Reduce, reuse, and recycle: the core mantra of that sustainable blue-bin cycle that we have all learned to embrace since childhood. Also, a nice way to summarize the Green Revolving Fund (GRF), a similarly cyclical component of Swarthmore's groundbreaking Carbon Charge Program. The Athletics Department has been selected for some of the Carbon Charge initiative's pilot programming, with several visible projects and exciting changes coming our way.
 
Currently, the GRF's most obvious projects have been the conversion of energy-guzzling metal halide bulbs to LED lights within the Athletics facilities. This started with the Ware Pool's replacement in 2014, with the most recent installation of LED lights in the Lamb-Miller Field House and the Tarble Pavilion as a continuation of this long-term project.
 
While a light bulb switch might seem inconsequential, the effect of converting over 30+ types of antiquated fluorescent bulbs to efficient LED lamps is actually enormous. Each LED bulb consumes half the electricity as its halide counterpart, requires less maintenance, and provides a higher intensity of light. In other words, this slashes the utilities budget in half, generates savings that can be funneled into more green energy projects, and actually makes it so that our facilities abide by NCAA lighting standards.  Fantastic news for everyone.
 
Looking forward, the Carbon Charge Committee will use the GRF to convert the bulbs in the Mullan Center, and "a wholesale replacement of all fixtures in the athletic complex which nets a substantial reduction in power used for lighting", according to Ralph Thayer, Director of Maintenance and member of the Carbon Charge Committee.
 
Lighting, however, is just a tiny fraction of the larger picture. In addition to collecting returns on our reduced energy budget, the GRF includes contributions from participating departments around campus, like Garnet Athletics. With a 1.25% portion of each department's annual expenditures funneled into the Green Revolving project fund, plus an option for voluntary contributions, there is an aggregate of $300,000 each year for even more sustainability-related projects. In the words of Economics professor and Carbon Charge Committee member Stephen Golub, "the LED initiative represents the kind of practical measures the institution is taking to reduce energy use and [our] carbon footprint, and shows Swarthmore's commitment to combating climate change."
 
And it all boils down to social responsibility; with the size and level of consumption of our institution, we are taking the first few steps towards covering the costs of our carbon footprint. Setting an example for other campuses to follow, Swarthmore and a handful of other elite universities across the country have been putting a sticker price on carbon. That's right, carbon. The material that makes up our energy emissions, each building and molecule on campus, and the nightmares of every organic chemistry student. With the development of an entire program involving a Carbon Charge Committee, a carefully calculated return on investments model, and written endorsement from President Valerie Smith, Swarthmore has brought a globally experimental and progressive policy to our own campus.
 
"What we have is a happy confluence of energy-efficient lighting systems and the willingness of the College to invest in them toward the goal of carbon neutrality," Thayer sums up nicely, "[which] would not be possible without the determination of Athletics and especially [Director of Athletics] Adam Hertz to aspire to make energy efficiency a core value of the Department."
 
For more information, we invite you to read more at: https://www.swarthmore.edu/sustainability/swarthmore-carbon-charge-program.