LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Miramonte Goes Dark to Gather Environmental Data


Sophomore Samuel Shain stands in front of a darkened classroom at Miramonte High School. Photo provided

Miramonte High School's Environmental Club hosted "Lights Out! Day," an environmental awareness day on October 31, asking the campus to 'go dark' to compile data about the school's energy use. "Due to the overcast weather, we did not have the full participation that we had hoped for, but still had a considerable amount of classrooms participate," said Miramonte sophomore and Environmental Club co-president Samuel Shain. "About 40 classrooms participated in the event."

Using mathematical equations, the club estimated that the high school saved 448 kilowatts from being used that day, translating into a savings of approximately $97. The event also saved 4,480 cubic feet of natural gas from being consumed to create electricity, according to Shain. "Although this may not seem like much," said Shain, "if you multiply it by 30, you see the numbers drastically increase and if you multiply the original figure by 180, you will get an approximation of how much Miramonte could save if we held an event like this every day of the school year."