Conservation in my School! By: Cedar Canyon Elementary 3rd Graders

Four Ways to Conserve Energy Turn off the lights in our classroom whenever it is not in use. Make sure computer monitors are turned off when not in use. Keep doors closes to maintain warm or cold temperatures inside the classroom as desired. Make sure to check Faucets are not left dripping water.

Interviews Miss James says that classrooms leave their lights on when they are not using them and she believes that is the biggest problem we have as a school in conservation. Mr. Finch believes that students leaving monitors on in the computer labs creates a huge problem when it comes to conserving energy, he thinks if we fix this we can save lots of energy. Mrs. Topp wanted us to know that too many teachers let the cold and warm regulated air leave their classrooms and escape to the hallway and then outside, she believes that if we close our doors we won’t have to worry about wasting extra energy to heat or cool classrooms twice. Mr. Hudson says that he walks into the bathroom and the faucets are still running at least twice a week, he sees this as a huge problem for our conservation efforts and thinks if we monitor this we can fix our problem.

Turn off the lights! Lighting accounts for nearly 50% of the electric bill in most schools. The best way to lower this bill and conserve energy is to shut off the lights whenever they are not in use. (Conserve) We could have students make signs and stickers to remind people to turn off the lights when they leave a room. Put light switches where people can find and operate them. Put one student in charge of turning off the lights every time we leave the classroom, so we know it will get done. (ASE)

Computer Monitors Make sure that all monitors are turned off when not in use. Power down computers at the end of the day. Form a student energy patrol to make sure monitors are off when computers are not in use and to turn computers off at the end of the day. (ASE) Put one student in charge of making sure these rules are followed. Students should turn off monitors that will not be used for the next class period.  All computer equipment should be turned off at the end of the day and on weekends, unless your network technicians specifically instruct otherwise. (Conserve)

Close the doors! The classroom needs to maintain a comfortable temperature whether it is warm or cold outside in order to promote learning. The hallways however are just a passageway to get to the classrooms and there is no learning taking place here so they do not need to be regulated as much. Keeping doors closed will conserve energy by not having to heat or cool both the hallways and the classroom, the classroom can keep its internal temperature by keeping the door closed. (ASE) Turn down heat in the hallways.  And—keep classroom doors closed.  Otherwise, the heat runs down the hall and outside—where it is wasted to the outdoors. (Conserve)

Stop the Drip Hot water is another area that uses a great amount of energy. By fixing dripping hot water faucets, you can save water and save energy. Even if it's cold water, fix the dripping faucet anyway because sanitizing and delivering water takes energy too. (ASE)

Sources http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/tips/schools.html https://www.ase.org/resources/energy-saving-tips-schools