Twenty eight percent – that’s the amount of  landfill waste Hamilton College’s annual Cram & Scram program reduces each May. Entering its fifth year, Cram & Scram is a non-profit, student-run recycling program aimed at reducing the inevitable landfill contribution that comes every summer as students move out of their residence halls.

The Hamilton Environmental Action Group (HEAG) is holding its annual Green Week celebration from April 22-27. Green Week is designed to promote sustainability and campus engagement in conservation efforts, and will feature daily events open to the entire Hamilton community.

Author Michael Egan preceded his April 18 lecture, “The History of Now: Decoding Environmental Sustainability,” by taking a refreshing bike ride with Professor of English Onno Oerlemanns.  Later in his talk Egan mentioned that all five of his family members bike to work or school nearly every day.

Author Michael Egan, associate professor of history at McMaster University, will give a lecture titled “The History of Now: Decoding Environmental Sustainability” on Wednesday, April 18, at 4 p.m. in the Kirner-Johnson Bradford Auditorium. The lecture is a part of the Levitt Center Speaker Series on Sustainability and is free and open to the public.

An international team of scientists - including Associate Professor of Biology Mike McCormick, alumna Elizabeth Bucceri ’11 and students Natalie Elking ’12, Manique Talaia-Murray ’12 and Andrew Seraichick ’13 - have embarked on the third cruise of the LARISSA program aboard the U.S. Antarctic Program ship Nathaniel B. Palmer.

Hamilton’s annual “Do it in the Dark” Dorm Energy Battle is in its final stretch. The campus-wide competition between residence halls began Feb. 13 and will end March 5. The residence hall that reduces its energy consumption the most will win a weekend breakfast catered by Bon Appétit.

Starting next week, Hamilton will compete regionally in the Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) 2012, a competition in electricity and water use reduction among colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The competition was created by the Students Program at the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council and in partnership with Lucid, Alliance to Save Energy, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Lauren Howe ’12 spent the fall semester conducting an independent study project in which she researched and recorded campus food purchasing at Hamilton.  She collaborated with Bon Appétit and Real Food Challenge (RFC), a student-led organization based in Boston advocating “real food” on more college campuses.

During Hamilton’s winter break closure from Dec. 17 through Jan. 2, the College saved enough kilowatt hours to power 20 average homes in the U.S. for an entire year, according to Steve Bellona, associate vice president for facilities & planning.  The savings are largely attributed to a reduction in (electrical) plug load (TVs, lights, computers) and building lighting.