Give credit to sustainability efforts

We are writing in response to Ruth McCann’s April 24 column regarding the recently concluded Energy Bowl and Water Derby. We applaud her efforts as the “Queen of Green” to champion sustainable causes among Stanford students.

We agree with the author that publicity and participation can be improved, and we are committed to working with Students for a Sustainable Stanford to help achieve that next year. We also hope that The Daily will provide better coverage of the contest in the future.

Though McCann offers some valid criticisms of the Energy Bowl, we do not want her chastisement of the contest sponsors and participants to detract from the real success of the event. Overall, energy consumption was reduced by 7 percent across all undergraduate residences which is a significant achievement, especially given that last year’s base was down 10 percent in energy and water usage from the previous year. We congratulate the contest winners, Kimball and Jenkins (it’s in the Governor’s Corner Suites, Ruth) for their 9 percent savings in the dormitory category and Columbae and Grove Lasuen for their 26 percent savings in the house category.

We also want the Stanford community to be aware of another recent conservation achievement that has not received Daily coverage. Stanford took high honors in two categories in RecycleMania, a national contest of over 200 colleges and universities. Stanford placed second in the “Gorilla Prize” category which recognizes the school that recycles the highest gross tonnage of materials during the 10-week competition. Stanford placed third in “Targeted Materials-Paper” which recognizes paper recycling. Contest results are posted at www.recyclemaniacs.org.

Though we can all continue to improve our sustainability efforts, students and the entire Stanford community should be proud of these conservation achievements. For its part, Student Housing is strongly committed to implementing policies and practices that preserve natural resources and reduce the overall impact of Stanford residences on the environment.

Rodger F. Whitney

Executive Director of Student Housing/

Chief Housing Officer

Alicia Restrepo Z.

Assistant Director of Student Housing

for Planned and Sustainability Projects