The results are in for the 2009 West Virginia University Energy Conservation Awareness Now (WE CAN) Ecolympics and they are better than ever.

During the campus-wide, four-week competition, 32.3 tons of paper, plastic and aluminum were recycled. The occupants of 56 campus buildings participated in the competition, 10 of which reduced overall energy consumption by at least 20 percent. Half of the buildings’ energy consumption was reduced by more than 10 percent.

“The results are excellent. It shows that we can accomplish a lot in a month’s time, but our next challenge is to continue this effort for the next 11 months,” said Clement Solomon, director of the WVU Office of Sustainability.

“I believe we can do it and extend that same commitment and lifestyle throughout the year,” he said.

The WE CAN Ecolympics is made up of three competitions between residence halls, campus buildings and a second competition among residence halls to see which facility continues with the recycling and energy conservation efforts after the competition is over.

The 2009 winner of the first residence hall competition was Summit Hall. The occupants of the hall recycled 11,841 pounds, an average of 6.2 pounds per person, and conserved 25 percent of their energy.

Occupants of the Communications Building, located on the Evansdale Campus, won the campus buildings competition. The occupants recycled a total of 1,650 pounds, an average of 13.72 pounds per person, and conserved 24.8 percent of their energy.

In 2008, occupants in 52 of the campus’ buildings participated and collected more than 30 tons of materials.

“Sustainability is a journey. We will continue to build partnerships and move forward as a campus community to recycle and conserve energy,” Solomon said.

To learn more about campus sustainability efforts, visit http://wecan.wvu.edu/ .

-WVU-

cd/01/25/10

CONTACT: Clement Solomon, WVU Office of Sustainability
304-293-7916, Clement.Solomon@mail.wvu.edu