BLOG OF iECYCLE

Not only is my family supportive of conserving and going “green,” but I’m lucky enough to go to a school that supports such an initiative as well. Ms. Maloy, a sophomore chemistry teacher, was granted a “Teacher of the Future” Award last year for her efforts to use ours school’s resources to make a difference in both our school community and in our town.

Ms. Maloy is not only a fantastic teacher (she taught me when I was a sophomore!), but also an inspirational community leader. She enabled our environmental initiative group, CA Green, to engage in a county-wide competition between three rival schools to see who could reduce their energy usage the most over the course of a month-long competition.

The goal of the competition was important: of course Cary Academy had to take down Ravencroft and Durham Academy – that’s simply what cross town rivals do. But what I, as a student, really gained from this were ideas about how to make a difference, and how easy most methods to reduce energy are.

Firstly, it’s as simple as turning off the lights when you leave a room. Even if you’re coming right back, everything adds up and such an easy motion really makes a difference. Secondly (and here was something that was a bit less obvious): UNPLUG your appliances when you’re not using them. A hairdryer, even if it’s turned off, sucks up energy more than any other appliance. Also, straightening irons, toasters, and phone chargers are huge culprits when it comes to energy usage.

Now think about that: 1 or 2 seconds out of EVERY DAY are all it takes to make a difference.

The hair dryer thing intrigued me the most: I had heard that they use up energy, but I was skeptical about how much of a difference they could really make. I mean, it’s just like a little fan, right? According to my research, if you use your hairdryer for 5 minutes a day, leaving it unplugged at all other times, you use up 45 kWh per year.

Now, that may not seem like a lot, but that amount of power usage in compact florescent lighting would burn a 14 watt bulb for 3,259 hours/year or 9 hours a day. Or 4 of these lights for 814 hours yearly. So you could light your house for a year or you could run a hair dryer for 5 minutes a day and use the same amount of energy.

Numbers have always helped me to put things in perspective. When I saw this, I stopped blow dryings and straightening my hair, for good. And, you know what? The world didn’t end. In fact, I feel a little bit better about the impact that I’m making on it.