Transportation. Getting Around at Cornell:

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1 Sustainable Cornell A Student Guide to Energy Conservation on Campus

2 Why bother? Utility Conservation Program HALF of the money saved in energy conservation is given to the residence hall with the greatest reduction in energy from the previous year. $250 is awarded to the hall with the best program to publicize the challenge. Get your residence hall involved! Save Resources Coal, oil, and natural gas were produced over thousands of years by geologic processes. People cannot produce these resources. Currently, 86% of US energy comes from these sources and are estimated to be depleted in years at our current rate of consumption. Save the Environment We humans are changing the landscape, nutrient cycles, and the climate. The burning of fossil fuels is releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate. We don t know what these changes will do to our biosphere. In the words of Stanford biologist Peter Vitousek, we are changing the earth more rapidly than we are understanding it. Scientists are hard at work to better our understanding; do your part to reduce our impact!

3 Computers General Rules suggested by the US Department of Energy: Turn your monitor off if you won t be using your computer for 20 minutes. Turn your computer off if you won t be using it for more than two hours. Your monitor can consume 2-3 times more electricity than your PC. Screen savers do NOT save energy. Instead, change the settings on your computer to turn the screen black when not in use. Or better yet, turn off your monitor. Make sure to use the power management features on your PC. Learn how at When your computer is in sleep mode it uses 70% less energy. There are approximately 10,000 student-owned computers on campus. If all of these were to be left on for an entire year, they would use 10.5 million kwh, cost $840,960, and cause the release of 5256 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. It would take 704, million trees to offset that amount of CO2.

4 Lights Energy used by lighting depends on the type of light bulbs used. Incandescent Bulbs Switching incandescent bulbs on and off does make their operating life shorter, but it is not enough of a change to justify leaving lights on. Only 10-15% of electricity used goes to light; the rest goes to heat. Incandescent bulbs should be turned off whenever they are not needed! Fluorescent Bulbs Switching fluorescent bulbs on and off shortens their life more than incandescent bulbs, but if the cost of the bulb and cost of energy used is taken into account, the general rule is that if the light will not be used for 5-15 minutes, turn it off!! These bulbs use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Over three years a compact fluorescent bulb will save over $20, even considering its higher initial cost! Halogen bulbs are expensive to operate, inefficient, and a fire hazard.

5 Transportation Getting Around at Cornell: Having a vehicle at Cornell while living on-campus is rarely necessary. Finding a place to park can often prove quite an annoyance. Parking permits are expensive, as are parking tickets. On the other hand, the T-CAT buses ( are an excellent way to save energy through public transportation, in addition to getting you to where you need to be on time. Cornell has instituted a safe and effective means of bicycle travel, through a system of marked bike paths that are easy to follow. These paths serve as a medium for skateboarding and blading as well; even surfing during Ithaca s notorious, sporadically wet weather (not recommended)! Then again, you could always stick to the sidewalks and simply enjoy the views of the gorge and beautiful campus on your way to whatever destination. Let s not forget: with the delicious, quality dining hall food served on North Campus, it s nice to get some daily exercise by hiking to class, plus it s a great way to meet new people.

6 Wasting water = wasting energy Wasting water also wastes electricity. Community public water supply systems in the US process 39 billion gallons of water a day, and the process of cleaning, supplying, and heating water is the largest use of electricity in many cities. About 75% of the water used in most homes can be traced to the bathroom. By reducing the time we spend in the shower by one minute, residents of Cornell and surrounding communities could save over 100,000 gallons of water per day. (Note: This number has been corrected; an incorrect figure was published in paper copies of this brochure distributed in Fall 2005.) Try not to put water down the drain when there may be another use for it, such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning. Also, try not to use extremely hot water when it is not necessary.

7 Laundry Consider hanging clothes outside. Use lower temperature settings: Use warm or cold water for the wash cycle instead of hot (except for greasy stains), and only use cold for rinses. By presoaking heavily soiled clothes, a cooler wash temperature may be fine. Hot water sets stains and fades your clothes faster, so washing in cold will preserve that favorite sweatshirt! Load the washing machine to capacity when possible. Most people tend to underload rather than overload their washers. Washing one large load will take less energy than washing two loads on a low or medium setting. Don't add wet items to a dryer load that is already partially dried. Refrigerators Refrigerators account for as much as 15% of residential energy use. Cut down on their use by sharing a mini-fridge with a roommate or using the refrigerators in the communal kitchens, instead of having your own mini-fridge. Overfilling a refrigerator inhibits air circulation, reducing efficiency. Conversely, a full freezer works better than an empty one. Be sure that your refrigerator is sealing properly. Close the door on a dollar bill. If the bill falls, you need to fix the seal.

8 Two of the most sensible and easy ways to reduce energy use and be green: MAINTENANCE! Reporting maintenance problems is worthwhile and easy. A leaky window or a radiator that won t shut off can waste energy, as well as make you uncomfortable. You can request repairs for these and other maintenance problems by going to the Campus Life web page at Select "Facilities Work Order Requests" from the menu on the left and enter the requested information. RECYCLING! Ithaca has rules for recycling follow them! - Bottles, cans, and #1 and #2 plastics can be recycled - Containers with the mouth wider than the base cannot be recycled - Cardboard must be put in designated dumpsters - Paper to be recycled can go in the blue receptacles on campus Come to a meeting! Goldwin Smith 162 4:45 every Tuesday Sponsored by: Kyoto Now!, Cornell Utilities and Energy Management, and Campus Life Green Team