P.o.W.E.R., Wittenberg’s environmental awareness group, will feature more hands-on activities and events during P.o.W.E.R. Week in hopes to boost student awareness and participation in environmental issues, according to P.o.W.E.R. President Sage Pence, ‘17.
P.o.W.E.R. Week, which will occur from Nov. 16 through Nov. 20, is a week-long event that provides education to the Wittenberg community about ways to save energy, according to the Wittenberg website. Each day of P.o.W.E.R. Week will include a different event or activity, said Pence.
“We’re really hoping for a lot of student participation,” Pence said. “There are a lot of things that Witt takes very strongly when it comes to social efforts, and I wish that the environment was a bigger issue at Witt. I really think it’s just a matter of people becoming more active.”
One of the featured events is entitled “Taking Black Friday,” and will be focused on increasing student awareness of consumption levels that surround Black Friday and the holiday season in general.
For this event, students are encouraged to drop off gently-used items such as clothing, CDs and books on Nov. 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the lower level of the Student Center.
Then, students are invited on Nov. 18 to browse through the items and pick up items for free to use as gifts that they otherwise may have bought during Black Friday. This event will take place in the lower level of the Student Center from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
“I really hope that people begin to look at consumption rates,” Pence said. “I don’t think there’s ever really a bad time to look at your consumption rates, whether that be electricity or water or material items. The biggest thing is breaking habits.”
Other events of the week will include a climate change presentation on Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. in Bayley Auditorium, a build-your-own-terrarium activity on Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the lower level of the Student Center, a movie showing and panel on Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in Bayley Auditorium and recycling awareness tables on Nov. 20 during lunchtime in the CDR.
In addition to the events during P.o.W.E.R. Week, P.o.W.E.R. also co-sponsors a contest during November between all the residence halls to see which residence hall can cut down electricity consumption the most.
Chelsea Steffes, secretary of P.o.W.E.R., said that she hopes that P.o.W.E.R. Week will help spread the word about P.o.W.E.R.’s other initiatives and causes.
Other initiatives that P.o.W.E.R. is looking to promote throughout the year include looking for substitutes for the styrofoam take-out boxes in the CDR and increasing recycling awareness through short educational sessions for students.
“I was always immersed in nature, and it’s tough knowing that so much of it is going to change,” Pence said. “I think that if the student population got behind P.o.W.E.R. and environmental efforts in general, I think we could make a huge difference, especially because Witt is a smaller campus and people are really connected.”
