Seaweek 2006: Footprints for our Future

Marine Education Society of Australasia

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Wednesday: Sustainable Resources
Energy and natural resource use awareness day

Intro statement needed.

Major Sponsor

Our Principal Naming Rights Sponsor for Seaweek 06 is BAG SMART. Bag Smart is a social marketing campaign to reduce plastic shopping bags in the community. Bag Smart connects people to the issue of plastic bags, demonstrates that there are alternatives, and supports the take up of sustainable social change.

20 ways to reduce your Energy and Natural Resource footprint

1. Conduct a water or Energy audit of the school.	Hint: Use a light meter in your class room – do you really need all those lights on? Activity: Energy audit Water Audit
2. Investigate your home energy bills and compare how much greenhouse gas is produced per household in your class.	* Create a graph of greenhouse gas emissions for each person’s house and try to reduce your individual emissions over the next few months. * Talk to your family about switching to Green Power. * Write an article for the school newsletter explaining the connection between burning fossil fuels and the environment.
3. Write a special school newsletter for Seaweek 2006 explaining how global warming affects the oceans. For more information, see Climate Change and the Great Barrier Reef and the BleachWatch web site where you can download facts sheets on climate change and coral bleaching .	Ideas for articles Open with an article called “Nemo moves to Sydney – Permanently!” Research different ways the sea has been effected by our energy use. * Interview a climate scientist, local politician or community elder about climate change.
4. Become a member of the school environment team, or start one if you don’t have one!	Activity: Testing your knowledge Answers
5. Design water conservation signs with messages like ‘Don’t be a sap, turn off the tap’ and place them in outlets in and around school buildings, your home and community.	Activity: Smart Resources (renewable energy)
6. Encourage your principal and teachers to implement best practices in the school such as a water recycling system, an energy conservation strategy or a revegetation program.	Activity: Get the facts on the green stats http://www.greenpower.gov.au/pages/Facts-Uptake.php
7. Have a gadget free day every week ,no computers, no mp3 players. Have a creative day, explore your environment.
8. Create a car pool ,walk or bike more often, to get to and from school. * Host a ride to school day and cook breakfast for all riders	Activity: Take a look at this great toolkit and work out how to help your community become more enviro friendly. Activity: Research one of these great programs that are in action and apply it to your local situation. Learn how you can get on board the wave of change.
9. Create and promote an “ecologo” competition in your school.	* Hold a competition for students to design and create a simple logo that will remind people to be ecologically sustainable when they see the logo. * Create stencils or signs of the logo and place them next to light switches to remind people to switch off; lights when not necessary; taps to stop drips; drains to stop people littering. Activity: Getting involved
10. Replace your incandescent light globes with energy saving globes, or halogens with LEDs and watch your power bill go down!	Activity: What is green power? http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/education/factsheets /green_power.html
11. Place a bucket in the shower while you wait for hot water to come through – use it to water the lawn.
12. Learn how you can choose a more efficient vehicle when replacing or buying a car.	Activity: Think green when on the road http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/GVGPublicUI/ ApplicationStartTaskWebForm. aspx
13. Encourage your family to install a water tank.
14. Install water conserving shower heads.
15. Wash things using buckets not running a tap.
16. Install a solar hot water system.	Activity: Understanding the alternatives
17. Insulate your schools, homes and buildings.
18. Use public transport where ever possible.
19. Take a closer look at transport options in your area and weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of their use for the community as a whole.	Activity: Weighing up the alternatives http://www.travelsmart.gov.au/teachers/teachers5.html#51
20. Turn off lights, fans, heaters when not in use.	Activity: Getting the picture on the problem Activity: Get the low down on the current climate science knowledge http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/science/guide/pubs/chapter2.pdf Activity: Use these fact sheets to assist in a presentation you might like to make to your enviroclub members. http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/education/factsheets/index.html

Action projects to conserve our Resources

Conduct a water and/or energy audit of the school.

Contact you local council to assist with environmental audits.

Monitor water usage in the school. If any taps, drinking fountains, fire hydrants or sprinkler systems are leaking, inform the school administration team.

Put water conservation signs in the toilets, urinals, hand basins, sinks, showers and any other water outlets in and around school buildings.

Mulch gardens to reduce water loss to evaporation.

Install flow control devices to reduce the amount of water flowing from the tap.

Apply for a community water grant : www.communitywatergrants.gov.au,

Work with the local school community and relevant outside organisations to develop ideas for saving water in the school.

Join the Origin Home energy Project: www.originenergy.com.au or a similar project in your state.

Develop an energy use policy for the school, involve teachers, students, parents and school support staff in the planning.

Distribute newsletters electronically instead of printing.

Create reusable class sets of materials.

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