unPLUg

PLU buys their energy from Parkland Light and Water, a co-op that distributes power from BPA. The majority of electricity is generated from hydropower, a renewable resource by definition, but still extremely damaging to water ecosystems. In addition, with the growth that the state of Washington is experiencing, utilities are expecting to need to increase transmission lines within 20 years, another energy intensive, expensive and environmentally degrading practice. You can help by limiting your power usage to only what you need.

2010 marked the inaugural annual residential competition that is unPLUg. Students in four halls, Pflueger, Hong, Tinglestad and Ordal were asked to unplug unused electronics, or switch off there powerstrips to help reduce residential hall energy consumption. The competition itself is setup in a bracket format, where halls are competing against other halls individually in hopes to make it to the next round. After completion of the first round, the halls that produced the greatest decrease in kWh usage were awarded SmartStrips, to help further reduction energy consumption in the second round.

To view the progress we've made as a result of unPLUg, see the Excel worksheet showing the hall's statistics.

Sustainability

unPLUg

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