If you've ever questioned how big a difference turning off lights and appliances you aren't using makes, you may want to talk to the Idaho Falls School District.

By June they'll have saved over one million dollars by doing just that.

Imagine the amount of energy 1212 cars use traveling around Idaho Falls everyday, or the amount of energy about 25 hundred acres of trees could generate, that's how much energy the district has saved over the last 22 months.

The Idaho Falls School District is pulling the plug on energy waste.

"It's modifying peoples behavior and remembering to turn things off when they're not using them," says District 91 Energy Manager Mike McGuyer.

"I think there was a little bit of apprehension at first just you know how much money is this really going to save," says IFHS Assistant Principal Jason McArthur.

It was no small change. The district cut its energy use by 27 percent, and it was as easy as flipping a switch.

"And it's thousands of dollars just here at this school. I want to say up to five and ten thousand dollars sometimes just in a month. It seems like very minuscule or minor things, but when you take the whole district it really adds up," says McArthur.

Lee Wilkens has been a custodian at Idaho Falls High School for eight years now.

He says rigorous energy savings program is a big change from his early years. Back then, all the electrical devices in the school were left on 24 hours a day, five days a week.

"As energy costs increase the more you can save, the more money you save," says McGuyer.

Here's some examples, custodians now wait an extra hour each morning to start up school heaters, and its lights out in areas that aren't being used.

"It's exceeded anyone's expectations. Our savings are a good 10 percent better than we would have expected," says McGuyer.

The next step is a district wide facilities upgrade. It will replace aging equipment with energy efficient models.

The money saved goes back into the district's general fund and can be used for things like salaries, supplies and other upgrades.