The month of UnPLUg just started last Wednesday, Oct. 1st. For those that don’t know, UnPLUg is PLU’s annual energy conservation competition between the residence halls on campus, and has been successful in reducing students’ energy consumption each year since it began in 2009.
This year’s campuswide event is the Keep It at 68 Sweater Swap, where students and other members of the PLU community can get a new sweater by trading in one of their old sweaters. If they don’t have a sweater to trade, there is still the option to pay a few dollars to purchase one. The sweaters will come from Goodwill or other students who have already participated in the swap. The goal is to get students to put on warmer clothing instead of turning on their heaters.
There are many other things students can do to conserve energy, such as unplugging appliances that aren’t currently being used and turning off the lights when leaving a room. Another strategy for students  is adjusting computer settings to automatically turn off or go to sleep after not being used for a certain amount of time.
Conserving energy is an important component of caring for the environment, and of PLU’s mission statement. Reducing energy consumption through both changing behavior, as well as investing in energy-saving techniques, such as the insulating, double-paned windows that were recently installed in Stuen Hall, will go a long way towards helping PLU reach its long-term goal of being carbon neutral by 2020.
For more information about sustainability at PLU, visit www.plu.edu/Sustainability, like PLU Sustainability on Facebook, or email sustain@plu.edu.
