Students Saving Energy

March 30th, 2012

There a new movement brewing, one fueled by student activism.  It’s simple, yet contains a powerful message.  We want you to…

TURN OFF THE LIGHTS!

For one whole day, students will encourage their schools to leave classroom lights off.  We want to raise awareness about school-wide energy consumption and the educate communities about where our energy comes from.  We want to change daily habits and perspectives.  We want to show that by working together, students, the min

ds of our future generation, have the ability to make change.

BE the change in your school today!

Get involved by emailing us at: studentssavingenergy@gmail.com.  Download the Instruction Manual here.Inspired by Earth Hour 2012: http://www.earthhour.org/

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A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 57 trips to carry that many people.

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Our first Meet and Greet event was a major success! Thanks for the awesome turnout at the event– we’re so excited about forming this new group of dedicated students.  With about 30 people in attendance, representing twelve high schools all around the North Jersey area, the SSE network is off to a great start!  In addition, we would like to thank David Yennior from the Sierra Club and Marriott Sheldon from Youth Now for their additional input on how to get involved in your local communities.  Check out an article about this event online from the Record.

Here are the project ideas we discussed at the event. Please share them with your club!

-Turn Off the Lights
-Choose to Reuse
-Love letters (Youth Now campaign)
-Joining the Sierra Club
-Bottle bill
-Fracking campaign

Now, it’s up to you to continue building upon the ideas you’ve gained.  It’s time to begin the development stages of formalizing your project ideas.  Please check your emails very shortly as we will be contacting you to officially get you started!  Questions? Email us at studentssavingenergy@gmail.com.

We would like to invite you and your friends to our Meet and Greet event on Saturday, October 22 from 2 – 4 PM at the Ridgewood Public Library on 125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. This is a terrific opportunity for students from various high school environmental clubs throughout North Jersey to come together to learn more about our campaigns and brainstorm ideas for how they can make their school more sustainable. We also encourage teachers to come as well! We will be providing many resources, ideas and supplies for your club to take home so everyone can start off the year on the right foot!  In addition, there will be a guest speaker, refreshments and a raffle.  We really hope you can make it—our goal is to create a strong network of students that work together to take action in our communities.  This event will be the impetus for what can possibly be a new and exciting youth energy conservation movement!  But in order to build such a movement, we need your participation.  Will you join us?

To RSVP to this event please email us at www.studentssavingenergy@gmail.com.  We would like to hear back from you as soon as possible, hopefully by the first week of October so we can have a good idea about the number of people attending.  If you could, please provide your name and contact information; if you are coming in a group, we would like all the names and contact information. We look forward to working with your school this upcoming school year!

A few days ago, I had the chance to represent Youth Now and share SSE with students from around the world at the International Youth Council’s Campaign Night at the United Nations.  Youth delegates had the chance to listen to speakers from a few non-profit organizations, including the WE Campaign, Roots and Shoots and many others.  The Campaign Night was part of the larger annual IYC Youth Assembly, which brings together international students to focus on global sustainable development.  It was awesome! Students from multiple countries–from Nigeria, to Taiwan, to Canada–all showed great interest in this network.  I believe that the goals of IYC, which is to “inspire the youth of the world to act and give them the tools to make a difference,” perfectly embodies our SSE vision.  Energy consumption is a universal problem, so let’s work together with those from all over the globe!

Learn more about the Annual Youth Assembly here.

“The Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations focuses on young people championing humanitarian causes around the world and how to become involved, taking action for what you believe in.  The youth assembly is an annual project of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (FAF).  TheInternational Youth Council is the official network of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations.”

It’s summertime and school’s out!  It’s time to get out there and enjoy the sun!

In the meantime, we’re putting together a list of students interested in joining the SSE network this fall.  When school comes around, we will be contacting everyone to officially start building up a new generation of energy activist leaders.  We’re currently forming some pretty awesome plans and events (just wait and see!).  We want to help YOU get started on the right foot, with new project ideas and resources for the start of the school year.  If you’re interested, send us an email at studentssavingenergy@gmail.com.

Whether you’re soaking up the rays at a beach or chilling at beach, don’t forget to stay eco-conscious!  Ask yourself, is it necessary to crank up the AC in your car all the way up?  Roll down the windows and feel the summer breeze instead!  Even better– use your bike!

Happy summer!  See you in the fall!

Ridgewood is a beautiful, clean and environmentally savvy town. This year’s Earth Day Fair on May 14^th is all about learning how our town is actively participating in making Ridgewood a cleaner more sustainable place! In an effort to increase awareness and education the Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee (REAC) has teamed with the Ridgewood High School Students for Environmental Action club to create a memorable 2011 Earth Day.

The event will take place in the Memorial Park at Van Neste Square from 10 to 2pm. This year, a special DOT theme has been developed to showcase the community’s considerable effort in keeping the town green.DOT stands for Do One Thing. The Earth Day will not only be demonstrating how various ecological groups employ ecofriendly practices, but will also display the average person’s knowledge on  respecting the ecosystem and promoting sustainability. Your knowledge matters. The DOT project, first developed in Ridgewood high School was initially created to display the average student’s knowledge on environmental sustainability. However, DOT has expanded to present Ridgewood with the unique opportunity to learn and show how you also actively participate!

The Earth Day Fair promises to be a fun educational event. Numerous local environmental, governmental and civic groups will be present. Entertainment, food and music will only enhance the fun Earth Day vibe! The Ridgewood Earth Day Fair is an excellent opportunity to teach people of all ages what it means to be Ridgewood clean!

The Turn Off the Lights Guide

Download this guide and follow the steps outlined to start your very own energy-saving project.  The TOTL project has proven to be very effective in reducing school electricity bills and raising awareness about energy conservation.  Email us at studentssavingenergy@gmail.com to learn more about how it impacted our community!  We would LOVE to help you get started and make a difference.  Remember, in our global youth energy movement today, change only comes when we all work together.  So join students across the nation today by contributing to the effort and making your own school more sustainable, starting with this simple and fun project.

Here’s why: 

Are you ready to take action? Are you ready to be the first in your school to take the initiative to save energy?  Look no further!  SSE is here to help you start your own project to help your school save energy.

The best place to start is the Turn Off the Lights (TOTL) project.  Did you know that 30% of an average school’s energy usage goes to lighting?  And what about all those hours after school when the lights are kept on?  Who’s going to do anything about it?  That’s simple– YOU!  You have the power to do something about this consumption issue and luckily, you’ve come to the right place to make change happen.

SSE is dedicated to helping your school start your very own TOTL project.  Not only is it such a simple idea, but the effort put into it will definitely worth it.  It will raise awareness and educate others in your school, as well as save a lot of money on your school’s electricity bill!  In additional, the TOTL project received statewide (NJ) acclaim in the 2010 Igniting Creative Energy Contest.

This would be a great first step, especially if you’re part of an environmental club.  Get started here.  We will contact you right away to give you the resources and guidance you need to move forward to help your school save energy!

Click on the “Get Started” tab to submit a pledge!

One year ago, our school, Ridgewood High School, started the Turn Off the Lights project.  Now, we’re planning for the installation of a motion-sensored lighting system, as well as other projects to reduce our school’s energy consumption and educate others.  Our vision is to make our school more sustainable—and that means enforcing such practices to protect our resources for the future.

Now, imagine if schools across the nation started implementing similar processes.  Imagine the amount of money we would save, the awareness we would raise in our communities, if we all worked together to make our schools more sustainable.  Join the Students Saving Energy network today, and become part of the growing student-led movement to take energy-saving initiatives in our own schools!

We are looking for ways to establish connections with other students in the nation and around the world.  Our goal is to collect Sustainability Pledges from every school that joins.

A Sustainability Pledge is an action a school is taking or a goal it wants to take to reduce its energy consumption, whether it is through turning off the lights every week, installing motion sensored lights, doing an energy audit, or getting solar panels.

To join this student-led sustainability movement, click on the “Get Started!” tab and fill out the Sustainability Pledge form.  We will contact you right away to provide you with the necessary resources to start an energy project.  Through these pledges, we can compile a massive collection of pledges that will be used to demonstrate the growing voice of students in this vast youth energy movement.   Check out the list of schools as well– your school can one be the next one!   In the future, we hope to see all schools in the nation work together to achieve sustainability.