School Lighting SPENCER NORKEY

Action Plan: Start a Club  Starting a club would be the first step in how this plan will take effect. This club will make posters promoting the club and will get members to join it. Eventually, these members will be responsible for the changing of the light bulbs and they will also advertise the fundraising by making colorful posters, because boring posters are don’t work as well as interesting ones (Koenig 2013). This club will also be responsible for setting up the fundraising on a site like GoFundMe or another alternative. After setting it up, they would promote it with posters and talking to people about it to earn the necessary amount of money to switch the school to energy efficient bulbs. After the club is formed and the students have set up the fundraisers, they will need to be patient. This project will not get done in a matter of days, and it may not take a few weeks either. Months and maybe even years could go by before the idea is fully implemented in the halls of Blue Valley West, but eventually the amount of money needed will be reached and all of the bulbs will be switched out. After the club is formed and the light bulbs have all been replaced, the students will then only need to keep the legacy going by engaging younger kids and getting them involved in the club to keep it alive and make sure our school stays clean by using the energy efficient light bulbs.

Implementation  To implement the club into Blue Valley West, students would need a staff leader to lead them, and there are a lot of teachers who would be willing to start a club with a dedicated group of students. Teachers like Mr. Vander Hart and others who have already helped lead clubs are a great example of these teachers, and there are many more who would be interested in helping Implementing these new Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) would not be an easy task. The students would need to be the ones to change the bulbs so extra staff wouldn’t have to be hired. They would not all be implemented at the same time though. Once the amount of money needed for a group of bulbs in, say, the performing arts hallway was reached, the students would buy the bulbs and replace that area of the school. This gradual change would help save energy, because while they were earning the money for the rest of the lights they would be saving energy in the parts that they had already replaced. For an example of how much energy would be saved, take an average American home. This home has around 47 light bulbs, probably around the amount that the performing arts hallway has, if not less. In an American home, using normal light bulbs uses around 2820 watts of energy, while using the same amount of CFL bulbs only uses about 658 watts (Benson 2013). This in turn saves big amounts of money, around 41$ a month, and this is just in one hallway (Benson 2013). Gradually switching would be saving the school money while keeping the school energy efficient Implementing around the school would be done by the club after or before school, so as to not take away from learning and to not distract other students.

Funding: The Specifics  Students at Blue Valley West are a great group of people who always seem to be willing to help out. As long as there was sufficient backing to the fundraiser by students and staff alike, the fundraising would be able to get done. Using a program like GoFundMe, the group of students running it would set up a fundraiser and would create posters, and possibly a website, to help get students, staff, parents, and friends to donate to the plan. Posters created could have the website name on them, and this website would have all sorts of information, such as details to why the switch would be occurring and why they should donate. They would have a link to the GoFundMe, and there would be specific amounts to donate. Having specific amounts makes it more likely for people to donate to a cause because it is easier for them to click an amount than to think of an appropriate one (Koenig 2013).

Funding (Continued) As seen by this graph, Incandescent bulbs are the most costly of them. CFL bulbs also cost more than the other options, but it would be easier for them to be implemented because they cost a lot less to purchase at the beginning than the others do (Summers 2009).

Maintenance  Over the years, these bulbs would burn out. To counteract this, a constant fundraiser would be available and the posters could remain hanging until new ones were made by the club. Whenever a bulb was getting close to the end of its life, the students could have a back-up supply of the bulbs and replace it the day it went out. To help keep the club alive, the members could befriend younger kids and get them involved in staying green and encourage them to join the club in high school. If at any point, the member count started to drop again, the students could again create posters promoting the club and convince friends and acquaintances to join the club to help keep Blue Valley West from being less green than it can be. CFL bulbs last around hours, but they can be longer or shorter (Perton 2011). Even if it is a bit shorter, though, students will not have to replace these very often.

Environmental Impact  As mentioned earlier, CFL bulbs use more than a thousand less watts than normal incandescent bulbs in the average American household. Blue Valley West is the equivalent of many American households, so it would be saving tens of thousands of watts of energy.

Continued As seen, the energy used by incandescent bulbs is close to 4 times the amount used by CFL bulbs (Beciri 2012). Each CFL bulb used would save thousands of BTUs a year. (A BTU is a British measurement, equaling around 1055 joules.)

Continued As seen, CFL bulbs can save up to 75% of energy normally used by incandescent bulbs, and they are also a cheaper option than fluorescent lights and other more expensive options listed.

Summary  CFL bulbs are a good alternative for saving energy in homes, and they are a lot cheaper than light bulbs that may save a bit more energy but have a much higher cost. A student formed club would be able to raise enough money to switch out the school’s less environmentally friendly bulbs for CFL bulbs that would save thousands of watts of energy a year. Making the switch would make Blue Valley West a greener school and would be a much better alternative than buying incandescent bulbs over and over again. The student run project and club would only require a teacher to help them begin the club, and from that point on it would be possible for it to be entirely student-run. The legacy of the club would be able to remain in the school by the older members recruiting younger kids and getting them to join this club.

References  Benson, R. (2014, February 1). How Much Money Can you Save by Switching to Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs. Retrieved May 4,  Beciri, D. (2012, August 30). Power consumption and environmental impact of light bulbs. Retrieved May 4,  Perton, M. (2011, January 20). Do Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Really Last 10 Years? Retrieved May 4,  Summers, B. (2009, May 21). Review: 7 Watt ZetaLux LED Light Bulb. Retrieved May 4,  Koenig, M. (2013). 7 Tips on Asking for Donations- It's Intimidating, We Get It. Retrieved May 4, 2015.