Going Green

by Lynn K. McMullin

This week, two separate events happened that together became the topic of this week’s blog. The first was working with Beth Kandrysawtz, the Board Chair, on a list of changes the district has made to save money. The second was a conversation with the HS Science Department Chair, John Duffy, who has found a solar-powered battery charger that the science and math departments could use to recharge the batteries for graphing calculators and science probes. Batteries cost each department hundreds of dollars a year, but just as important, is the fact that battery disposal is not eco-friendly. In combination, these two discussions led to blogging about the steps the district is taking to become “greener.”

Did you know the light switches in most classrooms and offices have motion sensors that turn the lights off if no one is moving in the room?  That’s why if you’re meeting at the circular table in Superintendent Case’s office, the lights will go out, and someone need to hop-up and wave at the light switch.  In a similar effort, the computers have software installed which “puts them to sleep” after 10 minutes of inactivity and “powers them down” at the end of the school day.

An audit of the district’s lighting energy use three years ago resulted in fixture reconfigurations and element replacement. The changes are projected to save $18,400 over three years, $60,346 over five years, and $309,000 over 15 years.  But there is a saving of energy, as well.  The hot water heaters have been replaced at the High School/Middle School, saving natural gas; but more can be done.  Our new Business Manager, Ed Hoyt, is planning to begin audits of other energy use, as well.  

Did you know the outdoor picnic furniture selected by the Board of Ed’s Student Reps is made of recycled plastics?  The same recycled consciousness will go into the purchase of the benches and storage shed in CBPS’s new “Science Inquiry Center” being planned in the school’s courtyard.  That whole project has a “green” theme from the solar lights and solar-powered vents on the greenhouse to the composting bin and the absence of trash cans, teaching students to take back out what they bring in.

Next year, the schools will begin school-based energy conservation plans, looking at the details of their building’s energy use, such as open windows and doors during the winter, or lights left burning in empty classrooms, or the use of refrigerators and appliances – in other words asking the same kinds of energy conservation questions at school that we’re all asking in our own homes.  The administrators at each building will begin a Green Committee with students as part of the membership.   A town-wide committee is also growing, and the schools will join in those community efforts as well.  

Currently, all of the schools have some level of recycling paper, cardboard, and plastics.  Those programs will become more formalized.  Also, on the radar screen for the future is the idea of adding solar heat panels to the High School/Middle School when that roof is replaced.

As Kermit said, “It’s not easy being green;” so if you have additional “greening” or energy-saving ideas, please share them with us.