The Green Energy Corps (GEC) program is a great part of Americorps and the Service Learning Academy. It teaches students how to weatherize homes for families who can’t afford the service or the monthly bill for electricity.

Weatherizing a house has a few benefits, for the resident and for the environment. For example, when a house gets weatherized it gets a complete makeover to keep the temperature in the house at a certain level—warm in the winter and cool in the summer. By doing this, the house reduces the usage of electricity anywhere from thirty to ninety-five percent which means the electricity bill will go down and the family can have more money in their pocket. This can also mean the energy plants won’t have to burn as much coal to produce electricity and prevent higher amounts of pollution or toxic waste from nuclear plants. Due to this we can have a safer environment for our children and our grandchildren. Not to mention, it is also a good way to stop global warming and less animals will die off or go extinct because of record breaking temperatures.

–Cesar Bautista, GEC Member