Electricity detectives5 October 2010
St Albans Friends of the Earth have started a great new project with their Local Strategic Partnership to teach people all about electricity by lending them electricity monitors.
The group started the Electricity Detectives scheme to raise awareness of electricity use.
How it works
Any group of people that meets regularly can take part. School classes are the obvious choice but church groups, residents associations, scout groups or even a bunch of neighbours can all join in.
Once registered a Friends of the Earth representative visits the group to run a workshop showing:
- How important electricity is to us
- The problems with electricity production
- Electricity safety
- How cutting down on the electricity we use can make a difference
Each member of the group then takes home a monitor for a week along with instructions and a work sheet.
After a week the group meets again to return the monitors. They also discuss what they have learned and how the project might affect their behaviour in the future.
The project is a big commitment and takes lots of hard work but is very satisfying seeing children and their families enthusiastically discovering ways in which they can save money and the planet.
Amanda Yorwerth
Financial support
The scheme was funded by a grant from the St. Albans Local Strategic Partnership Targeting Change Fund. Other sponsors also helped in the purchase of the monitors.
Group coordinator Amanda Yorwerth applied for the funding which should enable the project to run for 2 years and visit up to 30 groups.
So far, so good
So far six school classes with over 30 children each have taken part in the project with great success. More classes have signed up to take part in the coming months.
The project has received positive feedback with most people finding the project interesting and helpful.
How to take part
St Albans Friends of the Earth have advertised Electricity Detectives through conferences, schools networks and via the group's website.
Anyone wanting to find out more should contact Amanda.
© Amanda Yorwerth
