According to Western's financial services website, the fee was voted in by 80.5 percent of the student body in April 2010 and charges each student $7 per quarter.

Jamin Agosti, Vice President for Student Life and chair of the Green Energy Fee Committee, said this leaves $300,000 available to students, faculty and staff to spend on sustainable solutions for Western’s campus through the green energy grant, which is now accepting applications.

The application is open to any student, faculty or staff member who has an idea about how to make Western more environmentally friendly.

The money isn’t a free-for-all, Agosti said. Interested parties must submit their ideas to Kathryn Freeman, a graduate student at Western who runs the program. She will help them write official grants that will be examined by the Green Energy Fee Committee.

Eight student groups have already approached the committee with ideas on how to use the green energy fee funds, Agosti said.

Agosti said approximately $80,000 of the funds generated by the Green Energy Fee goes toward renewable wind energy credits.

“For every kilowatt of electricity Western uses, we in turn purchase one credit from a wind farm,” Agosti said.

In addition to renewable energy credits, the Green Energy Fee helps pay two staff members to educate students on what the fee is and how to write grants for sustainable projects.

Final grant applications are due April 18, but Agosti recommends students submit ideas to Freeman well in advance so she can help them write a formal grant proposal.

Western was ranked the No. 12 greenest university in the nation by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010, and Agosti hopes that Western's high environmental standards will continue as a result of this grant.

“The funds for this grant are generated solely from the Green Energy Fee that students pay each quarter,” Agosti said. “By opening up this application process, we are calling the student body into action to spend that money in a way that interests them.”