Many water and lighting outlets are sucking energy at an unneeded rate. One UW team is hoping to conserve energy in UW sororities and fraternities by swapping out older light bulbs for more energy efficient bulbs.

The Greener Greeks project was created to educate students about energy and water efficiency and create ways to further seek change. Chris Bruno, member of the conservation project development team and former UW SEED director, and Angie Gaffney from Chi Omega, created the project.

Bruno credits his previous work and his time spent living in a fraternity house for encouraging the project.

“Last spring quarter and over the summer, I did a lot of work exchanging light bulbs for HFS, and during the summer I rented a room in Theta Xi fraternity, developed connections with the people there and saw firsthand the opportunities for environmental improvements in the Greek house,” he said.

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Seattle City Light are supporting the Greener Greeks project. Both are donating various energy efficient items to be installed in Greek houses. Greener Greeks has also received student support; about 20 student volunteers aid Bruno in the project.

One volunteer is senior Katerina Tsybouleva from the Delta Zeta house, who made Green Greeks a registered student organization. She had already been planning something similar before her collaboration with Bruno.

“I organized an environmental sustainability task force for the Greek community and through the process got Chris Bruno’s contact information,” she said. “Chris attended a meeting, explained what his project was and I have been involved ever since.”

As coordinator of Go Green, Tsybouleva spends time recruiting new members for the group and planning meetings. Whether this includes replacing old incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) or keeping track of shower heads that need to be swapped out, Tsybouleva makes sure each house gets the proper supplies at scheduled times.

Though the Greener Greeks project is a fairly new idea, several houses have already signed on to participate. The Alpha Xi Delta house, represented by Go Green member Jessica Louie, hopes the results will be visible.

“This project promotes awareness amongst the students in this community, and with that new knowledge comes accountability,” Louie said. “Implementing energy and water efficient replacements in our homes is a simple first step in taking responsibility for our actions and changing the way we live to create a sustainable future.”

There is a lot more in store for the Greener Greeks project, as Bruno has toilet exchanges next on the list. Along with light bulbs donated from Seattle City Light, toilets are being donated from SPU in an effort to conserve water.

“Getting SPU to donate them could not have been any easier, because I didn’t even ask for them,” Bruno said. “Phil Paschke from Seattle Public Utilities offered them to the Greek community, and he said he would give as many as was needed. This is the benefit of living in a city that places so much value on the environment.”

The toilets will only go to selected houses that fit the criteria of 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Still, Bruno has high hopes for the good that can be done through this and other projects to come.

“This project is great because everybody is coming together and working as one for the great purpose of helping the environment, and also saving a bit of money on their power and water bills,” Bruno said. I know this project will be successful and at the end we’ll all be very proud of what we were able to accomplish.”

[Reach reporter Edwin Ortiz at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]