UP TO a fifth has been saved on electricity bills by schools in a North Yorkshire area which have signed up to a two-year project to tackle climate change.
Hundreds of primary school children have been given tips to combat global warming under the scheme staged throughout the Harrogate area.
The initiative, called the Climate Action Programme, was launched to ensure schools committed to reducing thei
r use energy and waste by 10 per cent, teachers passing on advice to children through a specially devised "eco-toolkit".
A total of 42 schools across the Harrogate area were contacted through the project, which has been overseen by Harrogate Council, and so far 23 have used the teacher toolkit.
Six lesson plans have been developed along with procedure notes and work sheets that explain climate change and actions that the children can take to reduce their carbon emissions.
A CD-rom computer disc has been produced which will be sent to primary schools, and teachers can then borrow interactive equipment with working examples of renewable energy generation, models and experiments.
Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School was one of the first to use the toolkit and ]saved 20 per cent on its electricity bills for 2007 compared with the previous year.
Pupils undertook an energy audit of the school and drew up 10 simple energy-saving actions, such as switching off lights when they did not need to be on.
The project also helped Pannal Primary School to raise funding for a wind turbine, making it the first in the county to install the eco-friendly technology.
Money saved through the scheme will be ploughed back into schools to boost education in the area.
The toolkit is available online at www.harrogate.gov.uk/harrogate-236
