One of the reasons I am so concerned about the health of our environment is because of the two little girls I hold closest to my heart. Their future is dependent on decisions we make every day. I try to impart the importance of being thoughtful about our purchases and to reuse whatever we can, stressing the value in recycling. I try to lead by example whenever possible, and explain why I turn off lights when I leave a room, turn off power strips when I am done with electronics, turn off the water when I am brushing my teeth and so on. I am trying to instill good environmental habits in my daughters, so it makes my heart proud when I notice my girls looking at the chasing arrows symbol on a container to see if it should be put in the recycling bin or when I observe them picking up trash at the park.

A month or so ago, I found out about a contest, the 2012 Team Energy Star Challenge. My 9-year-old daughter, Caleigh, decided she wanted to enter. Saving energy became an important topic as Caleigh busily combed the house looking for energy violations, scrutinizing our appliances and giving us fantastic energy-saving tips from the Energy Star site. I appreciated the hard work she put into this project and was so pleased with her essay and drawing. The Team Energy Star Challenge ran from June through September 2012, with nearly 500 youths sharing their energy-saving stories. Entries were judged by the EPA and DoSomething.org based on their energy-saving ideas, as well as creativity and ingenuity. See here for the complete text of the press release from contest partner LG Electronics. On October 10, 2012, the winners were announced. Imagine my surprise when Caleigh was one of the top five winners. Not only did she win some cool prizes and has her photo on a billboard in New York’s Times Square, but she also thinks saving energy is the greatest thing in the world and has become a shining example to her friends and family. The future is looking bright.