YU Unplugged

Ester Stiefel is a junior at Yeshiva University and member/upcoming president of the YU Environmental & Energy Club. There is a Jewish concept not be wasteful and to protect our world, so when Ester started college, she jumped at the opportunity to put her values into action. Since, she has participated in Recyclemania, two hikes to promote outdoor appreciation, a beautification day at Fort Tryon Park, and a alternative fuel and sustainability event. YU's newest project is YU Unplugged, an initiative to raise awareness about reducing campus energy usage.

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April 7, 2009

In our continuing adventures with YU Unplugged we have had some success, but also some back-steps. One big success was that we were cleared for additional funding for our sticker campaign. Our design is also in the process, which is very exciting, and we hope to get them done by the latest May 5th when we are having an “environmentally aware procurement vendor show”. For starters we are making sticker to remind students to shut off their lights, but in the future we hope to make additional stickers to remind students to unplug their appliances and shut off their computers when they are not in use. Students also received the first update on their progress in reducing their energy consumption. They received building by building reports on their reduction of energy in the last two months. The winning building now proudly displays a student made trophy in their lobby. Some of the students definitely saw the reality of their energy consumption and how they can individually and collectively reduce their energy usage. It is going to be interesting to see who the winners are going to be in the coming months.

Additionally, two weeks ago we had an Environmental and Energy Club weekend, which was a great success, and many new people become aware and active in our campaign. In honor of th e weekend, we produced a newsletter on recycled paper about what the club does and specifically information about our YU Unplugged campaign. The newsletter produced a lot of positive buzz for the club and for YU Unplugged. I also wrote an article for the school newspaper about my trip to the conference and information about YU Unplugged.

The main set back that we have had is not having a light bulb exchange like we wanted. It turned out that not so many students have personal lamps so it would not be worth it to spend money on doing the exchange. Instead we hope to have tabling in the lobby of our main building on Earth Day to promote the club and our programs including YU Unplugged.

A lot of work has been done, but there is always more work to do and we are looking forward to our visit from the UN Foundation and SEI on April 27th!!

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