Poster contest encourages students to find creative solutions to climate change

Article by: Greenhouse staff - February 15, 2007

SaskPower’s Shand Greenhouse is once again sponsoring a poster contest to help Saskatchewan students understand the impact of energy usage on our environment.

The sixth annual Energy & Our Environment Poster Contest invites Saskatchewan students in grades five and six to create posters with an environmental theme to demonstrate ways to address climate change.

“Environmental education is a large part of what we do here at the greenhouse,” said Marty Lelliott, Manager, SaskPower Shand Greenhouse. “This poster contest is designed to get young people thinking about the relationship between everyday energy use and climate change, and to engage them in finding solutions to this important global issue.”

Student posters can feature individual solutions, solutions for schools or even entire communities, such as:

  • Upgrading from traditional light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs;
  • Planting a tree, which can help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere;
  • Making efficient use of household appliances (i.e., running the dishwasher only
    when it is full, only drying full loads of clothing, or using a clothesline, when the weather permits); or,
  • Walking, riding a bike, or taking public transit instead of driving a car.

A winning poster will be selected from each school that enters the contest, and the top four posters will then be selected from this smaller group. A mountain bike and bicycle helmet will be awarded to each of the students who create the top four posters. Each of the top four winners’ schools will receive $250 worth of climate change reference materials for the school library.  The winning schools will also receive a $250 credit to purchase trees from a local nursery to plant on school grounds, as well as a tree seedling for each student and teacher in the school.

Poster contest entries must be mailed to the SaskPower Shand Greenhouse no later than April 5, 2007. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 23, in honour of Earth Day (April 22). Prizes will be presented at the schools of the four winners before the end of the school year. Information about the contest is available online and has been mailed to elementary schools across the province.