use on their floors or in their buildings; taking the sustainability pledge at sustainabilitypledge.wustl.edu; attending the March 28 Green Cup kickoff event; and creating an energy-reduction action plan for their floor or building.
The winning residential college will be awarded a Green Cup, made from recycled bottles, at an awards ceremony on Earth Day, April 22. The winning fraternity will receive a $500 prize and will have its name engraved on a plaque.
Individual rooms and suites also can receive MVP prizes to recognize their performances in the competition.
The Green Cup was developed and implemented by the Office of Sustainability and a student Green Cup committee, which included senior Chris Brennan, who originated the idea for the Green Cup. Other committee members were sophomore Mason Allen, freshman Jacob Lyonfields and junior Bryan Shalloway.
For more information about the Green Cup, visit greencup.wustl.edu.