The Future of Energy by Simone
December 2, 2011
When we first started the Energy Diet Challenge my biggest question was how I was going to get kids my age interested and involved.
To be honest, I find that the generation I am growing up in (and I am also guilty of this) is very materialistic and technology dependent.
iPhones, Blackberry’s, laptops, iPads, tablets, iPods, Xboxes, wii’s, home docking systems, gps’s, 50’’ flat screen TV’s…everybody wants it all! In fact I have more than a few friends who not only have an Xbox, but they also have a Wii and a Play Station or friends who update and buy a new phone at least once a year simply because there is a cooler more advanced model out.
In a generation where everything is accessible and disposable the thought of trying to get people interested in the topic of energy conservation seems like an impossible task so I have been really surprised to find that kids my age are a lot more knowledgeable and engaged than I thought.
My first experience with this was at my own high school. Back in October I published an article in my school newspaper about the project, I immediately got kids texting me or coming up to me in the hallways to ask me how it was going and if it was hard. A couple of weeks later I decided to hold an “Energy Tip of the Week” contest and asked students to submit their best energy tips to be entered into a draw. I honestly thought there would be no response and was begging my closest friends to please make sure they came up with a tip…in total 57 students entered! The last event I held at my school was “Take the Bus Day” during our “bringing your community to commute week” I asked the teachers to find out how many students in their class usually took the bus to school and then to find out how many students in their class had taken the bus on “Take the Bus Day”. We saw a 60% increase that day.
My second experience was when we were asked to do energy presentations for three different classes of students from grades nine to eleven. My first thought was “You’ve got to be kidding me, how do you expect us to keep them engaged for an hour when we’re talking about energy, that will be so boring for them!!” But then I took a few days to think about it and I realize that this was finally my chance to really get young people involved! I planned the presentation to include activities that focused on their thoughts about what energy conservation means and different ways they can save energy. I was so surprised to find that all of the kids actually knew a lot about the different areas of energy conservation. Doing these presentations in the classrooms really helped me to realize how important energy conservation really is.
Most teenagers know how to save energy and are interested, but I don’t necessarily think they understand the importance, so therefore it’s difficult for them to put it into practice.
Before this Challenge I could never relate to my parents need to be so “eco-friendly” all the time. Because of the Energy Diet Challenge I have had a lot more opportunities to talk with other people about energy and I have finally come to understand how important this issue really is. I’ve also come to realize how easy it is, and I think that if everybody my age could understand this, they would be more motivated to save energy. It’s one thing to know how to save energy and it’s another thing to be able to find the motivation to WANT to save energy.
Suggestions for Engaging Young People
• Relating it to something that is important and relevant to them such as fuel efficiency or embedded energy.
• Use people their own age to get these conversations going.
• Ask students questions and have them share their own ideas. If they do the talking, they'll start to develop their own thoughts about it.
Tim P
Excellent tips about engaging youth. Meaningful engagement is key. You're an amazing role model Simone! Your observations & insight is really interesting and makes me feel hopeful.
First of all, whatever I do I am always aware whether it is bad for the planet or o.k.
Secondly it is fairly easy to reduce one's consumption of all kinds of items, and I am sure you know that. I have the added advantage that I grew up during World War 2, and my parents raised 4 kids. I still don't know how they did it, but at the time everything that we now may consider a restriction of our life style was normal for me: no phone, no car, no computer. (By the way, our economic system,which is based on growth, is inherently bad for the environment. The life of all other living things is based on equilibrium. I wonder
when people realize we can't go on the way we live).
The major items that should be reduced are oil, water, paper and plastic in various forms.
Anyway here are a few things I do: There are some very expensive items which I can't pay off with money
during my or the items' life time:
1) I bought a Toyota Prius a few years ago. It has a very low fuel consumption (but only if you don't drive more).
2) I got an air to air heat pump. (I am actually not entirely sure how it functions. Maybe somebody knows about the Physics behind it). It works down to about -20 °C. This is the average temperature of our coldest month in Whitehorse: -20 °C in January.
The next items may not save me money in a few years but will in the long run:
3) My house is very old and had some problems. My water pipes in the basement froze sometimes. So I dug out the whole house (with the help of a friend), and we put insulation plates on the outside of the basement walls.
4) The upstairs was also poorly insulated. So I had a new wall put on the outside of the old wall (I didn't tear out the old wall; so now I have about 1.5 walls). The roofing was also redone.
5) I replaced all my windows with triple glass window panes (argon-filled).I think repairing is generally better than replacing (if it is possible to do). In the replacement process a lot of energy is beingused.
6) Of course, I bought energy-efficient light bulbs.
7) I have only one (or sometimes 2) light bulbs burning in the house at the same time. That would be more difficult for you as a family, but the unused room doesn't need to be lit..
8) I turn the computer off at night and leave it off till I use it next time.
9) The same goes for the TV. I only have it on when I want to watch something.
10) I have a freezer outside in my shed. To be honest, I don't use it much. My small freezing compartment in the refrigerator is sufficient.
11) I reuse or recycle as much as possible.
12) I also compost any organic materials (except plastic).
13) I reuse most plastic bags etc. (oceans are full of plastic, and production of plastic uses energy and often uses oil products).
14) I share vehicles whenever possible or convenient.
15) I take fewer baths and showers than most people. We have been brain-washed (presumably by the Parmaceutical Industry) that body odour is bad; it is actually normal; and some of the causes of body
odour (skin oils etc.) protect the skin and build up our immunesystem. - This has become a cultural thing in North America and is hard to change.
16) When I do take showers and baths, I leave the water in the tub for a while afterwards till it has lost a lot of its heat to the house thereby reducing the heating requirements a bit.
17) When I go to the restaurant (I do go out a lot because it is not psychologically good to be by myself all the time), I save any clean napkins and use them as household and toilet paper (because they would just have to throw them out if they've been touched) . I haven't bought any paper rolls in years.
18) When I have leftovers at the restaurant or at home, I always reuse them unless they have gone bad (in which case they are still being composted). My mother taught me to scrape my plate after each meal. At the time it was just the thing to do, but now I realize that food was short then and every percent was saved, and I am really impressed how my parents got 4 children through the war. At that time wasting nothing was not a choice; it was a necessity.
19) When I go shopping, I use my own shopping bag(s).
20) I don't flush the toilet every time according to the rule "yellow mellow; brown down". (When you have guests, you may want to give it a quick flush).
21) I reuse paper that has print only on one side. I have a collection of that kind of paper in a box. Occasionally I even reuse paper for official documents. (I'd rather save a few leaves and twigs from a tree somewhere than please a bureaucrat somewhere else).
#22) Whenever I drive my car, I never idle it, even when I drive off in the morning. I leave the house fully dressed for the outside conditions (that's good anyway in case there is an accident - your own or having to help somebody else). Then I start the car and drive off. It warms up faster when you drive it (slowly at first) then when it simply burns gas sitting there.
Helmut
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