The Green Cup Competition 2010-2011 Competition Guide

Overview
Green Cup is a competition between Greek-affiliated organizations on the University of Mississippi campus. The Green Cup Competition was established to determine the most environmentally conscious fraternity and sorority house. The goals of Green Cup are to provide Ole Miss students with: Feedback on the ecological impacts of their daily use of energy and materials. Support for innovative new ideas that reduce campus environmental impacts. Prizes and recognition for their efforts.

The 2010-2011 Green Cup Competition will begin in the Fall semester 2010 and go through the Spring 2011 semester, culminating during Green Week. Green Cup is a partnership among the Students for a Green Campus, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, and the Office of Campus Sustainability.

Competition Structure
There are five judging categories for the 2010-2011 competition: 1. Recycling and waste reduction efforts for the House: 2. Energy conservation improvements for the House: 3. Implementation of at least one "Eco-Project" in the House or on campus: 4. Promotion of Green Initiatives through Green Grove and Green Week: 5. Participation in Green Leadership Surveys (one each semester): Bonus points will be offered throughout the competition. See page 2. 25 points 25 points 20 points 20 points 10 points 100 points*

Table of Contents:
How it Works How to Register and Competition Timeline Tips and Ideas for Succeeding Eco-Prjoects Green Initiative Promotion Leadership Surveys The Green Cup Prize Award Details 2 3 4 5 6 7 7

How It Works
1. Recycling & Waste Minimization Efforts (25 points) For the recycling component, organizations will be rated on how successful their participation is. The ratings will be based on whether the organization does it correctly consistently and also the amount. For waste minimization, organizations will be asked to provide detailed information about the strategies they have already implemented as well as plans for the future to reduce waste. 2. Energy Conservation (25 points) Greek houses will implement energy conservation practices on their own and will be awarded points based on their results. The winner of this component will be the organization that shows the most improvement in lowering their own energy consumption. Full points will be awarded to the winner, and incremental points will be awarded to other houses showing improvement. Baseline data will be gathered for each house, and points will be awarded based on results. Organizations will also submit the strategies used in this portion of the competition. 3. Eco-Project Implementation (20 points) Each organization will plan and implement at least one eco-project either within the Greek House or on campus to engage students in a green-related issue. Proposals will be due in the fall 2010 semester, but the projects will be conducted in the spring 2011 semester. Organizations will be required to submit pictures, videos, and other documentation of the event. For more information and ideas, see page 5. 4. Promote Green Initiatives on campus through Green Grove and Green Week (20 points) This part involves promoting green initiatives (such as recycling, the OUT bus, biking, etc.) by participating in Green Grove (October 30) and Green Week (April 18-22). Green Gove takes place in the Fall and Green Week takes place in the Spring; each will be worth 10 points. Contact the Office of Campus Sustainability to coordinate and receive credit. See page 6 for ideas. 5. Green Leadership Surveys (10 points total) During the fall and spring semesters, organizations will complete surveys about the green leadership in their organization. Each survey will be worth 5 points. Full points will be awarded for complete surveys, not based on the answers. 6. Bonus points Many opportunities for earning bonus points will be offered throughout the Fall 2010 semester. Bonus points will be awarded for organizations sending at least two people to the Green Cup Orientation. Other opportunities to earn bonus points include attending Green Bag lectures and possibly more. Points will be awarded based on the number of individuals who participate in each bonus point opportunity. Registered organizations will receive an email prior to each bonus point opportunity, so register now and start earning points early!

How to Register
Visit www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html to download the registration form. Submit the completed registration form by: Email to green@olemiss.edu or bring the hard copy to Lyceum, Office 304

Tips for Competing

Start early on the planning and get organized. Establish a leader and a committee to help facilitate getting the work done. Encourage all members of the organization to get involved.

Competition Timeline
August 27 September 1 December 5 October 25 October 25 3:30 p.m. October 30 November 19 December 3 Dec. 4- Jan. 24 January 25 February March April 15 April 18 April 18-22 By April 31 Green Cup Registration Opens Bonus Points Opportunities Available All registered organizations will be notified of opportunities. Registration forms due Green Cup Orientation (Bonus points will be given for organizations that send at least 2 members!) Bryant Hall, Room 111 Green Grove (10 points) Eco-Project proposals due Green Leadership Surveys due Winter recess Second semester of the competition begins. Waste reduction and recycling competition. Energy conservation competition. Documentation of the completed Eco Projects must be turned in. Green Leadership Surveys due Green Week participation! (10 points) Green Cup Winners Announced!

Eco-Projects must be approved by the Office of Campus Sustainability. Eco-project ideas must be submitted by email by Friday, November 19, 2010, by 5 p.m. to green@olemiss.edu.

For more information, visit: www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html

Tips for Conserving Energy and for Minimizing Waste

Organizations could consider the following strategies for reducing waste and for conserving energy. For the energy conservation portion of the competition, organizations will be asked what strategies they are using to lower energy use. The suggestions below are just a small sample of ways to achieve these goals. Organizations are encouraged to do additional research to find even more suggestions. Recycling and Waste Minimization Implement an internal House policy banning Styrofoam. Use reusable containers for drinks or food. Reusing is even more efficient than recycling because you don't have to melt down and reprocess anything. Establish a recycling program in the House. When reusable containers are not feasible, use containers that can be recycled, i.e. not Styrofoam. Drink tap water instead of bottled. Oxfords water is of high quality and must meet far more rigorous EPA regulations than bottled water, which is regulated by the FDA. When you're having parties or other events, take steps to recycle and reduce the waste generated. Computing o Save energy with no effort by having all residents adjust power management settings on computers. o Turn off computers, monitors, and printers when not in use for an hour or more. Lighting o Just turn off lights when not in use, including bathrooms and common rooms. o You can turn off lights in many common areas in your House when no one is there. It is not true that leaving fluorescent lights on saves energy! o Use Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs. CFLs screw into almost any standard lamp, give off pleasant light, last ten times longer and use a fraction of the energy. They can be purchased locally in Oxford or online. Other Appliances o Turn off your stereo, TV, and other appliances when they are not in use. o Buy Energy Star to make sure your appliances aren't wasting energy when in sleep mode. o Don't leave cellphones, laptop or battery chargers plugged in when not in use. These devices continue to consume energy even when nothing is being charged. You can feel the wasted energy in the heat they give off. Cooling/Heating o Dress for the appropriate season and find your heating and cooling comfort zone. Most people can be comfortable at a temperature of 78F inside during the summer. Instead of reducing your air conditioners temperature setting to a chilling 72, find your comfort setting by raising it one degree at a time to see how warm it can be before you become uncomfortable. o Recommended energy-saving seasonal temperature settings: Summer: 76-78W inter: 68 -70
For more information, visit: www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html 4

Energy Conservation

Eco-Projects
What is an Eco-Prjoect? A project done by Greek Organization, which makes a difference by doing one of the following: Reducing environmental impacts of Greek house life; Educating the student body at large or the Greek organization members to think and act in a way that reduces environmental impacts; Providing a service to a community organization or group that aligns with the principles of sustainability; Generating resources for other environmentally related projects.

What are some examples of possible eco-projects? Projects can change behavior or infrastructure. Projects can be done on your own or in partnership with other campus groups. The Office of Campus Sustainability is available to help with ideas, suggestions, and speakers. Your creativity is welcome and encouraged, but just to get you thinking, here are a few examples of projects to consider:

Place recycling bins in a House; Persuade student-frequented restaurants to stock environmentally-preferred product alternatives and obtain a letter from the restaurant verifying this decision; Persuade your gameday tailgating or special event caterer to use reusable /environmentallypreferred product alternatives and obtain a letter from the restaurant verifying this decision; Exchange incandescent for CFL bulbs in student lamps; Install occupancy sensors for automatic lighting in common areas, such as bathrooms; Establish a program to incentive members to switch from plastic bottled drinks/water to tap/filtered water, for example establish a program to supply new members with reusable bottles; Host a sustainability speaker/activity/film in your House (Contact the Office of Campus Sustainability for a list of topics or speakers); Raise money to purchase a digital utility meter for your House to track daily energy usage online (approximately $1,500); Establish and submit a policy to reduce waste at events in your House; Run a House trash audit to identify how much and what items of items could be recycled rather than trashed; Develop a suite as model room in your House and present an explanation of its features to all members either in person at a chapter meeting or virtually through a video; Create a team from your House who carries all their trash on Monday, April 19, around campus with them (a new Green Week event!); Collaborate with housemates and use on-line calculators to determine the overall House ecological footprint, then discuss how it could reduced.
For more information, visit: www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html 5

These are a sampling of ideas, but the possibilities are endless. Create one that is right for your group and submit your idea via email to the Office of Campus Sustainability (green@olemiss.edu) by Friday, November 19, 2010 by midnight. For ideas or help with your project, please contact us prior to the deadline. Note: The eco-project should be a new project or significantly different than an existing project the organization already has going. The organization cannot submit a project that is already being done unless improvements or changes are made. Submission Requirements Only Eco-Projects that have been completed will be judged. In order to submit your Eco-Project to the competition, you must submit documentation of the project, including any of the following appropriate forms: Pictures Please take pictures of the event/project and submit them electronically to green@olemiss.edu. Video Although not required, submitting a video of the project is a great way to communicate your project. Description of the project, event, etc. including date(s). List of attendees (if applicable). Goals and desired outcomes of the project.

Eco-Project documentation must be submitted by Friday, April 15 to green@olemiss.edu by midnight to be judged for the competition, which means projects should be completed before this date.

Participating in Green Grove (October 30)

The Office of Campus Sustainability is coordinating a major education and outreach effort for the Green Grove campaign, which encourages recycling and reducing waste in gameday festivities. On October 30th before the Auburn game, volunteers will engage with fans and visitors throughout the Grove and the Circle. Organizations can get the maximum amount of points by having volunteers sign up for this event. Some points can also be earned by organizing your own outreach effort, such as distributing stickers during the pregame supporting Green Grove. Contact Elliott Warren, Green Grove intern, at ebwarren9@gmail.com for more information.

Promotional Ideas for Green Initiatives for Green Week (April 18-22)
Have a group of your members ride the OUT bus, take a picture, and submit it to the Daily Mississippian with words of encouragement for other students to ride the bus. Create a Did You Know sign aligning with a theme during Green Week, such as an energy conservation message and position the sign somewhere very visible on campus.

More details about opportunities for Green Week involvement will be made available in early spring.
For more information, visit: www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html 6

Green Leadership Surveys

Organizations will be required to complete a survey each semester about the green leadership in their Greek House. Survey responses will not be judged, as there are no correct answers. Full points will be awarded for completed responses. The surveys will be short and will seek the following information: Structure of green leadership (i.e. committee, single individual, or small team) If the structure is a committee, number of members, and number in each class (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior), and number of meetings held. How the leadership engaged or communicated their efforts to the entire Greek House.

The Green Cup Prize Award Details

Two Green Cup awards will be given. One winner will be awarded in each of the following categories: Greenest Fraternity Greenest Sorority

The winning sorority and the winning fraternity will be able to display the Green Cup in their House until the next competition begins.

Congratulations to the Spring 2010 Green Cup Winners Alpha Omicron Pi and Delta Psi!

Pictured above are winners from Alpha Omicron Pi and Delta Psi receiving their trophies at the Sustainability Leadership Awards and Green Cup Ceremony.

For more information, visit: www.olemiss.edu/green/greencup.html