Sacramento Students Brainstorm Energy Saving Ideas

January 7, 2013 by Linda Hardesty

A local air conditioning business and a non-profit organization in Sacramento, Calif., are offering prizes to  students who can think of energy conservation projects that would benefit their community.

The West Sacramento Educational Foundation has partnered with Beutler Air Conditioning and Plumbing to host the contest.

Kindergarten through eighth-grade science classes in the Washington Unified School District are eligible to enter their ideas on how to reduce the load on the energy grid and how that benefits their community, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The class with the best idea will receive $500. The second prize is $300, and the third prize is $200. In addition to the prize money, Beutler is donating $1,000 to the West Sacramento Educational Foundation.

The science classes will brainstorm their energy-savings ideas and submit an essay explaining their concepts and how they can be implemented. Winners will be announced in March.

Energy efficiency games and contests are cropping up in other parts of the country as well. A group in Wilmington, Ohio, is creating an online game – Dropoly – for homeowners to share energy efficiency ideas, for instance.

The Washington Unified School District in Sacramento also demonstrates its interested in energy efficiency by having an electricity-generating solar array on its high school.

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