FARMINGTON — College students can make the dean’s list at the University of Maine at Farmington, and now they can also make the Green’s List.

UMF President Theodora Kalikow made the list along with other students who practice sustainable lifestyles in their campus space.

A leader in the green movement, UMF has created a one-of-a-kind program to bring energy conservation and sustainable green living practices to every residence hall room and faculty or staff office on campus.

The UMF Green’s List was created to show how increased awareness of the way people consume energy daily can make a difference in reducing waste and promoting sustainable use of the Earth’s resources.

The Green’s List has the potential to yield a significant energy savings with more than 1,000 students living in residence halls and approximately 350 faculty and staff working in campus offices, said Rob Lamppa, UMF director of facilities management.

The new program is budgeted to save 5 to 10 percent in campus energy costs over the next year as energy conservation habits become second nature.

“The most energy efficient light bulb uses the least energy when it’s off,” he said.

Developed by the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition, a group of students, faculty, staff and community members committed to environmental stewardship, the program uses a certification process that ranks current sustainable lifestyle habits and provides suggestions for ways to become more energy efficient.

Rooms are certified by student volunteers who score a checklist of 11 daily energy-using activities on a scale of zero to four, with four being the most earth friendly and sustainable use of energy. 

After completing the initial certification process, rooms are awarded an Olympics-like rating of bronze, silver, gold or green, the best of all. Future recertification visits help campus members improve their rating as they develop a new awareness of how they use energy and incorporate these changes into their daily lives.

UMF students Jourdan Merritt, a junior form Russell, Mass., majoring in elementary education, and Rachel Fritschy, a senior from Lawrence, Mass.,  majoring in secondary education, are leading the effort by coordinating and implementing the room-to-room certification process.

“We just want to make people aware of different options or little ways to fit ‘Green’ into their daily lives,” Merritt said.

Starting with residence halls, the two students certified nearly 200 rooms last spring and are continuing their efforts this fall by visiting new student rooms, rooms previously certified, and they are starting to visit staff offices.

During their visits, they inquire about lighting and small appliance use, heating, computer use and recycling, among other categories.

“The UMF Green’s List program shows them (the campus community) that the choices they make every day, whether it’s to turn off the lights when they leave a room or adopt a totally sustainable lifestyle, all have a cumulative, positive effect on our environment,” Fritschy said.