To help earn their “Earth is Our Home” badge, Brownie Troop 312 joined together with the Student Council and P.T.A of Hopi Elementary School to be a part of the national “Energy Star Change a Light, Change the World” campaign.
Troop leader Cheri Dersam realized that this was too big and important a project for just their Brownie troop alone.
“The program is also a way to raise awareness to find out what else people can do to save energy,” says Dersam who also heads up the school’s P.T.A. Green Committee, which oversees the extensive recycling program going on at Hopi.
The Energy Star organization encourages individuals to save energy in other ways to be environmentally conscious, like encouraging the public to buy energy efficient appliances.
This current Change a Light campaign is targeting schools to teach the public how much a difference they can make by replacing at least a single light bulb in their home with an Energy Star qualified light bulb.
These squiggly-shaped compact fluorescent light “CFL” bulbs produce less heat, last longer and use 2/3 less energy than standard household light bulbs. Details of what kind of bulbs meet energy star standards can be found on line at: energystar.gov/joinCAL.
Brownie troop 3rd grader Alaine Pimsner’s family participates in several environmentally friendly ideas in their every day life.
“My mom changed the light bulbs,” she says, adding that they also are involved in recycling. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember which goes in where, keeping the newspaper in the one for newspapers only, but I make sure to separate everything.”
Even before her school joined in the effort, Brownie Sydney Wood says her family had already installed the earth friendly light bulbs in their home.
                Lighting is a major portion of the electricity used in our homes. Every time you use less electricity, somewhere a power plant is generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions which are a component cause that is leading to global warming.
                If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an energy star type, we would save enough energy in a single year to light more than 3 million homes equaling more than $600 million in energy costs and prevent greenhouse emissions equal to the amount put out by more than 800,000 automobiles.  
                The students at Hopi worked together to hang posters and pass out stickers and pamphlets for the student body to take home in an effort to make their parents aware how important each individual can be toward this global effort.
                The school kicked off the 8th Annual National Energy Start, Change a Light campaign on the same day the local SRP School Challenge began. The SRP program runs through December 14, 2007 when they will award up to $2,500 to the school that gets the most people to go online and pledge to join the Energy
Star Change a Light by changing at least one light bulb in their home to a CFL type.           
                Hopi students hope to win this event but at the same time are challenging other schools to join in the final goal of fighting for the environment.
                Hopi is asking area residents to help them win the SRP School Challenge by going online to: srpnet.com/pledge, where on the right side of the screen they can select “Special Pledges” under Arizona schools, and to pick Hopi from the drop down menu.
                Even friends and families from other cities and states can pledge for Hopi. You can also print out an ACE Hardware coupon from this site for a free CFL light bulb with a $20 purchase.

Email Tracey Werth at tracywerth@cox.net

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