They are impressionable and malleable. A novel attempt to create awareness among children on energy conservation that had its roots in Tirupati is now a hit across the country. Te result? Nearly five lakh families have successfully slashed their power bills.
‘Best Energy Saver Program’ was initiated in November 2012 by Green Energy Solutions, a Tirupati-based social organisation, and has now spread to several states in the country. Getting the message on energy conservation to parents through their children has worked positively, as the tangible benefit is visible with lesser units of power consumed over previous month.
Change makers
As part of the programme, every child will receive an energy saving card containing power saving tips, which they will implement at home. The effort leads to reduced power consumption (a copy of the bill has to be attached as proof), which makes them win the ‘Best energy saver’ award. “The comparative bills bring out the total savings and we can evaluate the winners based on the quantum of saving. Parents as well as teachers sign on the card as recognition of their effort,” Green Energy Solutions (GES) founder K. Madhu Babu told The Hindu .
The initiative is funded by Mott MacDonald, a UK-based engineering company as part of its CSR initiative. “We support this scheme as it helps habituate every child in energy conservation, who have saved up to 10 units of power a month,” acknowledges Managing Director S.S. Acharya.
This programme not only creates awareness, but also inculcates power saving habit among children and actually demonstrates conservation,” Mr. Madhu Babu explained.
Going places
After its thumping success in Andhra Pradesh, the programme was taken across Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, with the support of state government agencies. With support from Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, Mr. Madhu Babu roped in engineering college students to shoot short films on energy conservation.
No cutting corners
Another area of focus is recylcing plastic from products of daily use. Here’s a sampler. The small plastic piece cut from a milk sachet’s corner ends up in trash bins, only to become mounds of non-biodegradable garbage. To address this, GES has tied up with NREDCAP and Shreeja Mahila Dairy for a novel mission to train children to open the sachet without cutting the corner. “Each child should send us 10 such photos taken on different dates so that they get habituated to the process. This ensures that no plastic piece goes out of the recycling chain,” he said.
