Students provide gauge for energy conservation success

By Amy Marasco Newton

03/31/2009

The debate over energy policy is heating up again in Congress, and enacting new national policies that reduce our use of fossil fuels and improve the environment is a critically important goal.

But as Earth Day approaches, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that each of us has a personal energy policy that guides how we use electricity, drive our cars and care for our piece of the environment.

The reality is that each of us can make a real impact in our own energy conservation by taking basic and practical steps.

At the Virginia-based Newton Marasco Foundation (NMF), we have come up with a series of tips that can lead to significant energy savings and reduce pollution.

For example, replacing 18 light bulbs in your home with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs will reduce pollution by the same amount as removing one car from the road for a year.

Or simply turning your car air conditioner down can improve efficiency significantly. By setting your AC on "Max" you reduce gas mileage by as much as 25 percent.

And adding storm windows and doors to your home can reduce the loss of heat by as much as 50 percent, which saves energy and reduces utility bills.

At NMF we are focusing on one specific tip for the month of April - making sure car tires are inflated properly. When tires are under-inflated, the car has more drag on the road and consequently burns more fuel.

Every day, about 3.3 million gallons of gas are wasted due to under-inflated tires; that's 1.2 billion gallons of gas wasted each year.

Properly inflating a car's tires can reduce gasoline consumption by as much as three percent. That doesn't sound like a lot, but if everyone did it, we'd reduce our oil consumption by roughly the same amount of oil that would be gained by expanding our off-shore drilling capacity as some have proposed.

Reduced gasoline consumption also pays environmental dividends as we emit less greenhouse gas into the air and fewer nitrogen compounds that eventually fall to earth and pollute our rivers, bays, and oceans.

Inflating tires to the right pressure is quite simple - as long as drivers have access to a tire gauge. To address that need, we created a program called enGAUGE It that will make tire gauges more available to motorists and spread the word about the value of properly inflated tires.

This program is underway in the town of Purcellville, Virginia, driven by students at Loudoun Valley High School. Those students, when presented with the issue, quickly grasped the value of tire gauges and have implemented the program in the nearby community. They did research on the issue, prepared informational and promotional materials, and reached out to the community for support.

On Earth Day, they will hand out hundreds of free tire gauges to residents of Purcellville - along with a fact sheet about the value of proper tire inflation.

By Earth Day 2010, we'd like to see enGAUGE It expanded to 2,010 high schools across the country. We think it will resonate strongly with young people who are eager to find ways to get involved and address our ongoing energy and environmental problems. Teachers and students who want to get involved should visit the NMF website (www.newtonmarascofoundation.org ) or call us at 703-748-7575.

Bringing such initiatives to our schools should be a priority. Getting students engaged in environmental issues and helping them become responsible stewards must be a fundamental goal as we look to address and conquer the environmental and energy challenges that are in front of us.

In World War II, all Americans were called to do their part for the country, whether it was growing a victory garden or collecting old tires for recycling. Each person's contribution was relatively small; collectively, they made an enormous difference.

Today, we're facing an uncertain energy future, and complex environmental problems that are becoming increasingly urgent.

President Obama has called on Americans to take conservation and environmental stewardship seriously. In fact, on the campaign trail, he urged us to keep our tires properly inflated as one simple part of the solution. Now is the time to do some homework and take steps that will have a real impact on the world. Let's start by picking up a tire gauge. Make this your Earth Day action!