Conservers conduct experiment
- posted: 25 Mar. 2008
- scrollcampus@byui.edu
Greg Blaser’s 30 Agro-Ecology students at BYU-Idaho participated in a month-long experiment where they tried to see how much electricity, water and fuel they could save by minimizing their use of these resources.
“I think it’s funny how the little things you can do can really make a difference,” said Cameron Scott, a freshman and member of the class studying history.
In order to measure their results, students had to research how much electricity average appliances used per minute, how much water was used during certain tasks per minute and how much fuel their vehicles were using. Students then had to do all the calculations on their own.
The results of the experiment over the past month showed that, as a class, these students saved approximately $907 on electricity; 11,868 gallons of water; and 343.96 gallons of gas with only 17 drivers in the class. The average amount of money saved on gasoline per driver was approximately $64 a month. The whole class together saved about $1,014 on gasoline last month.
“I loved it. It was a mind-opener for me. Look at what we saved. It really, really added up,” said Kaylee Dunford, a junior and member of the class studying music education.
The purpose of the experiment was to prove to students the kind of impact made by even a handful of people consciously making small efforts to be more respectful of natural resources.
“I don’t feel like the majority of people really understand what it’s all about. We were sent down here ... to use and not abuse. I think many times we abuse what we’ve been provided with,” Blaser said. 
