Novel ways to save electricity
Earth Hour is tomorrow, so we asked readers to share their best ideas for saving electricity. Here are the top answers …
1. Install energy-converting devices on all treadmills and bicycle machines in gyms. Then the machines would convert human energy into electricity, so you can get fit and save the planet at the same time!
Belinda Ng, 15, South Island School
2. We could build two wind turbines face-to-face so they'll blow at each other and power each other. Infinite electricity!
Liam Fung, 13, Chinese International School
3. Scented candles! They can be found anywhere these days, and not only do they provide light, they also smell wonderful, with every scent from chocolate to rainforests!
Anushka Purohit, 15, Renaissance College Hong Kong
4. I've always thought people could save electricity by making better use of the energy provided by nature. For example, Indian people use the sun to heat water. India sees a lot of power shortages every year, but people come up with really interesting ways to satisfy their needs without electricity. When water heaters don't work, people fill up buckets with cold water and leave them in the sun to heat up (India is really, really warm!). Then they can use them later for a nice, warm shower.
Joy Pamnani, 16, PLK Ngan Po Ling College
5. Sleep and wake up as early as possible to save many hours of electricity, which would otherwise have been spent on lighting.
Tinaz Mirza, 16, South Island School
6. Instead of reading from our mobile devices and wasting electricity, why not read books (real books, remember those?) straight from the libraries?
Pokfield Chan, 15, Law Ting Pong Secondary School
7. Become a hermit. Bring a blanket, one of those plastic wind-up torches, and a knife to one of those nice, habitable caves in the Alps. Leave your phone and computer at home. Live on a diet of plants and whatever little animals you can kill with your bare hands (mostly adorable squirrels). Pass the time by watching the clouds overhead. Eventually you'll forget how to type in textspeak, but you'll have successfully reduced your electricity usage to practically nothing, thus saving a penguin or two from a watery grave.
Catherine Wang, 16, Chinese International School
8. Instead of listening to songs on your music players and wasting batteries, why not just sing instead? Seeing as there are loads of people like me who listen to music almost every single minute of the day, we'd save a lot of electricity - and improve our singing - by providing our own tunes!
Sebastian Wong Chak-Sum, 16, Po Leung Kuk Vicwood KT Chong Sixth Form College
9. Save electricity by sleeping more! If you're unconscious, then you use fewer lights and electricity-draining machines! I think this should lead to bigger change - shorter school days in favour of more sleep! Let's address the real problem here - school is too long!
Bakhita Fung, 14, Island School
10. I would switch off all the lights and dance in the dark, like Bruce Springsteen says!
Mukhjot Kaur, 15, St Margaret's Girls' College
Next week:
It's April Fools' Day on Wednesday, so for our next Top 10, tell us your favourite April Fools' prank idea! Send your answer, together with your name, age and school, to [email protected] with "Top 10: April Fools" in the subject field. The best ones will be published on our next Top 10 page!