This year, the MVironment Club wanted to focus on how to reduce energy use and waste. We explored the value of locally grown food in terms of conserving energy resources, and we learned about the disadvantages of plastic in our environment. First, the group held an art competition to discourage the use of single-use plastic bottles. The group next turned to learning about hydroponic growing systems. We held an elementary school workshop and a middle school workshop to build hydroponic systems. At four local elementary schools, the group held a one-hour session after school to build small passive hydroponic systems and energy-efficient LED grow lamps that the group had designed and tested specifically for this workshop. For the middle school workshop, the group researched hydroponics with the help of our Horticulture Teacher and Thimble Farm, a local hydroponics farm. The club then ran a workshop at Thimble Farm for 24 middle school level students to be able to build a system to bring home to their respective schools. Over 100 students participated, including the 3rd and 4th graders at the elementary schools, 5th-8th graders at the middle school level, and 10th through 12th graders at the high school level. All lessons were designed by the high schoolers and were meant to be exciting engineering opportunities for the younger students, and the focus of the work was on the energy value of not having to ship food over long distances, and the pros of growing in a controlled environment like a greenhouse, in terms of energy savings, water conservation, etc. The MVironment Club very much hopes to promote the idea of the value of engineering for sustainability.
– Club advisors: Natalie Munn, Anna Cotton, Dana Munn