Energy/Water/Resource Conservation

Why Act?

For many reasons, conserving energy, water, and other natural resources is becoming increasingly important. When we use electricity, for example, there’s a good chance that it is generated from coal. When we burn coal for electricity, we create a lot of air pollution that can cause asthma and other illnesses, and burning coal is a big contributor to global warming. In fact, more than 80% of pollution results from the production, consumption, and disposal of energy. With demand for electricity quickly increasing all around the world, it’s important that we all do our part in using it as efficiently as we can. By using electricity wisely, we help the environment while saving a lot of money.

Saving water and other resources is just as important. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans use an average of 100 gallons of water each day. That’s enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses! With more and more people using less and less available water, it’smore important than ever to cut back on the water we use each day.

Whether it’s electricity, water, paper, or other materials, we all seem to use too much of it, without giving it much thought. A number of steps can help us decrease the amount of resources we use, and lessen our impact on the environment.

Action Steps

• Form a ‘green team’ in your school made up of teachers, students, and even parents to help find ways to use energy, water, and resources wisely.
• If possible, walk or bike to school instead of going to school by car or bus. It’s better for the Earth, and provides some exercise too.
• If you have to drive, carpool when possible, since carpooling will save gas and money.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs with the much more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). A CFL can use 75% less energy than an incandescent.
• Simple steps like turning off lights when they’re not being used saves a lot of energy.
• Use the energy-efficiency settings for computers, so that they “power down”, or are in “sleep mode”, when they aren’t in use.
• To save electricity, remove light bulbs from vending machines. These lights are on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
• To save paper towels, place stickers on all paper towel dispensers, to remind students that the paper towels come from trees. For more info, see: http://thesecomefromtrees.blogspot.com/.
• Consider having an energy audit done. Establish a baseline of energy use, which may help in identifying problem areas.
• To conserve water, don’t let the water run when washing your hands or brushing your teeth.
• When updating equipment such as computers or other appliances, be sure to purchase Energy Star products (http://www.energystar.gov).
• Use power strips for computers, televisions, or other appliances, and flip the switch off when they are not in use. Even when computers and televisions are turned “off”, they still drain energy when plugged in.
• Keep classroom temperatures between 69-73 degrees. Every degree of temperature will save 2% on utility bills.
• When planting around the school grounds, plant during the Spring or Fall, when watering requirements are less.
• Minimize evaporation by watering during early morning hours, when temperatures are cooler and winds are lighter.
• Use a layer of organic mulch around plants to reduce evaporation.
• Install low-flow toilets.
• Install aerators on faucets to reduce flow of water.
• Use rain barrels or a gray water system to capture waste water and use it to water plants.
• Use both sides of plain paper, and always recycle! Almost half of all school waste comes from paper!

Resources:

www.wateruseitwisely.com/100ways/ne.shtml

Alliance to save energy: (www.ase.org/)

“The green book: The everyday guide to saving the planet one simple step at a time” by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen (see chapter 5 for school ideas)

Energy ideas: www.energy.wsu.edu/documents/engineering/EIC_schools.pdf