Hannah Morgan didn’t like how this year’s Focus the Nation teach-in handled issues of energy consumption, so she took matters into her own hands.

Morgan, a sophomore environmental science major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, jumpstarted Lights Out week, which started Monday and runs through today in response to the lack of emphasis put on energy conservation. Lights Out week is an effort to get students and staff in the habit of turning off lights.

‘They weren’t saying ‘conserve, conserve, conserve,’ but instead, ‘find alternative energy sources,” she said.

Morgan, an executive member of the Green Campus Initiative (GCI), an ESF student organization, wanted to send the message that there are simpler and less expensive ways to save energy.

‘If people don’t have enough money to buy a fluorescent light, they can get in the habit of conserving energy,’ she said.

Morgan worked with other members of GCI to coordinate the campaign. One member suggested having it this week, which immediately followed the global event, Earth Hour.

Last year, Sydney, Australia, turned off its lights to raise awareness about coal-fired electricity, according to earthhour.org. This year, the event went global, as cities all over the world turned their lights off for one hour, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday.

In Syracuse, there was an Earth Hour lap at SU’s annual Relay for Life event, and the lights in the Hall of Languages clock tower were turned off.

‘We’re empowering people that one small action can make a big difference,’ said Sarah Kelsen, student co-chair of University Sustainability Action Coalition.

Morgan took it upon herself to alert students, staff and faculty at both ESF and SU to be aware of their habits of turning on lights. She e-mailed listservs, made fliers and banners and relied on word-of-mouth to promote Lights Out.

‘It’s a matter of networking,’ Kelsen, a senior environmental resources and forest engineering major, said. ‘We want people to be more conscientious of our impact on the environment.’

Lights Out week has had positive encouragement from its coordinators.

Rick Martin works with Kelsen for Energy and Computing Management, an administrative department at SU. He said he has seen a positive reaction among students with regard to Lights Out week and the concept behind it.

‘There’s been a tremendous groundswell of support (coming from Earth Hour) that once a year for one hour is not enough,’ Martin said. ‘(Lights Out week) is real grassroots, as opposed to AstroTurf. … There is a sense of momentum.’

Morgan’s wants her campaign to make turning off lights a habit.

‘The goal is to get people aware of turning on lights because it’s so natural to turn lights on as soon as you walk into a room,’ she said.

Paul Otteson oversees the work of GCI, but said the students have taken the reigns of the group and its projects.

‘(Lights Out week) has very much been championed by them,’ Otteson said. ‘I just watch and encourage.’

Otteson said enthusiasm for the campaign is mainly coming from those involved in organizing the event, but he doesn’t underestimate students’ role in campaigns like these.

‘The biggest effect is a student-to-student message,’ he said. ‘It’s an educational opportunity.’

Otteson said events like Lights Out week are a new, growing trend.

‘We have Lights Out week,’ he said. ‘When did that happen before? This is the front edge of a clearly growing trend. I’m impressed.’

Caroline Massa, an ESF student, has known about Lights Out week through e-mails from GCI.

‘(I participate) when I can,’ Massa, a junior environmental studies major, said. ‘I don’t use that many lights anyway. I turn off the hall lights, but I haven’t had to change my behaviors too much.’

But not all students were aware of the weeklong event.

‘Lights out? Are we talking boxing?’ said Josh Kelley, a junior biochemistry major at ESF. ‘If the library, Jahn (building) and Baker (building) don’t turn off their lights, why should I? I imagine my apartment would consume a lot less energy.’

Ken Brault, a senior environmental biology major at ESF, saw the e-mail in his inbox but never got around to reading it.

Otteson said Lights Out week is a concrete event, and its success is measurable because light usage is directly related to fossil fuel use, which is the root of the global warming problem.

‘If you turn out a light, you save kilowatt hours,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how big the impact (on campus) is compared to society, but there is an impact. … I see it on my (electric) bill.’

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Published on April 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm