Water & Energy - Learning and Behavior Program (WE-LAB)

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Water & Energy - Learning and Behavior Project, or WE-LAB, focuses on delivering urgent and highly relevant environmental education about the water-energy nexus to Miami-Dade County residents, teachers, and school children. Through educational workshops, classroom learning, online community forums and interactive tools, WE-LAB seeks to motivate communitywide water-energy-saving behaviors and foster long-term environmental stewardship through money-saving actions. WE-LAB participants learn to track and analyze their water and energy use at home and apply the behaviors learned at schools, workshops and through an online community in order to take action and make improvements. Hands-on learning activities address: • Water-Energy Nexus impact on air pollution, health of our water supply, energy reliability and long-term community sustainability • Residential benefits related to the Water-Energy Nexus • Impact of personal decisions and behaviors on GHG and strategies to protect the water supply • Community benefits in a reduction of Miami-Dade County's regional energy, water, and carbon footprint Funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), WE-LAB is being implemented through a collaborative effort between the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) and Dream in Green (DIG), a Miami-based non-profit organization that delivers education programs that promote energy/water conservation and efficiency and environmental sustainability.