A number of local schools and their student-leaders partnered with EcoAction Arlington for an Earth Day climate-action and cleanup event on April 23 at Bon Air Park in Arlington, educating more than 300 community participants about climate change and how to convert homes and schools to using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
“Changing your electricity subscription [to renewable] with Dominion Energy is such a great way to help with climate change,” said James Jackson, a 10th-grade student at Flint Hill School and organizer of the renewable-energy initiative.
“It saves so much carbon, and isn’t that expensive,” Jackson said. “It costs about $5 a month to convert an average household, which saves the equivalent of taking three cars off the road for a year.”
The event marked the first time local students have united from different Northern Virginia schools to call for using renewable energy.
“This is our future, and it’s our generation who will be paying the price for the damage we are doing,” Jackson said. “And it’s people with the fewest resources who will be paying the biggest price. If we can do something about it to help, that is what we are trying to do.”
The day included raffling off a one-year subscription to convert a home to 100-percent renewable energy. The winner, Shannon Wask of Alexandria, said she was excited about making her home more green.
“I had never heard of this before. Now that I know, I will never go back,” she said.