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Energy saving starts with education

By Senior Airman Anthony Sanchelli, 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs / Published October 18, 2012

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INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- In today's day and age, technology is an essential part of our world; and with technology, energy is a necessity. October is Energy Action Month, and members of the 39th Civil Engineer Squadron are working all month to educate Incirlik Airmen on different ways to conserve energy.

Energy can be found almost everywhere, and in many forms. There are six types of energy -- heat, chemical, mechanical, electrical, nuclear and light. These sources are divided into two groups -- renewable and non-renewable. Non-renewable sources include oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear, and cannot be regenerated within a short amount of time. Renewable resources, like solar and hydro, can be generated repeatedly from natural resources.

Despite all these available forms of energy, it is important to conserve what we can because we are running out of resources, said Artemiz Avci, 39th CES base energy manager.

"The first thing to look at should be people-related conservation practices," said Avci.

Saving energy on a mass scale starts with education. Members of the 39th CES held three sessions of classroom presentations for children at the Incirlik Unit School. After the presentations, the students were taken to three base locations to learn ways to save energy.

The first trip was to a power plant, where students learned the processes during a power outage and how to save electricity. The second location was the water treatment plant and children discovered ways to preserve water at home. The final stop was the waste water treatment facility. There, students learned how waste water is filtered, cleaned and transferred throughout the base.

"We need to think about the future, and not just today. Saving energy now will help our children in years to come," said Pinar Oneren, 39th CES mechanical maintenance engineer.

Energy conservation education was not limited to students at the school. Informational booths were set up Oct. 11 and 18 at the Base Exchange for community members to discover resource saving techniques.

Since it's important for everyone to help conserve energy, Oneren, provided tips for Team Incirlik members. Simply tuning off the water faucet when shaving or brushing ones teeth can save thousands of gallons of water a year.

In addition to using saving options indoors, the base energy manager suggests using mechanical water timers, which are available at the self help center, to help limit the amount of water used outside houses. Each household is authorized two timers, one for each yard.

"We have an energy conservation goal to reduce our usage 30 percent by 2016, and a water goal of 26 percent by 2020," said Avci.

The 39th CES reminds members that even though October is Energy Action Month, energy conservation is a year-round effort.

"We have to have energy conservation in mind with everything we do, that's the bottom line," said Avci.