The Lighting of the Lawn Committee recently announced that its annual event will see a few changes this year to make the event more environmentally sustainable.
David Jessee, chair for the Lighting of the Lawn Committee, said the committee has purchased new LED lights, which will significantly reduce the amount of electricity used for the event.
“The LED lights use 80 percent less electricity than the lights that have been used in the past,” Jessee said. “They have a much longer lifespan and should be able to be used for decades to come. With the LED lights, we are saving the University money in regards to amounts of electricity used but we’re also investing in the future.”
Blaire Hawkins, member of the Publicity Committee for the Lighting of the Lawn Committee, said the event’s organizers decided to make Lighting of the Lawn more sustainable earlier in the year when they began talks about purchasing new lights.
“If we were thinking about replacing the lights, why would we buy lights that were of the old technology when we could get more efficient lights that would probably cost less in the long run?” Hawkins said.
Once the committee decided to purchase new lights, it then had to handle the issue of how to increase funding, Jessee said.
“We went to different school councils and multiple school councils donated,” Jessee said, noting that the Commerce Council, for example, reached out to Dominion Power for support.
The committee raised enough funds to pay not only for the new LED lights but also for catering and entertainment for the event.
“We have a small budget surplus,” Jessee said. “And we are using it to purchase more food for the underclassmen reception and hopefully improve the sound system for the a capella groups.”
The lights are not the only aspect of the evening that will be more sustainable. The cups and napkins used for beverages and snacks will also be 100-percent recyclable, said Rae Sullivan, publicity chair for the Lighting of the Lawn Committee.
“I think it’s a nice gesture, but I don’t really know how much it’s really going to do,” graduate Arts & Sciences student Sheena Singh said of the changes. “I mean, sure they’ll be saving some energy and that’s good, and making sure that you’re cups are recyclable is good, but who’s to say there’s any follow through with them actually getting recycled? There’s probably still going to be trash cans everywhere for people to throw away their trash, so what difference does it make if they’re recyclable if no body is recycling them?”
Committee members, however, said they see their efforts as extending beyond the initial environmental impact and possibly raising awareness across the entire community.
“Over our time at the University, environmental sustainability has become more and more of an issue,” Sullivan said. “People are trying to make a big effort to do what they can to help; I think for years to come this will be a bigger part of every organization’s agenda.”
Hawkins agreed, adding, though, that the committee made the decision to “go green” not just because it is a popular trend.
“It’s not that this is just a hot-button University issue; this is a lifestyle change that we want to promote to other students because it’s to the benefit of all people in the long run,” Hawkins said.
The eighth Annual Lighting of the Lawn will take place Dec. 4 starting at 6 p.m.
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