It’s Getting Hot In Here

From Lora DiFranco, Ecolympics coordinator at Oberlin College:

Oberlin College’s first Ecolympics came to an end Saturday as we announced South Hall as the winning dorm during the closing ceremonies. Run almost entirely by students, this month we hosted dorm energy competitions, waste audits, and eco-volunteer days where students earned points for their dorm. South has won a pizza party for their dorm by winning the competition.

Oberlin has had a Dorm Energy Competition every year for the past four years. Dorms usually decrease their energy use around 20%, saving the college hundreds of dollars and thousands of pounds of carbon emissions. This year, taking a hint from Duke’s Eco-Olympics, we thought, “Why not host other events that can have the same effect as the Dorm Energy Competition?” Most Oberlin students are very aware of the environmental issue facing our world today, but sometimes people need a straight-up incentive to change their behavior.

As the coordinator for Ecolympics and a senior who is graduating in a month (!!!!), I’m definitely relieved that the events are over. However, the over-analytical part of me is ready to start then next phase: the review.

In the next week, I’ll be talking to students, faculty, and staff to listen to what they thought was awesome and what they think could be improved for next year. Using the “Plus, Minus, Delta” model that I learned during OASES (Ohio Student Area Environmental Summit), here’s my own feedback:

Plus (things that worked well):
Having separate groups or committees working on every event was a great way of delegating responsibility. I didn’t need to know everything that was going on at every second, but I was updated once in a while as to how groups were doing and could help out when there were issues.

Minus (things that didn’t work well):
We were so consumed with making all of the individual events go well that we forgot some of the bigger picture. Advertising especially fell through the cracks. Many students were confused about what the Ecolympics was beyond the usual Dorm Energy Competition. We also didn’t have a really exciting prize, which might have helped motivate students.

Delta (things I’d change in the future):
While it’s really important to delegate responsibility so that there aren’t a few people doing everything, it’s equally important to keep the big picture in mind. Make sure that the big-picture things are being handled by people that you trust to get the job done.