A National Energy Foundation program offers utilities the opportunity to teach future customers about the importance of "Living Wise."
A National Energy Foundation program offers utilities the opportunity to teach future customers about the importance of "Living Wise."
With a goal of saving resources, building awareness, and shaping habits, the school-based program instills an understanding of conservation in students in grades four through eight. Schools pay nothing to participate. Local and regional sponsors, including utilities, pay for kits for each student and teacher. For example, Azusa, Calif., Power and Light sponsors the program for area sixth graders.
Sponsors benefit
Sponsors benefit from the program through demonstrating their support for schools, helping their customers save money, demonstrating their involvement through the local media, and improving the quality of their local environment.
"This has been one of our most successful partnerships with the schools," said Bob Tang, manager of integrated resource planning for Azusa. "The teachers are very enthusiastic about it."
The program focuses on three areas: environment, energy, and water. It explains the value of natural resources and helps students find ways to conserve energy in their homes and everyday lives. Areas covered include pollution, waste management, transportation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.
Each participating student and teacher receives:
Hands-on experience
Students also receive a Resource Action Kit that allows them to save energy in their own homes. It contains 12 tools and efficiency technologies, including an electro-luminescent nightlight, filter tone alarm, high efficiency showerhead, and an energy temperature monitor. The kit allows students to share the message of resource conservation with their families, who see the immediate financial benefits in their water and energy bills.
Tang said the resource action kit makes the concept of conservation real for students. "They get something tangible. They can take the kit home, replace the existing showerhead, and see how the low flow showerhead saves water by looking at their utility bills."
The program integrates academic areas, including reading, science, math, and other disciplines, an approach that has earned praise from teachers. It's also designed to meet state learning standards and fit teacher goals.
200,000 participants
Since being launched several years ago, the program has reached more than 200,000 students and families. According to the NEF, the program results in annual savings of 1.2 billion gallons of water, 70 million kilowatthours of electricity, 2.5 million therms of natural gas, 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater, and $11 million on utility bills.
Azusa has sponsored the program for more than three years and intends to continue offering it to area schools.
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FROM WESTERN'S POWER LINE:
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| For more information, call Bob Tang at (626) 812-5214, or Sunny Dent, National Energy Foundation program coordinator, at (801) 539-1406. | |
