Since our last post here, (yes, it’s been too long!) we have been developing the Cooler Community project, a mini-grant program for schools and students to inspire energy savings in their community.
You can learn more about here.
Now, we have exciting news to report. We will start with Agawam:
On May 23rd, 2019, ener-G-save and our many partners in the town and schools of Agawam came together in hosting the Agawam Cooler Community Expo in the Agawam Sigh school. The expo was a great success, boasting a turnout of about 350 people, with 117 visitors pledging to take one or more steps towards more efficient, cleaner and healthier energy use.
The event provided visitors numerous opportunities to learn about the many incentives available to save money in their homes, the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy, and the positive environmental impacts these can have on a larger scale.
The exhibits ranged from informative posters and displays created by students detailing renewable energy from hydrogen to solar, to posters discussing the environmental effects plastics have on our planet. There were limericks and drawings from elementary school children addressing energy waste and the need to save the earth. The expo also had plants for sale, grown by Agawam high school students in the school’s greenhouse and featured an exhibit on indoor agriculture to emphasize the importance of healthy food. The environmental rapper Tem Blessed shared his music asking all of us to take steps towards a cleaner environment, alongside various trusted green energy vendors. They helped Agawam residents choose their next step towards a cleaner and cheaper energy use.
The Agawam Cooler Community Expo was designed to spread awareness and provide an educational and empowering environment for students and community members. The most important part: visitors pledged actions that were tracked and are now being calculated for their effect on energy use and carbon pollution saved. We will have an update on those numbers very soon!
As Mayor Sapelli said at our first planning meeting: “This event can bring the whole community together around this important topic.” And town planner Marc Strange, who as present throughout the evening, called the expo an “outstanding success”
Special thanks go to Leslie and Richard Joseph, volunteers who coordinated the effort between school and town officials and Assistant Superintendent Sheila Hoffman.
