‘Go Cold Turkey’ to reduce energy use

Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and Harvard’s Longwood campus have a chance to make a dent in global climate change and air pollution by going “cold turkey” with their on-campus energy use over Thanksgiving weekend. By participating in “Go Cold Turkey 2004,” students, staff, and faculty at FAS, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine can notably decrease greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of their on-campus energy use.

The potential of the third annual “Go Cold Turkey” pledge competition to reduce emissions and pollution is due in part to the wind-energy prize being offered at all participating Schools. If 50 percent of the occupants of an eligible building take the pledge between Nov. 12 and 24, then wind certificates will be purchased for a portion of the successful building’s energy consumption.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the wide-scale emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which results from energy production, is among the chief factors driving global warming and climate change. In previous “Go Cold Turkey” campaigns, participants’ energy-saving steps prevented the emission of more than 600,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and saved the University more than $50,000 on its energy bills.

“If the trends from previous years’ competitions are any indication, we should be able to avoid 1 to 10 percent of FAS’s greenhouse gas emissions this year,” said Antje Danielson, “Go Cold Turkey” organizer and FAS Computer Energy Reduction Program (FAS-CERP) manager. “This could amount to $140,000 in savings.”

Members of the FAS and Longwood Medical Area communities who have living or assigned workspace in eligible buildings can take the “Go Cold Turkey” pledge at http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu beginning Friday (Nov. 12) and continuing through Nov. 24. For more information, contact Alayne Moody at (617) 384-9604, or Daniel Beaudoin at (617) 432-3520.