Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon

As world leaders talk, local schools cutting carbon
As world leaders talk, local schools cutting carbon
By John Myers Duluth News Tribune, Minn.
Publication: Duluth News-Tribune (Minnesota)
Date: Monday, December 7 2009

Dec. 7—As President Barack Obama and the leaders of 191 other nations meet in Copenhagen this week to talk about cutting global-warming emissions, students in more than 100 schools across Minnesota already are taking action.

Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon started earlier this year, and
students and staff are moving to cut energy use and cut the carbon footprints of their schools.

Last month, UMD students volunteered to screw 50,000 new LED light bulbs onto strings of decorative lighting in the school’s Ordean Court. The new bulbs use about 90 percent less energy than traditional models and will pay for themselves in a couple years.

“I think it’s important that we have ideas coming from students now. It’s important that UMD be a model, not just for the students here but for the whole community,” Stacy Gerths, a UMD junior, said. “We need to change lifestyles if we are going to solve this.”

Gerths, a business management major, is one of the carbon-cutting leaders on campus and the only student representative on the UMD sustainability committee.

The Schools Cutting Carbon program is a three-year effort by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Office of Energy security and Clean Energy Resource Teams. All 103 participating schools received $500 grants to conduct energy audits to calculate their carbon footprints and began mini-projects and activities to start cutting carbon and draw awareness to the problem.

Now the schools are competing for about a dozen $20,000 grants to put their bigger ideas to work. The winners will be announced later this month.

At UMD, students want to use the grant money if they win to start a revolving loan fund to pay for projects that cut energy use. The fund would be restocked by the school as it incurs actual savings. Another idea would reactivate an old water reservoir system developed by Chester Congdon at Tischer Creek near the Glensheen mansion and create a mini hydro-electric generator.

“Even if we don’t get the grant, we’re going to keep this going,” Gerths said. “There are too many good ideas out there to waste. And we need to start making a difference.”

At Hibbing Community College and Aitkin High School, students are looking to cut transportation contributions to carbon emissions, focusing on carpooling to cut energy use — including a computer database of students and where they live to see who may be able to pool rides.

At Proctor, students formed a group called the Green Bandits to apply for their grant. Not only do they hope to replace lighting in the school’s gym; they want to develop a system to run several personal computers off one drive, with an 80 percent cut in energy use.

There also are plans for an electricity generating solar panel on the new concession stand at the football field. And the school is starting a new recycling program to eliminate Styrofoam and plastic in the lunchroom, cutting carbon emissions and reducing trash.

The goal is to cut the school’s carbon footprint by 10 percent, or about 100 tons per year, over the next couple years.

“Computers are a huge energy loss at our school. We can run like 10 computers off one with this new system,” said Caitlin Rudd, a Green Bandit eighth-grader. “We’ve also been using some cool new gadgets that show us where we are losing energy around the school — then we try to think of ways we can fix it.”

At UMD, sustainability coordinator Mindy Granley said carbon calculators show 90 percent of the school’s greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity and natural gas. Every effort to make lighting and heating more efficient so less coal (for electricity) and gas are burned helps reduce carbon, Granley noted.

“We’ve been working administratively for a while on taking steps to cut energy use and carbon. But [Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon] is exciting because it has got students involved,” Granley said. “We’re working off their ideas. It’s also saving some money, which is good in a state budget crunch like we have.

Students also recognized that how they get to school creates carbon emissions, and last spring held a “bike, bus and board to school” promotion.

UMD already has made some moves. Earlier this year, four new outdoor solar-powered trash compactors were placed at key locations around campus. They crush trash so containers need to be emptied less often, and recycling bins are included at the same site. There also are solar panels on top of the football stadium.

Campus officials also turned down the thermostat this winter and are asking staff to stay home for the holidays during the Dec. 24-Jan. 4 break. The goal is to shut down as many departments as possible to save energy and money.

“In the past, when people complained it was cold in their rooms, we turned up the heat. But this year we’re sticking with 68 degrees. When people ask us to turn it up, we’re saying no,” Granley said. “We’re also asking staff to take two vacation days during the student break — and that would give us 11 days to essentially shut down the campus and turn down the heat. It’s not mandatory, but it sounds like a lot of people are going to give it a try.”

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