It’s a rough time for our country, and unfortunately our schools are also taking an economic hit. Just last week, our governor announced major cuts to education.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging school districts across the nation save money by taking the Energy Star Challenge and becoming more energy efficient.

According to the EPA, the annual energy bill primary and secondary schools in the U.S. is $8 billion – that’s more than is spent on textbooks and computers combined!

Schools that participate in the Energy Star Challenge will get to use Energy Star tools and resources to figure out how to improve their energy efficiency.

So far, about 2,000 schools have earned the EPA’s Energy Star label for superior energy efficiency. One school district in Oregon was able to cut energy use by 48 percent, saving more than $1.3 million in utility costs.