Enviro Club aims to emphasize importance of saving energy

FALLS VILLAGE — A group of Lee H. Kellogg School middle school students wanted to do some good this spring. They decided to raise awareness about the small steps everyone can take to save energy.

The Enviro Club included Kiki Galaise, Katie Osborn, Erin and Robyn Bartomioli, Emily DeMazza, Shayne Dodge, Abby Wilson, Breanna Fallon and Lydia Downs. The students met once or twice a week during their lunch or recess periods.

According to their advisor, social studies teacher Amy Lake, the kids raised awareness of the importance of recycling at school and cutting down on waste.

They also wrote to their state representatives on a proposed bill to ban plastic supermarket bags. They sewed cloth shopping bags for their families, researched and surveyed school recycling efforts, put up bulletin board recycling displays, and placed signs on garbage bins reminding users to recycle.

Perhaps most visibly, they’ve also set up an exhibit next to Town Hall promoting solar clothes drying. The group learned that at last count, in 2005, there were 88 million clothes dryers in the U.S., according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Annually, these dryers consume 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household, creating 2,224 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions.

“They did a great job raising community awareness about the little things everyone can do to conserve resources,� said Lake.