The Greening of Gavin

Archives for November 2008

Zero Footprint Week – Energy

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According to the Zero Footprint Week site, electricity accounts for 50% of energy consumed by Australian households and for 85% of greenhouse emissions.  The main reason for this fact is that the majority of electricity in Australia is generated by burning Coal which released massive amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

So I will also add in my experiences on reducing electricity consumption during my sustainable journey so far.  So here are the three categories for today, plus a few tips of my own.

Switching off appliances and power points can save 10% on energy bills.  I might be preaching to the converted, but standby power adds up over a year.  So what can you do about it?  If you can group appliances together then put them all on a powerboard and you then only have one switch to worry about.  Don’t let the fact of not being able to reach the power point deter you, there are powerboards with switches on them that make it easier to reach.  I have used this system for each PC (we have 3 PC’s and 1 laptop), and the entertainment system in the lounge.  I found that the week I implemented this, we saved 2 Kilowatt hours a day and have done so now for 18 months!  At 15.99 cents per kWh that is a savings of $116.80 and 876 kg of CO2e per year.  All for turning stuff off at the wall!  It is also a good idea to read your meter daily for a week if you can.  This way you can determine if the small changes you make over a week are making a difference.  Have a look at your previous electricity bill, because most of them have your daily average usage listed.  You can use this figure as your baseline and try and improve each month.  If you would like more information about the other things I did have a look at the post titled "Eco House Challenge Electricity 1" and "Eco House Challenge Electricity 2".  Since I wrote that post, we have had two adult kids move out of home, and our daily average electricity usage over the last 32 weeks was 12.2 kWh.  This total includes grid and solar.  The grid daily average was 3.2 kWh!  I love the Sun.

Choose energy efficient appliances can save another 10% on energy bills.  Our big electricity sucking machines are the Fridge/Freezer, Clothes Dryer, Swimming Pool Pump, Entertainment System, and Gas Stove.  Since I began my journey in sustainable living, we have replaced the a Fridge/Freezer, a Chest Freezer and combined them into one twin door energy efficient model.  The old fridge died, so we did our research for an energy efficient model, and found that the one we purchased used 60% less energy per year than the old Fridge/Freezer and Chest freezer combined.  It was a great feeling to see the results.  I only ever replace an appliance when it breaks for good, because I take the embedded energy into account for the new item.  Embedded energy is the energy that it takes to make the new appliance which should be taken into account if you can get the information that is.  To find the most energy efficient appliance for you have a look at the Commonwealth Government Energy Rating site.  It is full of great information that I used when looking for my fridge.  For the appliances that you can’t or don’t want to replace just yet, try and use them less.  We rarely use the clothes dryer anymore and prefer to hang clothes either on an airer or under cover if it is raining.  I got rid of a bar fridge that I rarely used, and turned the pool pump down from 8 hours a day to 3.5 hours a day in Summer.  The pool still stays clean and chlorinated, so I don’t why people insist on leaving these energy guzzling pumps for many hours during the day.  Once again, try and take meter readings while you make changes to your consumption to check the results.

Switching to GreenPower reduces your carbon footprint by up to 70%.  This was one of the first things that we did.  By visiting www.greenpower.gov.au we found that our current provider Origin Energy provided accredited GreenPower to our area.  We first signed up for 20% Wind, and then when our Solar PV system was installed, we changed to 100% wind for the excess that we drew from the grid.  Origin also threw in GreenGas, for free, which is a scheme where they invest in projects to sequester CO2e like new renewable energy, planting trees, research and development etc. 

I am proud to say that our home is carbon neutral for all of our imported energy needs.

Tomorrows post will be about Transport, and how you can reduce your carbon footprint in this area. 

Keep an eye on the official Zero Footprint Week web site for more tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint during the week.

Cartoon Heroes & Common Sense

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Since I began recovering from my back injury, started the pain management sessions in the form of self hypnosis, and began exercise rehab, I wake up every morning feeling like this guy!  One of my favourite childhood cartoon heroes.

In the last two months I have been so full of energy that my usual optimistic self is extra optimistic.  Kim asks me how I do it.  Well, I suppose the power of suggestion during the hypnosis helps, so does the exercise and the knowledge that I am still getting stronger, but I think it maybe something else.  That something else is having a big goal.

My goal is (with your help) to tread very lightly on the Earth, and keep it livable for future generations of not only humans, but every species that inhabit the planet. 

A lofty goal I know, but one I attempt to make a reality each and every day.  Little by little I am achieving a sustainable, simple, and joyful lifestyle.   Common sense really,  but hard to come by in this crazy, mixed up, conspicuous consumer society we live in.  Some would look at me as the odd one out, but I believe they are the individuals out of touch with reality!

Yes, my super hero friends, common sense is so rare these days it must be a super power!

Gavin

Zero Footprint Week – Office

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Today’s theme is the Office and how we can reduce our carbon footprint where we spend a fair bit of time. 

I work in on the 30th Floor of an office tower in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, so I have quite a few suggestions for this theme.  I see resources wasted  every day where I work, because people are very nonchalant about environmental issues.  A few people practice green principles at home, but most (not all) seem to fit the usual mould of a conspicuous consumer by using as many resources as possible, because they don’t have to pay for them!  Anyway, enough of a rant for now, here are the three tips from the Zero Footprint Week site for today with my personal experiences thrown in for good measure!

Switch off!   Not your brains at work, the appliances like PC’s, printers, photocopiers, and lights.  In the same way you turn electrical items off in your home, please do so at the office (this includes the home office for those that work at home).  Treating your office appliances just as you would those in the home can greatly reduce your office’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. 

By turning off PC’s at night and then taking the next step by switching them off at the wall to prevent standby power, goes a long way to reducing consumption.  That includes all peripherals like your monitor as well.  With at least 70 computers on a typical city office floor, that is huge saving that can be made by simply switching things off at night. 

Lights are another big one.  How many times have you driven past a city late at night and seen office blocks lit up like a Christmas tree.  From experience, no one works that late, and usually it is sheer laziness that has prevented these lights from being turned off.  Same goes for empty bathrooms and meeting rooms.  I am forever turning off the lights in vacant meeting rooms when I walk around the floor yet there are signs everywhere asking people to turn off the lights as they leave the room.  Once again, care factor zero. 

By implementing a responsible energy usage policy, your business can save as much as 20% on its monthly energy bills.

Starting or revitalising and office recycling program.  My office goes through hundreds of kilograms of paper each month.  Reams of paper disappear faster than a cold meat pie and a warm beer at a footy final.  I sit no more than 3 metres from a printer when at work, and I actually see queues forming during the day to collect printouts.  Surely people don’t need to print that much, At least the default setting on the printer is to print on both sides of the sheet.  This is a simple solution for those paper junkies.

There is hope at our office.  We have recycling bins for office paper, cans/bottles/plastic, and some floors have organic waste collections which is great.  Now if we can only get people to throw the right waste in the right bin we would actually get somewhere!  By reducing paper and organising an office recycling program you can reduce your carbon footprint at work considerably.  If you already have a reduction and recycling program, get behind it, and energise those around you to do so.  What do you think they make recycled toilet paper from?  Nice, white, recycled office paper, that’s what.  No bum is that special that it needs virgin paper to be wiped on it!  Recycle your used office paper and save our old growth forests from being felled. 

Measuring, offsetting and reducing carbon footprints.  Many businesses will be aware of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) that will be implemented by the Commonwealth Government in 2010, but not many will know what it means to them.  Well basically the more you pollute, the more you pay for the privilege.  The first step is to take an audit of your businesses carbon emissions.  If you don’t know how, take a course on Carbon Accounting.  It will serve your business well in the near future.  Once your footprint is determined/calculated, you and your fellow co-workers can set policies in place to reduce it or offset it.  By acting early, your business can be saved from the last minute scramble for green resources in 2010 when the mandatory CPRS goes into effect.  If you are interested in starting a green career, now is one of the best times to begin acquiring the skills that will be required for the future.

To find your office’s environmental footprint and more tips on how you can best improve it, please visit the EPA Victoria’s office footprint calculator.  It is a great place to begin to see what area needs to be tackled first.

Tomorrows post will be about Energy, and how you can reduce your carbon footprint in this area.  At last, my favourite subject!

Keep an eye on the official Zero Footprint Week web site for more tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint during the week.