The Environmental Club is making headway in spreading the word of renewable energy among Gunn students.

Palo Alto Green is a program that encourages the use renewable energy. Ninety-eight percent of the renewable energy is wind power generated on the borders of Oregon and Washington. The remaining two percent of the energy comes from solar installation in California.

Currently, about fourteen percent of Palo Alto residents are enrolled in this program. Only Palo Alto residents can sign up and they can do so by phone, mail, or visiting www.cpau.com for registration and more information. Membership lasts for one year and costs 1.5 cents extra per kilowatt-hour. That is about an average of $9.75 more than your monthly energy bill.

Palo Alto Green offers positive influences on the environment locally and globally. By signing up, the amount of energy saved is equivalent to not driving your car for more than 11,000 miles a year or planting 624 trees.

However, the renewable energy is not guaranteed to come to the designated home. It is transported through pipes to the community. “It’s a simple action that Palo Alto residents can take to reduce an individual’s negative impact on the environment,” sophomore Environmental Club co-president Caroline Hodge said.

Environmental Club members have begun publicizing the Palo Alto Green program throughout the school.

“Our goal is to convince the students who will in turn, convince their parents that this is a program worth signing up for,” senior Environmental Club member Matt Auerbach said. “It is 10 times more effective for students to convince their parents than parents receiving a simple brochure.”

Recently, Auerbach has led a small group volunteers to contact and inform local grocery stores like Molly Stones about the program. Club members have also visited classes and made presentations to students. The presentations center around the program’s environmental benefits and ways for students to help increase the amount of renewable energy use in Palo Alto.

“Most importantly, it’s the fact that this program is so affordable,” Auerbach said. “You hear about solar panels and other ways to save energy and it’s just a hassle. Palo Alto Green is only about 10 dollars more every month—that’s the equivalent of two Starbucks drinks.” 

Because the Environmental Club has agreed to help publicize this program in the Palo Alto community, Palo Alto Green has decided to offer a $5 donation to the club for every family signed up.

In order for the club to receive this donation, each household that signs up must write Gunn High School on the “How did you hear about this program?” category of the brochure or website.

“We view this as a great opportunity to gather funds to donate to other environmental organizations like World Watch,” Hodge said.

Although Palo Alto Green is new to Gunn, its membership is growing rapidly. The Environmental Club hopes to spread it to Palo Alto High School and local cities like Santa Clara.

Current Participants: 3,851

Pounds of CO2 avoided: 39,559,500

Miles not driven: 44,498,875

Trees Planted: 2,360,070

For more information, visit http://www.cpau.com/programs/green/index.html.