 Pumpkins were carved, T-shirts painted, and signatures collected at Harvest Fest Thurs.
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To further raise awareness of the importance of conservation and to create a tradition similarly successful to the spring semester's Earth Day celebrations, Ecopledge and the Undergraduate Government of BC sponsored "Harvest Fest" Thursday in the Dustbowl.
Students on their way to and from class stopped to paint pumpkins and T-shirts, make potted plants, feast on candy, and learn about big and small changes that they can make on campus to help the environment.
In addition to the lighter festivities, students from Ecopledge and the Urban Ecology Institute also offered presentations on environmental issues and energy use on campus to promote their new policy proposal, "The BC Clean Energy Policy," which would be a formal commitment from the University to obtain some or all of its energy needs from renewable sources rather than carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Those behind the plan say that it will benefit the school by lowering energy costs and reducing BC's impact on global warming.
Efforts to conserve energy and improve energy efficiency on campus reduced the University's energy usage by 10 million kilowatt hours and saved Boston College $120,000 last school year. The savings were made possible thanks in large part to campus groups such as Ecopledge which work to educate students on how to help the environment.
"It's not just an environmental issue, but it's a societal issue, and economic issue, and a global justice issue too. We're trying to get support because it's a problem of our generation," said Katherine Walsh, president of Ecopledge and A&S '08.
With its new plan, Ecopledge aims to convert 60 percent of University energy requirements to clean sources by the year 2010 and 30 percent by the next academic year. In conjunction with the presentations, signatures were also collected in support of the new initiative.
The BC Clean Energy Policy also entails an interest-free Revolving Loan Fund with an initial investment of $1 million which would be committed to energy-saving initiatives. It would also be self-sustaining because the money saved through energy efficiency projects would then replenish the fund for future projects and initiatives.
2008 Woodie Awards
