Although it is only July,  October is National Energy Awareness Month, which is something worth mentioning.  Many colleges and universities across the nation use this month in order to save energy (and money).  Two higher education institutions use this to create challenges among the on-campus dorms – Penn State University and Skidmore College.

Every year, Penn State’s main campus at University Park, hosts a challenge between the different dorm hall areas – East Halls, South Halls, Pollock Halls, West Halls and North Halls – to see which area uses the least amount of energy. According to Penn State’s newspaper, The Daily Collegian, this competition is run by University officials who keep track of the amount of energy used by each dorm. The competition culminates at the end of the month and the dorm area that conserved the most energy is listed on top. While no prizes are awarded to residents of the building who conserves the most, there is a difference in the amount of energy used.

Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs also hosts a challenge amongst the dorms called “Unplugged challenge.” Skidmore dorms compete against one another for “the greatest reduction of energy consumption,” according to Skidmore News, for three weeks. However, Skidmore offers an incentive that shows a larger reduction in energy usage – a burrito party hosted by Chipotle.

This proves that reducing energy consumption is a trend across the board, including at higher education institutions, whether they are big or small. Skidmore College has about 2,400 students while Penn State’s University Park campus has about 40,000 undergraduate students. Saving the environment through energy consumption is easily done at all levels.

For more information about Skidmore College and Penn State University’s 2009 Challenges, click on the following  links:

Penn State University (The Daily Collegian)

Skidmore College (Skidmore News)

Photo by abby o.

It’s one thing to make a documentary film on America’s sustainable communities but it’s another to do it by bike.

The hand brakes have been applied to the pedal-powered production phase of a soon-to-be-released documentary film called Within Reach, a 6000 mile bike tour of communities, cohabitations, and communes shot entirely using solar-powered electronics and leg-powered bicycles.

We caught up with riders, director, and producer Ryan Mlynarczyk and Mandy Creighton encamped and rejuvenating at the Joyful Path Healing and Meditation Center out in Blue Mounds Wisconsin.

For us that meant eco villages, co-housing communities which are more of an urban, townhouse style co-habitation, a co-op where everybody lives under the same roof but you each have your own bedroom.  And then we also visited a couple of the old communes that are still around.

The movie isn’t slated to be screened until Earth Day 2011 but you can catch teasers, clips and blog posts on their website, WithinReachMovie.com.

For more on sustainable communities and the full interview with Mandy and Ryan, click here.

Photos by Ryan Mlynarczyk.

Just like your old car, your old appliance is worth an additional bonus check from the government if you relinquish it during the cash for appliance bonanza!

There will be anywhere from 50 up to 200 dollars given to you for your old appliance when you purchase a new one that has the EPA’s issued Energy Star sticker. The sticker was developed by the EPA to indicate an appliance has met the new standards for energy savings. Which means savings for you as well in your home energy bill. In addition to saving us all money, global warming caused by emissions from less efficient appliances is hoped to be greatly reduced. The larger the scale of participants, yes, this means you, the greater the benefit to the earth.

If you’re confident in your old appliance, and aren’t sure you need a new appliance, one thing to consider is that if that appliance is fifteen years old or older the EPA recommends replacing it. Other tips for getting more savings and less impact on the environment out of an appliance include choosing a refrigerator with a top freezer instead of the side by side model. Also, choosing a washing machine that is front loading, versus top loading, is found to be more energy efficient as well.

Each state is allocated funds and has up to February 17, 2012 to apply the incentive. Check out your state and local government web-sites for when the rebate will be in effect for your state. Your local appliance dealer should have this information as well. It is still not indicated whether or not rebates can be applied retroactively, so stay on the look out and you might end up with extra Holiday spending money.

Photo by wackystuff.

A controversial new report says carbon offsets are a dangerous gimmick.

From the international Kyoto Protocol to the recent energy bill that passed the US House of Representatives, carbon offsets have been a centerpiece of policies designed to make countries responsible for the amount of CO2 they’re allowed to produce.

The general idea behind carbon offsets suggests US polluters send money overseas in exchange for promised – and often pretend – pollution reductions elsewhere.

Michael Despines, Climate Resilience Campaign Coordinator for the US chapter of Friends of the Earth.

For example (in) the United States, our per capita emissions is still about 19 tons per person. The world average is only 4 tons per person and in the developing world, it’s only about 2 tons per person.  So we’re still emitting much, much higher than our fair share and with offsetting, it sort of locks that unfair ratio in place.

According to their report, Friends of the Earth recommends the US clean it’s own house by reducing emissions by 40% by the year 2020 before paying for the cleanup of our neighbors.

For a look at the full report and extended interview with Michael Despines, click here.

Illustration by Will Etling.