What You Can Do In the Community
to Save Electricity

Not only is it important for you to save electricity, but it's also important for your entire community to save electricity. If all the homes and businesses in your community worked together to save energy, it would really help the fight against global warming!

 
 

There are things you can do to make sure your community is working hard to save electricity. Remember, when you save electricity you help stop global warming!

  • Find out if any of the community buildings in your city/town use solar energy.  Talk or write government officials about using photovoltaic (solar) or wind power generating systems on schools and other community buildings to save electricity.
  • Find out if your community has a plan to put into action when electricity use in the community gets really high. For instance, in the hot summer, electricity use rises a lot because so many homes and businesses are using fans and air conditioning. An example of a plan is when the media informs the community that an energy alert is in effect and people should follow certain guidelines, like using their appliances at different times of the day, etc. “Flex Your Power” is a great program in California that does this. You can learn more about it at www.FlexYourPower.org
  • Find out if your local government encourages businesses and families to install solar hot water heaters or photovoltaic systems at their homes or businesses. If they don't, talk to government officials about offering tax breaks or other rewards to people.
  • Ask the teachers at your local schools if they have training and curricula so that they can teach their students about renewable sources of energy such as biofuel, wind power, and solar energy.  If they don't, talk to your school leaders about adding information on energy conservation and renewable energy sources into the curriculum.
  • Visit a community owned building and look at the lighting. If energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are not being used, talk to government officials about changing their lighting to save energy. One CFL will replace up to 10 traditional bulbs, they use about one-fourth of the energy, and they can last for five to seven years. Also, one CF bulb can save 500 pounds of coal! If all the buildings in your community made the switch, that could save a lot of coal.
  • Ask your town’s public officials to hold an Earth Day Celebration in April to create more awareness for the need to conserve electricity. This could also be done as a fair that shows displays about reasons why we need to conserve electricity.

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"Briefing Room." Flex Your Power. 7 February 2007 <http:www.fypower.orb/briefing_room/>.

“Electric Department Conservation Tips.” Littleton  Electric Light & Water Departments. 7 February 2007 <http://www.lelwd.com/leld/tips.html>.

“How You Can Save Energy.” tvakids.com 7 February 2007 <http://www.tvakids.com/electricity/conservation.htm>.

"Save Electricity, Money With Eco-Friendly Light Bulbs." NBC Universal Inc. 3 April 2007 <http://www.wnbc.com/community/11214152/detail.html>.

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