There are a lot of things to worry about at Choate. We don’t rest enough, we study too hard or too little, we fear that we won’t get into the college of our choice; the daily quandaries of a Choate student (and an adolescent in general) run the gamut—and our amount of complaining is nearly as extensive. However, the things we don’t worry about are often those things that are the most important. And of the shocking and dire world conditions that do manage to invade our consciousness, the problem of the environment is most often overlooked. Somehow, the mounting threat of global warming and a deteriorating environment has been shuttled to the side, downplayed and ignored by students and the larger Choate community. We agonize about college essays and SAT scores, yet we give little thought to the fact that by year 2100 large portions of the world will have disappeared under rising water levels, and countless people will be left dead or homeless. In a fast-paced environment like Choate, it becomes too easy to ignore those things that, while preventable, are only problematic in the long term. Sadly, this lack of concern is not limited to Choate’s apathetic student body; it also infects a government that has shown little circumspection when it comes to preserving the world we live in. The United States’ refusal to sign the Kyoto Accord and its below-weak efforts to enforce existing environmental laws only makes clear that our government is not going (or willing) to effect major change or even give the problem the attention it deserves. Only recently has the issue of global warming been brought to the world stage, and it is unfortunate that it took the novelty of a jilted presidential candidate to bring fame to the concern.

Perhaps we give little precedence to global warming because it feels like an insurmountable problem; in order to reverse the rapidly accelerating warming process, global cooperation is not only crucial, it is essential. But even an individual community can effect some change—and it is our environmental responsibility to do so. At Choate, for example, every room I walk into is illuminated to full capacity; in the winter, classrooms and dorms are swelteringly hot because of poor climate control. This misuse of electricity is more than a waste of school finances: it contributes to the CO2 emissions that cause global warming. Even though this problem isn’t exclusive to Choate, there are several easily altered school policies that, if changed, would help contribute to overall energy conservation. Many rooms are lit up for hours even when they’re not in use; computers are left on twenty-four hours a day in the library; and, more often than not, there is music blaring from empty dorm rooms. All of these problems are easily remedied—and usually with the push of a button. It isn’t difficult to turn off a light in an unoccupied room, and it is pure laziness and unconcern to do so when one is aware of the implications—for when a school of 850 people leaves the lights on in every room on campus all day long, we are effectively contributing to the future deaths and homelessness of others less fortunate than ourselves.

Choate recently adopted the slogan, “Tradition of Excellence; Spirit of Innovation; Culture of Caring,” and in many ways, we live up to that motto. Yet as a New England prep school, Choate has yet to live up to the conservation efforts of its sister schools. Many schools including Exeter and Deerfield have sustainable dining hall programs, multiple student environmental-awareness groups, and even green, LEEDs-certified buildings. Although Choate is working towards a greener campus and has started to build more energy-conscious dorms, we recently made the decision not to get our new buildings LEEDs-certified, ostensibly because of the prohibitive cost of the certification process. What Choate—and our government—needs to realize, however, is that the immediate monetary cost of preserving the environment will be far outstripped by future biological benefits.

Even though we are not currently conserving at the level we ought to be, the Green Cup Challenge is hopefully the beginning of a solution. In just a few years, the contest has grown from an Exeter in-school competition to one that encompasses fifteen schools in New England. Rather than compete for notoriety or superiority, as we often do in interscholastic athletic contests, we’re working together to contribute to environmental awareness and conservation—to make a real contribution to the safety of the world. We have measured a baseline of average electricity use for the last month, and starting on January 27 we will measure the usage in the next four weeks and compare the percent decrease with that of other schools. If Choate wins, the community will no doubt be excited and proud of their accomplishments; if they don’t, I hope the excitement will still remain. The objective of this contest is not to win or necessarily dominate other schools, but to make an impact. It is unfortunate that we need a day off as an incentive to preserve our Earth, but hopefully the habits picked up during the contest will carry over to the rest of our time at Choate and after. (And if your new excuse for not having your homework is that you were conserving energy by keeping the lights off, then that is just an added benefit). So turn off the lights!