MICHIGAN 20 POINTS OF ENERGY
& ENVIRONMENTAL SAVINGS ACTIVITIES
1. The school recycles paper.
2. The school reuses its magazines and newspapers for other projects.
3. The school has adopted an endangered species animal from one of
several organizations and posted a picture of the animal in a main
traffic area.
4. The school media center updates its print and nonprint ecological
materials regularly.
5. An energy savings program has been instituted at the school.
6. Students at the school participate in a planned program of
energy savings, including dusting coils on cafeteria refrigerators,
placing film on windows, setting hot water heaters 1° (Fahrenheit)
lower, seeing how plants and trees strategically placed can save
energy for the school, and checking proper inflation in bus tires
and other school vehicles once a month.
7. The school has hosted a visit by an ecological spokesperson,
a representative of the Sierra Club, an endangered animals species
show, or a similar presentation.
8. The school has a birdhouse habitat project.
9. The school has established a natural Michigan garden project
with native plants.
10. The school has solar power presentations or experiments, such
as a solar cookout.
11. Classes do energy audits of their classrooms and make improvements,
such as placing film on windows, caulking windows, or using kits to
make windows more energy-efficient.
12. The school has a printer cartridge recycling program through
which the school earns money by selling the cartridges to one or
more companies that buy cartridges from schools.
13. The school recycles batteries and has designated a representative
to return them to an appropriate recycling program.
14. The school recycles cellular telephones and receives money for
the telephones from recycling companies that work with schools.
15. The school observes Earth Day in some way in April.
16. Art classes at the school have a poster contest to support
ecology concerns and a school-wide display in conjunction with
Earth Day activities.
17. The school has science class projects in which students do several
home energy improvements, such as turn down hot water heaters, install
home window insulation kits, clean coils on home refrigerators, and
install draft guards for doors.
18. The school has an ecology club, whose activities include such
activities as helping senior citizens make their homes more energy-efficient,
putting in new furnace filters, caulking windows, cleaning refrigerator
coils in homes, and setting water heaters 1° (Fahrenheit) lower.
19. The school's classes visit internet sites where clicking saves
rainforest habitat and teachers document the students' efforts.
20. The school sets a goal of 5% less energy usage in the school
and works with local power utilities to see progress toward the goal.
