Athens, Ga. – Once again, University of Georgia students are battling for the coveted Green Cup, and this week they will be inspired by Dr. Seuss. A screening of “The Lorax” will be hosted Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. in the north psychology-journalism auditorium. The event, which is free and open to the public as part of UGA’s month-long Green Cup Challenge, is sponsored by the UGA Office of Sustainability, UGA Housing, Ecofocus Film Festival and Clif Bar.
UGA Housing and the Office of Sustainability kicked off the fourth annual Green Cup Challenge Sept. 23. The challenge is a competition among residence halls in the Hill Community to see who can reduce their water, waste and energy usage by the greatest amount over one month. Water and energy numbers are monitored daily and compared to previous years; waste is measured based on the amount of recyclables thrown in the trash. Participation in sustainability-themed events is included in the competition.
After one week of competition, Mell Hall is in the lead with a 17.86 percent reduction in electricity use compared to the baseline average and 31.7 gallons of water used per student per day.
“The goal of the competition is to establish conservation-minded action among students at UGA, teaching them to reduce their individual consumption while living on campus and hopefully to carry those habits with them,” said Tyra Byers, a program coordinator in UGA’s Office of Sustainability and originator of the Green Cup Challenge.
The Office of Sustainability and UGA Housing are hoping to make this the most successful Green Cup Challenge yet, both in terms of reduced consumption and increased awareness, she said. Events are free and open to the public and include a not wasted party and reuse competition on the lawn between Boggs and Church halls on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. and an ecolympics on the lawn between Mell and Lipscomb halls on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m.
The winning residence hall will be announced at the final celebration Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. on Legion Field.
For more information on the UGA Green Cup or the Office of Sustainability, see www.sustainability.uga.edu/greencup.