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Amanda Butterfield reporting Murray School District is going green. At the beginning of this year, administrators started a program to save energy and money.
Carrie Hartman never leaves her classroom without pushing a few buttons. "I flip off the monitor and the printer," she said.
Hartman made a daily shutdown energy check list that is now used in all the classrooms in the high school and the entire district. She's the energy education manager for Murray, a new job this year that means a lot to this biology teacher.
"It's very important for me that the main purpose for me, from my perspective, is we can all conserve, and it all helps everyone out," Hartman said.
Other adjustments made in all the district buildings include changes to the thermostats and during weekends and long breaks, like this Christmas holiday coming up, copy machines and computers are unplugged and running water to restrooms is turned off. The list goes on.
"You'd be surprised what little, tiny thing in a district, even small Murray, can make a difference," Hartman said.
Kids are going green too, starting with a new Environmental Club. Alicia Voorhees told us, "We're making bags made out of recyclable material, and we're gonna sell them at local grocery stores and stuff like that."
Jeff Smart said, "Like we have our trash can police day; we sit by the trash at lunch and police what the kids throw away and get recycle bins."
It's already making a difference in the district budget. Over the past three months, utilities bills have been less expensive.
"This money is going to come back to our schools," Hartman said. That means there will be more "green" for programs that lack funding.
Schools in Weber and Cache Valley already have energy conservations programs. Murray District is the first in the Salt Lake valley to implement one.
