In the first chapter of The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus Thomashow dives deeper into the importance of energy infrastructure, and climate change planning on college campuses, using Unity College as a prime example. Every concept in the chapter leads back to one thing, the idea that renewable energy is the only true response to the control issue with oil and gas. Throughout the reading Thomashow makes it clear that college campuses can be the start of innovation, being small enough to test, but reliable enough to promote sustainability not only on campus, but also locally and further by the schools population. This is extremely important because in order to truly work towards sustainability influence needs to spread off campus, which includes finding common ground with locals who may not share our same interests. Sustainability is very important, especially in the climate crisis we are currently in, and the best way to spread interest in it is to show people the benefits they can get from being sustainable. Whether it is the money they save, or the feeling of accomplishing something good, teaching sustainability is the best way to spread it. 

With all this said, UNE is moving towards being more sustainable each and every day, with the new commons being solar powered, more interest in large scale recycling, as well as exploration into other directions to make the campus more eco-friendly. However we do not currently have an energy map which would help us to see exactly how much energy is being used and saved in real time. In order to start a project like this we would need regular monitoring of all energy usage on campus, including both renewable and nonrenewable power. This would also be a great step towards making a large-scale renewable energy project on campus, which would be fantastic for our area as a whole. On campus currently a large portion of the community wants to be more sustainable, or truly cares about the way the school handles energy-saving and climate change. If a large-scale renewable energy project went into place it would only help that position, as well as bring interest to what we are doing and why. This can cause a trickle down effect as Thomashow states, bringing interest to sustainability, not only to the college community, but to the local area as well. I totally agree with this statement, if we put up solar panels and wind turbines, and physically make the school look more sustainable, then when people drive through, or see pictures it peaks interest. Interest leads to inquiry, which leads to more innovation. Overall, it is easy to see why energy control and image is so important to a sustainable campus, and I believe that with many small changes to UNE we can continue our image of an eco-friendly University.