Team ENERGY STAR is a new initiative from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program, developed to engage and educate families about saving energy in the home. Team ENERGY STAR, themed with Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax, empowers kids to help protect the climate through easy-to-implement, money-saving actions and provides them an outlet for sharing their passion for preserving our environment.
Kids can join Team ENERGY STAR by visiting energystar.gov/team where they will get easy-to-download educational and interactive materials, such as a comprehensive Action Kit, the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up, a Lorax activity booklet and a Lorax mustache-making kit. Kids are also encouraged to come back and share their stories about protecting the environment by saving energy, which will be showcased on energystar.gov/changetheworld and throughout social media.
Team ENERGY STAR is part of a multi-year EPA campaign, Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR, developed to engage Americans of all ages in saving energy, money, and protecting the environment. If every American household took part in the Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR Pledge, we would: save more than 126 billion KWh/yr of electricity, save $18 billion in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 20 million cars!
Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, ENERGY STAR has nearly 20,000 partners committed to improving the energy efficiency of products, homes, buildings and businesses, and the ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 65 product categories. In 2011 alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 41 million cars — all while saving $23 billion on their utility bills.
Teaching the whole family to take small steps at home to save energy—like turning off the lights when you leave the room, unplugging chargers from the wall when devices are finished charging, programming your thermostat to save energy when you’re away, and changing out incandescent light bulbs to energy-efficient ones—add up to big energy savings.
In our home, we’re pretty good about lights and water, but still working on unplugging those “ghost energy suckers!” But we have used our A/C less than usual this year and buy Energy Star appliances after any old suckers wear out. But even at 2 years old, my toddler already talks about saving water, turning off lights, and making sure not to waste his leftover banana. The Lorax would be proud.
Please come back on June 12, when Big Green Purse will be hosting a carnival of posts from many bloggers who support energy efficiency and Team ENERGY STAR.
UPDATE: Team ENERGY STAR is inviting students up to the age of 25 to enter an essay contest explaining why saving energy is important and describing how they do their part. The “essays” can be anything: written words, photo montages, slide shows, posters, cartoons, drawings, etc. The first 100 entrants receive a free DVD of the Lorax, and the winners have the chance to win energy-saving TVs, computer monitors, and plus get their name in lights in New York’s Times Square. The deadline to enter is September 17.
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