AFTER two months of switching off the lights and turning down the heat at home, students at Chartwell elementary school in West Vancouver are passing their energy savings on to needy families in South Africa.
Since early February, approximately 100 students in grades 4 to 7 have been participating in an educational pilot program, led by professional engineer Roger Bayley, focused on family sustainability.
The young "watt watchers" were tasked with tracking their household energy consumption, via utility bills and meter reading, and taking steps to save power and money.
"It was, towards the end, a little difficult to make sure the statistical information we got from all the kids was correct and accurate, but it looks as if they saved around 25,000 kilowatt hours," Bayley said.
Sponsors from the energy industry donated close to $5,000 to support the students in their efforts. That money will be donated to the iShack program, an initiative that builds solar-panel-equipped housing in the slums of South Africa.
"We're turning the lights off here and turning them on in South Africa," Bayley said.
Chartwell students were recognized last Monday at a school assembly, with presentations by representatives from BC Hydro and FortisBC and West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith.
Bayley hopes other North Shore schools will be interested in running the household sustainability program next year.
"We need to refine it a little bit in terms of how the information is gathered, because it's over a fairly prolonged period and therefore it's quite a challenge to the children to stay focused and interested," Bayley said, but added, "They learned a lot and I think we're pretty pleased with what they ended up being able to do."
