The San Diego Air & Space Museum along with Ford Motor Company Fund asked San Diego County students to create a piece of art and a written piece describing how they can green the place where they live. Below are the images of the pieces of art and written pieces from our four winners and one grand prize winner.

Grand Prize Winner - Cassidy Lane

Here are some ideas for adults and children to go green in their home.

• Turn off the lights if not using.
• Wash clothes with cold water.
• Recycle as many things as possible.
• Hang up laundry to dry clothes.
• Lower the watts on light bulbs.
• Buy recycled paper towels.
• Use reusable shopping bags.
• Use the water filter and no bottles.
• Biking instead of driving cars.
• Donate toys and games, it reduces trash.
• Grow a vegetable garden.
• Plant a green tree.
• Use the dishwasher.
• Water after 8:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m.

Winner - Matthew Eyer

Run-off Water Recycling The ever wasteful problem of runoff from driveways is causing pollution of our rivers and oceans. My proposal is to have a water system from your driveway to your plants. This idea reduces the water running into storm drains and saves you money. In this idea, water from your driveway (example: rain, car washing, or over spray from sprinklers) runs down into a 12 inch strip of pervious concrete. It collects in a basin, and is then pumped by a sump pump to your plants. This saves money and resources by not losing water down the drain.  

Winner - Carolyn Tom

Keep Earth Green and Carpool! Carpooling is a simple yet effective way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It is also a good opportunity for teens to spend time together while saving money on gas. If a full carpool were to make the daily commute from school or to work regularly it would be taking 4 cars off the road. With enough people carpooling in multiple cities or even our own community, we can lower the 18% of the worlds CO2 emissions that come from motorized vehicles. Aside from the perks mentioned in my entry, more carpools means less wait time on the freeway and less traffic. This is a solution that is good for both the Earth and our daily routine.  

Winner - Colin Tandy

My dad doesn't like to waste the water that comes out of the shower while you're waiting for it to get warm. I thought it would be cool to save that water and use it to water plants outside. I looked at pictures of how water tanks work and used that idea to make this invention. The Shower Water Saver lets you close off the main drain with a plastic stopper and have the cold water go down into the garden water tank. When the shower gets warm enough then you would take the plastic stopper off the garden tank drain and put it over the other drain. It would be like a regular shower again. When you go outside you can just turn on the hose and the water from the tank would be pulled by the pump out of the water tank. I think it could be a pretty simple way to water your plants.  

Winner - Zulma Monsalvo

Blue Print of a House The Sun-light has proved to be an environmentally friendly item because it is a design made in place of an electric light bulb. We should never have to use an electric bulb to light a dark corner when we have the sun is out. Natural resources like the sun, wind, water, and oxygen are indispensible items that mother earth gives us gratuity. Human made resources such as gas and electricity are also energy that is used in our everyday living. Nevertheless, the sun has more useful application than any other natural resource because of its potency in exerted energy, especially here in San Diego. Yet many do not use the sun to its full advantage simply because of its impracticality; but the sun is able to dry your wet clothes, it has the potential to cook or boil food, and it has the application of lightening dark spaces in your home.