- FortisBC BC Lions Energy Champions program
Since 2008, FortisBC has worked with players from the BC Lions to get elementary students across the province excited about energy and water conservation. Through engaging presentations and fun sessions in the school, students interact with the players, who present the concept of saving energy in an exciting and positive way.
Experiencing great success, the presentations are reaching more and more students every year. In the 2009-2010 school year, 75 elementary schools benefitted from the program with over 21,000 students being exposed to the saving energy message. That’s an increase from 50 schools and approximately 14,000 students reached the previous year.
For more details and to learn how to get your school signed up for an assembly presentation, visit the BC Lions Energy Champions website.
- Environmental Mind Grind
In celebration of Earth Day, the Environmental Mind Grind is a fun and challenging environmental trivia game that tests BC students' knowledge of local environmental issues.
Teams of elementary students (grades 4 – 6) and middle school (grades 7 – 9) compete after they review supplied study packages, and winning teams will even receive cash prizes up to $500 for their school. Topics covered will include energy conservation, air quality, waste reduction, species and spaces, transportation demand management, water conservation and watershed health.
The Environmental Mind Grind is an excellent way to teach energy conservation through a fun and stimulating event.
- Destination Conservation (DC)
Destination Conservation is a student-driven, activity-based program that brings environmental education alive in schools.
DC is designed to increase sustainability by helping schools conserve energy and water, reduce waste and motivate students to take part in energy conservation projects. Schools form a team of students, teachers, principals, custodians and parents who work together with DC partners in this six-year program. The first three years focus on learning energy and water conservation, as well as waste reduction.
For more details, visit the Destination Conservation website.
- BC Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA) Climate Change Showdown
Through an interactive board game and workshops, students learn about sustainability and climate change solutions. The BCSEA Climate Change Showdown inspires students to work as a team as they learn about the environmental consequences of their personal and community actions, and how their efforts will serve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The workshops are free to schools, and feature interactive tools like videos, board games, contests and group discussions. With multiple mediums and plenty of hands-on fun, the students will retain what they learn along the way.
For more details, visit the BCSEA website.
- Beyond Recycling
Offered through the non-profit association Wildsight, the Beyond Recycling program is focused on biodiversity and healthy human communities in the Columbia region of BC. The year-long curriculum is for students in grades 5 – 7, and delivered by educators who visit the classroom once weekly. They present slideshows, movies, provide costumes and games for a lively way to learn about environmental stewardship.
Beyond Recycling includes lessons in reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the role of natural gas in BC. The students get involved in performing home energy audits and make conservation pledges. They will also begin to understand the connection between their own consumption patterns and how that impacts the environment. By thinking beyond recycling, students will learn how to take effective and positive action towards creating a more sustainable future.
For more details, visit the Wildsight website.
- BC Green Games
BC Green Games is a province-wide competition open to kindergarten through grade 12 students, and is hosted by Science World. FortisBC co-sponsors this initiative with BC Hydro. Through BC Green Games, FortisBC introduces the concept of natural gas as a resource, and the need for energy conservation. The students then work as a team to design an innovative solution to an environmental challenge in their school or community. They document the process and measure the change, with prizes awarded to winning entries.
BC Green Games provides another unique element: a social network channel to allow students to learn outside their immediate surroundings. They can access information about initiatives in other schools, learn from their peers and build on their existing, or new projects for the next school year. A truly interconnected, ‘global’ initiative.
For more details, visit the BC Green Games website.- Beat the Heat
Beat the Heat is a contest which calls for post-secondary students across BC to identify and develop an original and economically viable action plan for improving natural gas energy efficiency and conservation efforts in our province. Students can enter one submission which will be judged at three different levels by a selection of industry experts. Prizes in the amounts of $10,000 and $5,000 will be awarded to the winner and runner Up respectively. For more details and to enter, visit the Beat the Heat website.