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Carbon Calculator and Climate Action Pledge Tool:


Climate change heroes:

    City of Stamford

    Stamford has committed to using 20% clean energy by 2010 and to reducing its greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 20% by 2018. The city is a member of Cities for Climate Protection and signed on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Since 1998, the city has reduced energy use by over 11million kilowatt-hours annually through energy efficiency projects in city buildings, saving almost $1.3 million a year.

     

Teachers and Schools

Learn about the many resources available to teachers and schools, including Connecticut-specific curricula and teaching resources, climate actions for your school, CT school climate heroes, and the CT Climate Education Committee.

Curricula and Resources

CT’s Environmental Literacy Plan:  Be part of shaping CT’s Environmental Literacy Plan. 

Climate Change Lessons and Activities:  These lessons were prepared for the 40th celebration of Earth Day (2010) and are available for classroom use and public presentations.

CT Energy Education: Curricula and teaching resources for high school students focusing on energy, climate change, and energy efficiency. Aligned with CT Science Frameworks. For info, contact Laurel Kohl at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, ECSU, 860-465-0256.

Learning for Clean Energy Innovation: Solar energy education for 9th grade students, aligned with Connecticut Core Science Curriculum Framework.  Also serves as alternative lessons for Energy Transformations module of the 9th grade standards.  The program provides teacher training workshops, curriculum materials, and an energy toolkit.  For info, contact Jocelyn Anastasiou at the CT Clean Energy Fund, 860-257-2882.

Clean Energy Climate Solutions: Activities for elementary and secondary students focused on solar, wind, and fuel cell technologies.

eesmarts: An education program about the wise use of energy.  Includes a series of packaged, grade-specific lessons, developed for Connecticut students and teachers.  Teaches important energy concepts, empowering students to make decisions about energy use in their daily lives.  Free to all teachers and schools in CT.  Free CEU workshops given by PIMMS of Wesleyan University are a prerequisite to receiving lesson materials.  For more info, contact  eesmarts toll free at 877-514-2594.

Keep CT Cool : The Climate Change Challenge: a competition for CT middle school and high school students to create local solutions to climate change. For more info, contact Laurel Kohl at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, ECSU, 860-465-0256.

Climate Change Backpack ®:  curriculum and materials to teach about climate change. Includes graphs, maps, experiments, group activities and a variety of props — an imitation ice core, a compact fluorescent light bulb, clothespins and a clothesline, and a geologic timeline.

Planet Connecticut:  An interactive education program for CT students and families on global warming and clean commuting options. For more info, call 1-800-346-3743.

Connecticut Schools Air Quality Curriculum:  teaches the science behind air quality and how to make informed decisions about the environment (for grades 6, 7, and 8).  For information, contact Diane Joy, CT DEP.

The Smart Energy Game: a table-top interactive exhibit demonstrating the savings in energy efficiency, greenhouse gases, and environmental pollution if households rely on Energy Star efficient appliances rather than standard efficiency appliances. Game packs into a portable display case that weighs about 65 pounds. Requires some staffing. To borrow at no cost, contact Mary Sherwin, CT DEP, 860-424-3246.

Sustainability Education Resources:  a listing of resources to teach about sustainability, compiled by Connecticut education experts.  Includes resources for pre-Kindergarten through college classrooms.

A Student’s Guide to Global Climate Change:  US EPA website with information on climate science, impacts, thinking like a scientist, and solutions.

Raise Money for your School or Organization through CFL Sales

Find out about Shining Solutions, a program that allows you to sell CFLs to your community and raise funds for your school or organization.  By participating, you will help raise awareness about the benefits of energy-efficient lighting.  This program is supported by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund.

CT Science Centers and Museums

Stepping Stones Museum for Children:  Offers a Conservation Quest mini exhibit, available FREE to Connecticut schools beginning in March 2010.  Over 15 hands-on activities and program ideas. Can fit into any space with one electrical outlet.  Targeted to grades K – 4.  Call or e-mail Tom Dring, 203 899 0606, ext. 267, to schedule or learn more.

The Connecticut Science Center (Hartford):  Features “Energy City” (an interactive exhibit on energy use and alternative energy), the Climate Change Theater, and much more.

Smart Living Center (Orange):  The SmartLiving Center is part home improvement showroom, part science museum, part resource center.  It’s not a store but a showplace of energy-saving ideas for your home or business.  The SmartLiving Center offers free tours for schools throughout CT for a hands-on experience in energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electricity safety.  All schools are eligible for a $200 bus reimbursement per visit.

Become a High Performance School

Through a portfolio of initiatives, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund seeks to accelerate the design, construction and operation of high performance schools in Connecticut.  Highlights of the program include: assistance at the earliest stages of a municipality’s consideration of a major renovation or new school construction project, provision of an energy engineering firm or firms that will provide technical consulting services to municipalities, provision of financial assistance to reduce the capital costs of clean energy systems, and coordination with the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund’s Energy Conscious Blueprint program.  For more information, contact Bill Leahy, Institute for Sustainable Energy, at 860-465-0252.

 

Upgrade Your School’s Heating System

Grants are available for K-12 schools to upgrade heating systems in order to make them more efficient.  The program provides up to 50% match to a maximum of $30,000 for efficiency improvements to heating plants and distribution systems.  Funds cannot be used for any conversions.  The program also provides 50% funding for a required engineering analysis of the heating/distribution system, if the analysis is submitted as part of an application under this program.  Funding for this program is limited. For more information, contact John Ruckes, 860-418-6384.

Benchmark Your Energy Use

CT schools can reduce energy use by more than 30% with cost-effective efficiency upgrades. The Institute for Sustainable Energy at ECSU has performed energy benchmarking on over 130 schools in CT.  Learn about how CT schools are reducing energy costs by increasing efficiency:
Energy Efficiency Study of CT Schools: An Opportunity to Improve our Educational Infrastructure, 2005 – 2006

Create Climate Solutions for Your School

Enter Keep Connecticut Cool:  The Climate Challenge, a competition for CT middle school and high school students to create local solutions to climate change. For more info, contact Laurel Kohl at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, ECSU, 860-465-0256.

Buy Local Foods for Your School Cafeteria

Schools can reduce emissions from long-distance food transport by buying locally grown foods for school cafeterias. Over 50 Connecticut school districts are buying food from local farmers through the “farm to school” program. Contact Jane Slupecki at the Department of Agriculture for more info, 860-713-2500.

Support Clean Energy

Communities across Connecticut are committed to buying 20% clean energy by 2010.  Schools are part of this effort.  Learn more about what CT towns and communities are doing through the CT Clean Energy Communities program.

Bike or Walk to School

The Connecticut Safe Routes to Schools program is both a planning and educational program designed to make the neighborhoods around Connecticut’s schools safer for walking and cycling.

Reduce School Bus Emissions

Many school districts in Connecticut have received funding to convert school buses to low sulfur diesel fuel and install retrofits to reduce particulate emissions from school buses through the Clean School Bus Project.

Teach Others About Anti-Idling

Reduce emissions from school buses and cars with reduced idling. Use the “Waste Busters – Idling Myths” DVD created by DEP. Get help from the Anti-Idling Toolkit:  Build Your Own Anti-Idling Campaign Learn from other CT students who have started an anti-idling campaign through their organization Little People, Big Changes

Learn from the CT Climate Change Education Committee

The Climate Change Education Committee includes agencies and organizations involved in many facets of climate change education and outreach in Connecticut. The Committee is a vibrant network that helps to implement the Education Initiative in the CT Climate Change Action Plan and collaborates on many education and outreach projects. For more information and meeting schedule, contact Lynn Stoddard, CT DEP, 860-424-3236.

Share Your Successes, Be Recognized

Tell us what your school is doing to address climate change, submit a nomination for a Climate Change Leadership Award.

Learn from CT School Climate Heroes

Bruce Hampson

Bruce Hampson was honored as a 2010 CT Climate Change Leadership Award winner for his exemplary role in promoting clean energy and energy efficiency in Wilton.  Bruce served as Co-Chair of the major renovation of the Wilton High School and spearheaded energy use reductions and “state of the art” building automation. The renovations included a [...]

Coventry High School

Coventry High School students won a $3,000 award for Best Overall Phase 1 Project in the 2009 Keep Connecticut Cool competition. The team’s goals were to: increase lunchroom recycling, reduce energy use by 5%, and increase student exposure to environmentally friendly ideas.

Danbury High School

Danbury High School students won a $3,000 award for Best Overall Phase 2 Project in the 2009 Keep Connecticut Cool competition. The team’s goal was to promote green reform in the school system and around town and also encourage youth to be involved in environmental clubs.

Two CT Schools Included in EPA’s List of Top 20 Green Powered Schools

October 26, 2009, Washington, DC
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership announced the 20 primary and secondary schools nationwide using the most power from renewable energy sources. Two of the 20 schools are in Connecticut:  Greenwich Academy and Hotchkiss School.  The top Green Power Partner schools are buying nearly 113 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of [...]

Town of East Hartford

The town of East Hartford has renovated 18 school and town buildings, resulting is an expected reduction of 8.5 million tons of CO₂-equivalents over the 12-year life of the project. This effort was spearheaded by Al Costa, the facilities director for the city’s Board of Education.

Heidi Golden

West Hartford. Heidi Golden is a citizen volunteer and ecologist who, in part, studies climate related issues in the Arctic. Heidi spearheaded efforts in West Hartford to bring the public schools together in an energy conservation competition. The competition resulted in cumulative reductions in one month of 185,000 kilowatt hours and total savings of $31,000 for participating schools.

Amity High School Global Warming Club

These high school students won a CTCC Leadership award for their efforts to address climate change in their towns, including: signing up over 500 households and businesses for CTCleanEnergyOptions, earning their towns 21 kW of solar PV; getting their selectmen to purchase clean energy; writing to legislators; and organizing a competition at the high school to lower household electricity bills.

Little People, Big Changes

Founded by two boys when they were eight years old, “Little People Big Changes” have signed up more than 120 homes in Wilton for clean energy and launched a “no idling” campaign to reduce harmful air emissions from cars, trucks and buses. They have also conducted presentations for schools, town officials, and local community groups on clean energy and global warming.