Moolah Maker, a Free On-Line Tool Makes Energy Saving… and Sharing the Bounty with Committed Kids … Easy.
Energy Circle launched a free on-line tool to help kids and parents record their monthly energy use, write contracts to define their energy use goals and share the financial savings from reduced energy use. The “Moolah Maker” tool calculates how the monthly savings will be dispersed and generates a child-to-parent invoice that says, “Pay Up, Dude.”
In the past, we have written about many kids in America know more about the Amazon, than their own back yards. Kids feel indignant about what is happening to the planet they are inheriting and are motivated to make a difference but wonder how to start. How do they know that what they’ve done matters?
Research shows that the best place to start is at home. Forty percent (40%) of carbon emissions come from buildings, including the buildings that our kids call home. Reducing energy use in order to cut back on emissions and limit the need for new power plants is one of the most powerful steps any person, of any age, can take. And what’s the pay-off? In the case of Energy Circle’s new Moolah Maker online tool, a cleaner planet, a brighter future, and cold hard cash.
Energy Circle, a website offering home energy efficiency information and products, decided to develop the tool after founders Peter Troast and Lisa Fahay started tracking their energy use at home using a counter top electricity monitoring device called TED (The Energy Detective). Their kids tuned in to it immediately, noticing the impact of turning off lights and connecting the entertainment system to a smart powerstrip. Together the family hatched the idea of sharing in the savings.
“It was one of those epiphany moments,” Lisa says. “The kids are already motivated, because they understand the impact of energy use on the planet. But why not let them share in this financially? The truth is, it’s worked. Our bills went down by 16% once we started monitoring. We’re happy get our invoice every month and to hand over the cash.”
Starting on Earth Day 2009, the Troast family began broadcasting their electricity usage data publicly on Energy Circle’s website and to Twitter .
The family pulled out an old electric bill and set goals for reduction over the next month, and then drew up a contract, agreeing that 50% of whatever they saved collectively would go to the kids.
“Simplicity and usability were key goals for the project,” he said. “The three components of the tool are the contract generator, where kids and parents can negotiate their own share of savings, a simple data entry tool for entering electric bills, and the invoice generator–a very elegant drag and drop feature that calculates the savings, and the amount owed.”
“We hope this calculator will make it easy for families to work together to reduce energy usage,” Troast says. “It’s been really gratifying for us to see how hard the kids are willing to work to make this happen, and it feels great that they are earning something in return. It’s a really easy way to make their contribution tangible, and the reality is that reducing our usage is an incredibly important step for us all to take.”
We think this is a great idea to help get kids involved in sustainability and making their own futures a little bit brighter. I mean, that’s why we do what we do. For future generations. Lets get them involved.
Source: Energy Circle and Moohla Maker Tool
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Cool on them for setting such a good example. Someone should give them an Earth flag!
J