Never under-estimate the value of play as shown by two teenagers who have turned recycled materials into creative toys. Their dream of promoting renewable energy in a fun way has made the duo from Cotton Spinners Association Secondary School winners of this year's "Green Energy Dreams Come True" Competition under HK Electric's Smart Power Campaign.
Now into its second year, the competition aims at encouraging secondary school students to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy sustainability. Their journeys began earlier this year when HK Electric shortlisted 12 teams to help them realise their green dreams by providing each with seed money of up to HK$50,000 and a young engineer from the company for technical advice.
A proposal to build hydroponic farms from Christian Alliance S W Chan Memorial College came second while an energy efficiency monitoring and promotion scheme from Leung Shek Chee College came third.
Other innovative projects included an interesting gadget powered by renewable energy; a scheme encouraging students to practise recycling for solar Wi-Fi access; producing pop-up green books, comics and many more innovative ideas.
Adjudication was based on the written reports and final presentations held at a ceremony last Saturday. Judging criteria included the project's theme, achievements, contents, effectiveness and sustainability, as well as students' presentation skills and teamwork. All winning teams were awarded scholarships as an encouragement.
Speaking at the ceremony, HK Electric's General Manager (Corporate Development), Mr. Yee Tak-chow, said: "With the launch of the programme last year, I can feel the passion of the younger generation in promoting green energy. We will continue to encourage them to dream big in achieving our common goal to protect the Earth.”
The adjudicators were very pleased to see projects of such high quality and that the students were able to promote green energy to the public through interactive platforms such as exhibitions and open days.
Besides Mr. Yee, the adjudication panel comprised members of the advisory committee of HK Electric's Education Fund, including Associate Vice-President (Academic Support) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Ho Siu-lau; Principal of the Queen's College Old Boys' Association Secondary School, Mr. Hui Yung-chung; Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Hong Kong, Dr. Bryan Pong; Senior School Development Officer (Career Guidance Section) of the Education Bureau, Ms. Kim Ng; Deputy Chief Executive of the Conservancy Association, Mr. Rico Wong; and HK Electric's General Manager (Public Affairs), Ms. Mimi Yeung.
HK Electric's Smart Power Campaign promotes energy efficiency and a low-carbon lifestyle through a series of activities. In addition to the "Green Energy Dreams Come True" Competition, the "Happy Green Schools Label Programme" offers educational activities all year round to its more than 350 member schools to spread the green message.
Appendix:
The winning teams of this year's“Green Energy Dreams Come True" Competition include:
| School | Project |
|---|
Champion | Cotton Spinners Association
Secondary School | Turned recycled materials into toys and gadgets for promoting renewable energy. |
1st Runner-up | Christian Alliance S W Chan
Memorial College | Proposed to develop hydroponic farms to nurture vegetables and fish together. |
2nd Runner-up | Leung Shek Chee College | Installed an energy efficiency monitoring system while promoting energy saving through various activities. |
Merit
(Three in total) | Queen's College Old Boys' Association
Secondary School | Constructed a mobile biological tank powered by solar energy. |
| St. Bonaventure College and High School | Developed a solar Wi-Fi system for students to redeem Wi-Fi usage every time they recycled waste. |
| Fung Yiu King Memorial Secondary School | Created an interesting remote-controlled robot to promote the message of saving the environment. |