Student Handout

Student Handout #1
Why Take The Challenge?

The Reduce GHGs Challenge is a way that you and your family can help the world by slowing down climate change. You may have heard your parents or elders say that it’s warmer now that it was in the past. Climate change is heating up the earth.

Climate change could mean big changes in the north. Permafrost is melting, and some animals – like the Polar Bear – are having trouble because of the melting ice. It’s time to put on the brakes, and you can help!

Why is Climate Change Happening?

Around the earth is a blanket of gases called the atmosphere. The atmosphere keeps the earth’s heat from jumping back into outer space. But in the last 100 years, human beings have been adding more greenhouse gases (GHGs for short) to the blanket, causing the earth to get hotter.

We create GHGs by burning fossil fuels like oil, gas, diesel, and propane. When we use fossil fuels to run our cars, trucks, boats, airplanes and snowmobiles, we release greenhouse gases. We may also release GHGs when we heat our homes, run our industries, or generate electricity.

Why Take the Reduce GHGs Challenge

Canadians create a lot of GHGs. The average Canadian produces 5 tonnes of GHGs every year! To get an idea of what 5 tonnes looks like, picture a 2-storey, 3-bedroom house. If you filled it up to the top with greenhouse gases, this would be 5 tonnes of GHGs.

The Government of Canada is asking all Canadians to cut down their GHG emissions by one tonne, or 20%. This isn’t really very hard. As a young person, you can take some actions by yourself, and you can also work with your family and friends to help them take action. The Reduce GHGs Challenge Action Plan below will help you plan ways to reduce your GHGs by taking actions yourself, and by getting other people to take actions, too. Together, we can make a difference!

Want to learn more about climate change?

See the Intermediate Backgrounders at:

http://www.climatechangenorth.ca/section-BG/B2_Intermediate_Outline.html

Student Handout

Student Handout #2
My Reduce GHGs Challenge Action Plan

How could you make changes in your home that would reduce your greenhouse gases (GHGs) by one tonne? You can take actions yourself, and you can also talk to your family and friends to try to get them to take some actions. This table tells you how you can reduce GHGs. You can reduce your GHG emissions by individual actions that you can do yourself, and you also get credit for encouraging other people to take action. Go through the table and see what actions you and your family can take to reduce GHGs.

Columns 1 & 2 – Tell what you can do, why it helps, and how many kg of GHGs each person will reduce in one year by taking that action.
Column 3 – Put a next to the actions you want to take.
Column 4 – Put a next to the actions you will influence someone else to take. (Put more than one if you can convince more than one person.)
Column 5 – Record the number of kg you could reduce, adding up Column 3 and Column 4.
When you’ve reached the bottom of the list, add up your total kg reduced and see if you’ve made it to 1,000 kg — one tonne. If not, go through again, and see if there’s somewhere else you could make a change. Remember, even if you can’t get up to one tonne, every bit helps.

Consumption & Waste

In 2000, Canadians generated over 31 million tonnes of waste – over 1 tonne each! 23 million tonnes were sent for disposal – imagine 21 football fields piled 1 km high with garbage!

It takes a lot of fossil fuel to make things in factories and to get them to the store – and burning that fossil fuel puts GHGs into the air. The more stuff you buy, and the more you throw away, the more GHGs you create. Try using less. When you recycle, you also help to reduce your GHGs. It takes a lot more energy to make products out of raw materials than it does to re-make them out of recycled material.

This table shows the kilograms of GHGs reduced per year by one person. If you can get other people to do actions, you get credit for that, too. Check out the example, to see how this works.

Actions You (and others) Can Take	Kg of GHG Emissions Reduced (Per Year)	YES, I’ll do it!	YES, I’ll get someone else to do it!	Kg of GHGs Reduced (Per Year)
Cut down on “stuff” Every time you buy something, fossil fuels are used to make it, package it, and drive it to the store. After you use it, it often goes to the dump and produces more GHGs when it rots.	If you decide to buy only things you really need, you could reduce your GHGs by 50 kg per person, per year.	e.g.: 50 kg – because I’m going to cut back on new clothes and toys.	50 kg – because I’m going to persuade my sister to do the same thing	100 kg
Re-use and recycle. When you recycle, you save energy. It takes less energy to make things from recycled materials (like recycled paper) than to make things from raw materials (like wood). Studies show that over half of our garbage could be either recycled or composted.	If you can reduce your garbage by one-quarter (put out 1½ garbage bags instead of 2), you reduce your GHGs by 125 kg per person.
Compost your veggie scraps. When we don’t compost our fruit and vegetable waste, it goes into landfills. When it rots, it creates methane – one of the main GHGs. Learn more about composting at http://www.compost.org/	If you compost, you can reduce your GHGs by 40 kg per person.
Recycle your grass clippings. If you put your grass clippings in the garbage, they also rot in the landfill and create methane. A better idea: keep grass clippings on your lawn where they break down and feed the lawn.	If you keep grass out of your garbage, you can reduce your GHGs by 30 kg per person.
Buy local food. A lot of the food you eat comes from far away. In fact, the average food item travels 2000 km to arrive at your table. All that driving uses a lot of energy!	If you buy foods grown close to your home, you can reduce your GHGs by 50 kg per person.

Transportation

Driving around in cars creates a lot of GHGs. If we can drive less (by walking, biking, car pooling, or bussing), we can reduce our GHG emissions.

Actions You (and others) Can Take	Kg of GHG Emissions Reduced (Per Year)	YES, I’ll do it!	YES, I’ll get someone else to do it!	Kg of GHGs Reduced (Per Year)
Drive less. Driving is responsible for almost half of the average Canadian's personal GHGs. For every 4 km you don’t drive, your family reduces 1 kg of GHGs.	If you drive less (by walking, biking, bussing, and carpooling with your friends), you can reduce GHGs by 125 kg per person.	e.g.: 125 kg – because I’m going to bike to school whenever the weather is good.	250 kg – because I’m going to try to get my Mom and Dad to drive less, too.	375 kg
Don’t idle. Idling is a big problem in the North – spewing out piles of GHGs. Although many people think idling is good for their engines, it isn’t. According to car makers, it is best for your engine to idle for no more than 30 seconds on winter days before driving away. Try keeping warm with a blanket instead of warming your car before you start.	If you reduce your idling by 10 minutes per day, you reduce 60 kg per person.
Slow down. When you slow down, you save gas. If you slow down on the highway by 1 km per hour, you save 1% in gas costs. (If you slow down by 5 km per hour, you save 5% in gas costs.) You also reduce your GHG emissions.	If you can get your family to slow down on the highway, you can reduce GHGs by 40 kg per person.
Switch to ethanol-blend gasoline. Some gas stations sell ethanol-blend gas. This gas replaces some of the gasoline with ethanol – a type of alcohol made from grain. Using ethanol-blend gas helps to reduce GHGs. If all gasoline in Canada was blended with ethanol, we could reduce our GHGs by 5 million tonnes per year.	If your family switches to ethanol-blend gas, you can reduce GHGs by 50 kg per person.
Check your car; check your tires. If your car isn’t running properly, and if your tires are squishy, it will use a lot more gas.	If you can get your family to check the tires every month and tune up the car, you can reduce GHGs by 100 kg per person.
Cut back on air travel. Just ten hours of air travel can produce one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions per person!	If you cut back by one long airplane ride (e.g., Whitehorse to Vancouver, which is 5 hours return), you can reduce your GHGs by 500 kg per person!

Home Heating

When you heat your home, you create GHGs. And the problem is – we waste a lot of heat!

Actions You (and others) Can Take	Kg of GHG Emissions Reduced (Per Year)	YES, I’ll do it!	YES, I’ll get someone else to do it!	Kg of GHGs Reduced (Per Year)
Check your weather-stripping around doors/windows and caulk up any cracks. Air leakage can waste almost half of the heat in your house! Weather-stripping and caulking will stop all that warm air from escaping – and save money, too.	If your family uses caulking and weather-stripping, you can reduce your GHGs by 65 kg/yr. per person.	e.g.: I try to persuade my family to weather-strip the whole house.	130 kg – They agree to do half the house only	130 kg
Lower the temperature at night and when nobody is home. At night, it’s usually more comfortable to have the temperature cooler, and doesn’t make sense to heat the house when no one is home.	If you lower the thermostat when you aren’t at home, or overnight, you reduce your GHGs by 200 kg/yr per person. (Note: This is based on an average of different types of heating.)
Upgrade your insulation. The more insulation in your attic, walls and basement, the less energy is needed for heating.	Putting more efficient insulation into basement and above-ground walls, and in the attic can reduce heat loss by about 250 kg per person.

Hot Water

Water heating accounts for a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by an average Canadian home. Time to cut down!

Actions You (and others) Can Take	Kg of GHG Emissions Reduced (Per Year)	YES, I’ll do it!	YES, I’ll get someone else to do it!	Kg of GHGs Reduced (Per Year)
Install low-flow showerheads. (And shorten those showers!) One-third of your family’s water heating bill probably goes to pay for showers. If you install low-flow showerheads, you can have a great shower with only half the amount of water. The good news is that low-flow showerheads are cheap and easy to install! Even without low-flow showerheads, you can reduce GHG emissions by taking short showers (5 minutes is plenty to get you clean, and takes much less water than a bath).	Option 1: If you install low-flow showerheads, you can reduce 75 kg of GHGs per person. Option 2: If you take short showers instead of baths, you can reduce 35 kg of GHGs per person.	e.g.: 35kg – I decide to take short showers	300 kg – My parents agree to install low-flow showerheads	335 kg
Use cold water to wash your clothes. About 1/4 of all the hot water you use in your household is used to wash clothes. And clothes can get just as clean in cold water, especially using a cold-water detergent.	If you wash your clothes with cold water instead of hot water, you can reduce your GHGs by 150 kg per person.
Fill up the dishwasher before you run it. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Tip: Scraping off the dishes instead of rinsing saves hot water, too.	If you load your dishwasher before you use it, and use the air-dry cycle, you can reduce your GHGs by 90 kg/yr per person.

Home Lighting & Appliances

The lights and the appliances in your home use a lot of energy, and create a lot of GHGs. This is especially true if you live in an area where electricity is produced by burning diesel, like NWT or Nunavut. You can reduce a lot of GHGs if you reduce electricity use at your house.

(Note: The figures in this section are an average of the GHG emission rates from Yukon, NWT and Nunavut.)

Actions You (and others) Can Take	Kg of GHG Emissions Reduced (Per Year)	YES, I’ll do it!	YES, I’ll get someone else to do it!	Kg of GHGs Reduced (Per Year)
Turn off the lights when you’re not using them.	By turning off the lights when not needed, you can reduce your GHGs by 20 kg per person.
Replace your light bulbs with fluorescent or halogen bulbs. Compact fluorescent and halogen bulbs use much less electricity than standard light bulbs, and last a lot longer.	If you replace 5 of your 60 W bulbs with 13 W compact fluorescent bulbs, you reduce your GHGs by 30 kg per person.
Turn off TV, computer and equipment when not in use. A computer that runs 24 hours a day uses up to $120 worth of electricity each year.	If you shut off lights and equipment when not being used, you reduce your GHG emissions by 20 kg per person.
Get rid of the second fridge. Do you really need that second refrigerator? It could be responsible for one-tenth or more of your home's electricity bill.	If you get rid of your older, second fridge, you can reduce your GHG emissions by 75 kg per person.
Limit use of gas lawn mowers and snow blowers. Gas-powered mowers cause a lot of pollution.	If you use push-power instead of gas-power to mow the lawn, you can reduce your GHG emissions by 10 kg per person.
Bonus Points – write a letter. Write a letter to a political representative or to the editor of your paper, suggesting actions to reduce GHG emissions.	Writing letters is one way to influence lots of people. Give yourself a credit of 100 kg.
TOTAL GHG EMISSION SAVINGS

Note: These numbers are averages, and are rounded off. They are not exact, but will give you an idea of what actions you can take, and how much difference each action will make.

Main Data Sources: NRCan, Pembina Institute

Student Handout

Student Handout #3
Cutting Down My GHGs

Here is a list of actions I will take to help reduce climate change:

Actions I can Do Myself	Kg of GHG reductions
I will
I will
I will
I will
I will
I will
I will
I will
TOTAL GHG EMISSION SAVINGS

Encouraging Others to Take Action	Kg of GHG reductions
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
I will get __________________ to _______________________
TOTAL GHG EMISSION SAVINGS

Signed: ___________________________ Date: ____________________

Teacher Handout

Teacher Handout #1
Motivating Ourselves and Others to Change

Here are some ideas that might help your students keep their one-tonne commitments.

How Can the Class Support its Members?

Getting support

Having even one other person who is trying to do the same thing will often give people the motivation to keep on trying. What about helping to establish a network of groups who will support each other in trying to reduce their GHGs?

Having a friendly competition

The challenge of having someone else who is trying to beat you is often enough to challenge people to new heights. What about a friendly competition between members of your class, or a competition between classes?

Making a public commitment

If people write out what they intend to do and post it somewhere that others can see it, they often feel more like carrying through.

Reminding oneself

Posting reminders around the classroom or house can help students remember what they intend to do, and why. Students might create reminders or mini-posters from some of the information in the Action Plan handout, and post them at home.

Being in a natural setting

Why are we concerned about climate change? What things about nature are really important to us, important enough to make us cut down on our driving or consumption patterns? Take time to go out on the land with your students, and to talk about why it’s important to preserve our environment. Students may want to make a list.

How Can Students Help Motivate Others?

Many of the individual ideas above will also help students to get their families inspired. Here are a few more.

Sharing concerns

Encourage students to discuss their concerns with their families. Working together on the Reduce GHGs Action Plan (Student Handout #2) is a good way to start discussion.

Getting commitments

Students may want to get a written commitment from some of their family members and friends who promise to take action. Try discussing with your students whether they think this might be helpful, and what form these written commitments might take. Students might want to design a form to be copied.

Telling the neighbourhood

Creating window signs such as: “Our family is reducing our GHG emissions to save this planet” might be one way of inspiring neighbours.

Saving money

When you save energy, you save money, too. Check out the websites listed below for information on how much money families can save by reducing energy costs. That’s a good motivator!

How Can I Get Others Going?

Individual and family efforts are great, but it’s important to get other folks moving, too. How can your students inspire other people in your school or community to reduce their climate change impact? Here is a process your class might go through to decide on an action.

Step 1: Decide on your goal

Students decide what they want to achieve, then create a goal statement, like:

Get the families in our community to reduce energy-use by 10%.
Influence all the families of students in our school to reduce idling by 10 minutes a day.
Encourage students in our school to walk or bike to school.

Step 2: Choose a strategy

This is the time to be creative. A good way to encourage creative thinking is to brainstorm ideas. The strategy your class comes up with needs to be one that works for your school and community.

Some strategies that have been used to promote environmental change include:

Environmental Audit – Having your school audited can be the catalytic force that moves you on to other environmental ventures. Destination Conservation has helped many Canadian schools reduce GHG emissions and save money, too. For more information, go to Destination Conservation: http://www.dcplanet.ca.
School/Community Event – This could include a whole lot options, for instance:
- “Turn-Down-the-Heat Fair” in your gym, where each class presents a display on different aspects of reducing climate change impact.
- GHG-reduction climate change competition in your school, for the class that can come up with the greatest amount of GHG reduction.
- Art display in your town hall, with student-created posters on climate change.
- Class info-display at your local shopping mall or recreation center.
Drama and music – Write a skit or a revue on climate change, to be presented to parents and at other schools inÀ™N—‹<Ë„WépÞ‹ïÿœíô9ÇiŸ ¨wÊæ°>½DW–Ò³|rnæ, ÔoÀÏ}žÓ/~Î„ñYÖLX¹æÞNpa¾å’/ Ôc.vpŠ÷£™F\âŒ?‡÷ÌeÞðÒ@™w¸,KÎu\¨‹=e·Ì„—ép–û4=JÃü!½²\é´™Ï®º_}XîÔ9;> +œ1ãxËtêHqiC•¯rú^tª 8„C"5$õ¦ÞXå´“ö„›¢ñ¸:‹ùx¾ñ`u ½ÃÀš?{Ÿäš@Y«F9åQ¸ÙkåQœœPYù¬½ÂÚP>Ö@²¾b3îÇkãúÀxP8I/4Óz4ì ¡ö jFRSBªOS },aÐìÞèô11Ñ»fgœX{Ÿ„§^FtySVÚ>ØìÔ…{šõÇÂó^(“õ—[œöqë6€+®3ñ•9â…OºÞésŠn‘JÝê´Ÿó1>oåIƒ=¾=+ŽÏÃ–Þ‚—ÖïpÆ–Ây-Ð}µ3”çðý;»}K’Û>MZ}Ëûm:ñ~'IæÄ+Ý€Ïq$·êÄTCèëîÀX°>ò¦@}(¬WÓŒ›Cðš•â–P=ÉòçVHßJc@sRd•ÛXi£-¢Yp»S6ëb‡t=ßJ/íÛOéyDÐ:Bá¬ÕMB§Ó"© ØÊ#7rt9}Ná¤¹ÌL†à¹wÔ¦L\UVœ³ãôXwÓãô'‡¥a_ _öùt¦7–åÛ;õåÝ>ÓóûéõèÀ¶{sý8ü}Cæ»` Ð¶`Üˆ9Ë9hÛzm ”Ea´6ÜèG—3§ÃzÜ |ûk„Ózp\X›;’•Ÿå½giâ*ü¸ƒºoU9¨¯œÓ8˜Îrç]¼—p«9À±C¡ºàîP>Ù+úýæ@|öý\o ´ƒòŠUk3± YðÖ@ŸÓ¾õÖ!÷¶P\’~Çm8iÓÆ{Lxe(Üb;ÀÛ~³ûÊ‡öq®!=¾².ÞŠ—½"©Ó;¼1öi÷…Âhî„±túÎìì=Õw™øj'þn`>}¯xÀ¤›•3+‘¼Û¤-¾Ÿá=ŽŠ=FŸÝ~ t\C€÷Ú i¬ÌûrÂêSÞ^Í g?ààÂˆY¡D¯ôÁ@2/óP(Œ¨å‡ü5ëÉ‡òäÎ@‚ù‘P¸¿'ãà‡3%þ˜S? ßfuøx(Ï€Û‡áC>v"Pö™:=§Þg]Ð'¶ –*”Væè£Î³¬×/÷ÓNŽãoã=æÔÓ†§á3N›€¬z,Û~6TŽ[ŸËŠëõgáãY0ùuÿ¼ÓNâñûçwåé‹–ÑíNÝ±#føÌ5ú²Ù³èò¤8Ÿ$]ÊLœû";á==_û˜ ¼gÁ˜§e®‹mçÛ|Ú°XN“³€¥LzõºÓ¹W>µ¤ÃˆÖ“}vj ‹n¥Ù¹uWJKîN¦§wfLË¯Ã©îÞ»ì¹±2Ó7öÒÙ±uÒP úËO[q÷Úç8=æ•(¾O²O¼*sq¡¾æˆÑguT\ßÈmÎ®›äôÝYäÑ¹mþÇéf—µkè2§rúþ²¢Sñt¤¬‚/Þ†Œ®håj'©¾-&;e«NRÕ³Ù³z‡þr\®¤µ‡é4èÓÄ8q¤Óß£«Ñw@ÀÃýÖÍé8ßQþEÀâžÐj¢»²ç²‚wFMªÙuþŽ;íÉÅS—™xÊ#+èLQîÀ¤™]áü>ìy Þ÷JÃv°zÖ*°ë‘»7@¼¥<%æ½Žß€=¯Qì˜à÷ëËø¸¾‰¤båó lºRëdGÕ±c|#ÝÂÚ‰ñŸòE)©²®Ú¹òódfÒ¿ž‹Lÿªœÿ‘¾î%úŒÔ}¦hÜHœûž'œ¾“©Ÿï;“Ù8¶¬U8cYÄÀw2§í`ûFûìwæ¨n¯7íÓ|¹)›èÜ…Ûg\þ.eÓG¼³—ˆ€¾Ð¿„)Ä_õAi}vÒ|R jˆT‰Ô"ŒSo„Ò:ú˜%¥‰Á}º ²ÕNjMTr&¾Y§*×¤JK`]Q›/õ¥mP¢©•Ç„ÐÀì¤:E•O²Í5çëkñªë(%7®¢‘.X1ô¬Æô—»Ž¢mB§¦BÛ„VÑ¨bðNèsWŽoÔ…éP‚t(îü&:$ô+¦C„Ëò„éÐµbéP•“¾Ú.çÕ„V‡èØBC±4!{‘ÉÕü‰ñ?tÈ•üdrE¿6ý«Ÿú×eº6>þÂXüWº3E·žsèÖmWOÊ›±=ráþÂ£ Ý"<Ù—Ú•êžÝ!sì³Â¸Óç¥àš6¾MD_Xé]QJ§Ñ×KÀÞcÙ(ÜSèûBe¦§“)¦¯enÓœë ñ2eFÁò2gYOgï!åYmÏÒ+ú”ë9yü•\®!™é{r~·tôK`ŸÉÖâì~Î¦‰§§Ý:¶÷pº¿ýpšOüŒõ:Œ¾´áD«L‚JSçÓ5j!×ÈÍ'ÍÔµ¬¯ïòåËÀòåùøû)Ï+?´=©/Œ•ÑqIýÌÔ\;«Ì®_ûÈÜëàÃWÁ>2žùä×“ãÉÅôÙ/sðâk`Sº‹$^È½§M>Onån¶ô±8ÖYXÛ¡¡”]GhNõö§Z}l˜ ÞPxÔ¤ïÆ£ó„Âç[¦aë³±¨ ¼ú˜[_úg7Á=B®º¼QÊ%—-tÅ;š‹¯](|~4ê£Ìû¯¯—67"¿¿”ª£µRkúÞÜ’›èÆ¥röEú«Oè+M@%û¢ ¨b_,Õì‹' †}e ˜Å¾òÌf_3 }•üÕ(ôUñw£ÐWÍ_‹B_Mæ³ov°oN²¯–¾ ¥}spûæ%`±ï«cßüœÉ¾kpûÆp6ûîIÀ9ì{{êÙw8K|ß¹ì»7KÙ÷ŽœÇ¾ûp>ûîOÀì;‘€Ùw2ù¾‹}ß%ì{1—úa—±ï¥\Î¾—°Ì÷]Á¾Wp%û°Ÿ—³Çc…_Ó•ÚÁú]å÷Zƒ_«„_ÓU¾ïjöá®æ¼ØÊ5¾¯Ñ‡w §Ã>U~¯õÃÖù5Xï×yƒïkò}ý¼Í¾¯Å÷mò}›Ãåbí¯õ[¾Å¯óu~ìõ~ ¶úaÛ|ßvßwƒïÛáûvú½±Ë¯A«¯Í÷ÝèûÚ}ßnßw“ï»Ù÷Ýâ—q«ï»Í÷Ýî÷Ë›üìñkÐá§ëô}{}È]~º¤›ò}Ý¾¯Ç÷ícöi¯v‡ïÛÏ>ÄÄ>ö!^õû±ìCŒdöýï»Ó¿•-¶ÓÐ¤ZëÙ«hÃDãV™e¾”±´Ò|CÛ:£ p@S$úx0„˜–Ëƒ†fž®µÒæ™|ÝŽT.r.µèÁËýrÜXðõá¤¿ ìÑ_‹Ø 7Â6L¹G…ü{ðÝ;|=Áum5Êœp¶DÑá¢_ÈeW)ºÑ…_ 6R¢7é|ÜNÒ%V9áî¹OÑƒS9á{Nd/°TçaÛ¡YN˜è8äÎ¶r]¹¹ÀêùÝûÚR`Ï××:íßÍ5×‰³¶Cl×8Ï©s/°æ;ùX¯dïÜXàÄ±Uò!á…`ùr‚H}×üEÙpZ¹ßmvŽ´á±’{ß*s¤xr÷[ø^³SçÔ7ˆÿþ7‘)]¸nJ¹Ž^9›,w¿Iyr&í'ìýÔƒ»ƒ~(øw½QÝÂgxÎ5q„§9¯êO¿È}rôÊ©ÀuN˜¤_o~Ï† í®‡ìÓEœ:È›&°ãèž?Üè„ï¹eüûâ¢<“Ñ¶ßF˜MNz^Ã8ýf§.#&ìZFë8…lÛçv<-¶]çÀvïî¸Þ wÏZnÛlUÜçßóV lÏMg*·;arW¤ÜçVv}8¹Ïê)w0æpüN'¯K·,Þä¢K&žæÛ²Ë‰!{Ñžkõ¾ïAîo›Ù¼Bvjðïr› áu0;õn“v×¦\påN7»§#kïEú;›á7;éƒ+Dîôr×›¬»b“}?Æpà®·Ôí]oe:°ýË·±2¬^°ý+öÓw@ö\•Q–ûÞÂsUâûœ¼á³÷r÷[y(¯¬sN]RkÝ

Student Handout #1 Why Take The Challenge?

Why is Climate Change Happening?

Why Take the Reduce GHGs Challenge

Want to learn more about climate change?

Student Handout #2 My Reduce GHGs Challenge Action Plan

Consumption & Waste

Cut down on “stuff”

Re-use and recycle.

Compost your veggie scraps.

Recycle your grass clippings.

Buy local food.

Transportation

Drive less.

Don’t idle.

Slow down.

Switch to ethanol-blend gasoline.

Check your car; check your tires.

Cut back on air travel.

Home Heating

Check your weather-stripping around doors/windows and caulk up any cracks.

Lower the temperature at night and when nobody is home.

Upgrade your insulation.

Hot Water

Install low-flow showerheads. (And shorten those showers!)

Use cold water to wash your clothes.

Fill up the dishwasher before you run it.

Home Lighting & Appliances

Turn off the lights when you’re not using them.

Replace your light bulbs with fluorescent or halogen bulbs.

Turn off TV, computer and equipment when not in use.

Get rid of the second fridge.

Limit use of gas lawn mowers and snow blowers.

Bonus Points – write a letter.

TOTAL GHG EMISSION SAVINGS

Student Handout #3 Cutting Down My GHGs

Teacher Handout #1 Motivating Ourselves and Others to Change

How Can the Class Support its Members?

Getting support

Having a friendly competition

Making a public commitment

Reminding oneself

Being in a natural setting

How Can Students Help Motivate Others?

Sharing concerns

Getting commitments

Telling the neighbourhood

Saving money

How Can I Get Others Going?

Step 1: Decide on your goal

Step 2: Choose a strategy

Student Handout #1
Why Take The Challenge?

Student Handout #2
My Reduce GHGs Challenge Action Plan

Student Handout #3
Cutting Down My GHGs

Teacher Handout #1
Motivating Ourselves and Others to Change