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Archives for March 2009

Exciting News!

March 31, 2009 @ 23:06 By Gavin Webber 6 Comments

There is a new group in town, ready to take on the problems of Climate Change and Peak Oil at the local level in our shire.  We are called the Melton Sustainable Living Group, and currently have 8 excited members!

It has been a long time in coming, and in an effort to promote our group and seek interest from potential new members, Kim has set up an interview with our local newspaper tomorrow at 1530.  We are hoping to get a few photos of Dale and I during the day doing sustainable living things to give to the journalist.  I will keep you posted as things develop, and I am developing a website using blogger for the group so that we can keep all members and guest up to date with our journey.

I am very excited to be one of the 6 founding members, and since Saturday we have recruited 2 more eager friends.  Things a looking up!

Oh, BTW.  We are getting another dog tomorrow as well.  We adopted a muttly (Corgi/Silky Terrier X) from the pound.  Kim is not sure what her name will be, but we are going with Holly at the moment.  The paper is also going to do a story about adopting dogs from the local pound to give them a plug as well.  Ben will be getting his picture with Holly in the paper. News at Eleven! 🙂

Gav

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Filed Under: activisim, climate change, Media, Peak Oil

A Day Without The Net

March 31, 2009 @ 02:47 By Gavin Webber 3 Comments

What a strange day we have just experienced!  ADSL has been down in our area for a whole day, and it has been like living without a long lost friend.  I know that I count my blessings every day that we are fortunate to be able to afford an Internet connection at all, but talk about technology taking over your lifestyle!

Anyway, my main post is over at the Co-op today.  You can read all about “Green Computing”, which is a follow up story from the one I posted yesterday about “The Vampires Feed At Night”.  I thought it most apt.

Have a great day, and I have some exciting news to come later today!

Gav

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Filed Under: Simple Green Frugal Co-op

The Vampires Feed At Night

March 29, 2009 @ 22:41 By Gavin Webber 4 Comments

300878733_d2a9cd25ddDuring Earth Hour, many companies turned off their lights in high-rise office building in cities all around the world.  Great work, but something was missing.  Office Vampires, in the form of millions of PCs are left on, sucking the grid dry during the long dark nights and are a massive contributor to the carbon emissions of many large companies.  These emissions can be avoided by enforcing energy policies and behavioural changes, but only if workers are informed of the consequences of their inaction.  When examined individually, PCs may not appear to be the biggest energy hog in the office, but when you consider the sheer volume of PCs in the world, the energy and greenhouse gas implications are enormous.

Picture this: A green minded gent arrives at work at 0700 Monday morning and curiously thinks, “I wonder how many PCs were left turned on over the weekend?”.  The curious green minded gent then proceeds to do a basic energy audit and discovers 64 out of a possible 75 PCs still turned on with their monitors in standby mode with no one on the floor but himself!  What a surprise to the green gent, who actually thought that his work colleagues cared about the planet they lived on. 

So to do the sums, the green gent needed to make a few assumptions.  If most people leave work at 5pm Friday and return at 8am Monday, that would be 63 hours that the PCs were sucking power without any worker using them.  If the average power usage of each PC including monitor, with decent power management enabled was 54 watt-hours, and then multiplied by 64 PCs, then multiplied by 63 hours of idleness.  That is a whopping 217.7 kWh of electricity wasted over the weekend which is more than the green gent uses at home in an entire month!  In the state of Victoria, that is the equivalent to 265 kg of CO2-e. 

So assuming that every floor in the building have basically the same layout, that the workers have the same lax behaviours, and the building had 50 floors, that would be 10,885 kWh of electricity or 13.2 tonnes of CO2-e released into the atmosphere each weekend.  With 52 weekends in a year, the wasted electricity would amount to 556,020 kWh of electricity or 690 tonnes of CO2-e each year!  The impact is amplified in this country due to our dirty coal based energy supply. 

That is just one large building in one city out of many millions of buildings world wide.  The mind boggles at the incredible savings in  money and greenhouse gas pollution that could be made simply and easily, by each worker turning their PC off before they go home at night.

According to Gartner, every year the information and telecom technology industry generates 2% of the world’s carbon emissions – the same as a year’s worth of air traffic. Moreover, PCs and monitors account for 39% of these emissions, equivalent to the emissions of approximately 46 million cars.

So next time you put your jacket on to leave for home, take a minute of your time to turn off your PC and again at the wall switch.  You will be making a massive contribution to avoiding catastrophic climate change.  This simple gesture will be noticed by others, who then in turn will follow your lead, and before you know it the dreaded Vampires will be no longer live in your office, without a garlic bulb in sight! 

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Filed Under: climate change, Earth Hour, energy efficency

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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Podcast Reviews

  • Always inspiring and entertaining!
    August 4, 2016 by floriographer from Australia

    I've crowed about Gavin's podcast before but I just have to recommend it once again - I love that he shares his learning as well as his successes - it helps the rest of us try try try again! Thanks Gavin!

  • ms
    July 22, 2016 by Ketaea12 from New Zealand

    I really enjoy listening to Gavin, he has a kind lovely voice. He covers some great relevant topics for the everyday greenie. With lots of tips or how to or what not to do. Thanks Gavin, love it!!

  • Well worth your time to tune in
    October 23, 2015 by A Vision Splendid from Australia

    I can highly recommend Gavin’s podcast ! I have followed Gavin’s blog since the very beginning and have loved to see his journey unfold. Gavin has a lovely speaking voice so this podcast is always very easy to listen to. Gavin has a very authentic approach to his green living lifestyle. He shares the ups and downs but always provides motivation and practical steps that we can all implement.

  • very good
    June 28, 2015 by Scared pax from United Kingdom

    This is a great podcast if you want to improve your life in so many aspects and become a more sustainable person. I love the soothing voice, the good pace, and it contains lots of useful information. Recommended!

  • opened my eyes
    May 25, 2015 by Gorn4lyfe from Australia

    A wonderful show!

  • Inspiring
    April 30, 2015 by Alan Whelan from Ireland

    This is a great podcast if you're looking for practical info on saving money by living more sustainably from someone who's made that journey over the last few years. Told in a nice, easy conversational style

  • Green Living, inspiring and practical
    January 8, 2015 by EliseMac from Australia

    Thanks Gav for sharing what has (and hasn't) worked along your journey for living a greener lifestyle. Inspiring and achievable for anyone, I look forward to this podcast weekly.

  • Local food equals less waste
    December 27, 2014 by allotmentadventureswithjean from Australia

    Another brilliant podcast from Gavin Webber encouraging us, and showing us how, to cut down on food miles, growing our own food, and cutting down on food waste. Gavin is a really interesting speaker, showing us how to eat better, growing our own food and how to live more sustainably.

  • Honestly australian
    December 15, 2014 by HodgepodgeOz from Australia

    Fantastic podcast, with a wide variety of well thought and researched topics. Gavin is a honest, forthright pod aster with a genuine interest in helping others get green. Like a day alongside is a day wasted, so too is a week without listening to Gavin. Highly recommended for people starting out, or those in the midst of their new lifestyle. Keep it up Gavin, wish there were more great reviews! Kimberley

  • Morning motivation
    December 8, 2014 by Bunnyworm from Australia

    Gavin has a great passion for living this greener lifestyle that motivates others to do the same. The podcasts are always interesting and informative. :)

  • Passionate Advocate
    October 18, 2014 by BoomOpGirl from Australia

    Gavin's enthusiasm and passion for creating a more sustainable world is nothing short of contagious. Thanks Gav, you are my weekly source of motivation for living a sustainable life! :)

  • Gavin speaks from the heart
    October 13, 2014 by Green gavin from Australia

    Gavin's podcasts are required listening for anyone planning to live a more sustainable life. He doesn't preach, but tells you his story from the heart. You'll laugh, smile, share in his concerns and along the way you'll pick up some great tips on living a simple life.

  • Green thoughts, so well iterated
    October 9, 2014 by Kwasikwami from Australia

    This is a wonderful podcast. Not only does Gavin talk knowledgeably on a range of sustainability topics from gardening tips all the way to the issues facing humanity as a whole, but he does so in such a wonderful voice, it's like listening to my Dad, love it!!

  • Easy listening inspiration on being green
    September 24, 2014 by Broomedy from Australia

    Gav knows how to share his journey to a more sustainable life in a manner that shows just how easy it really is. Not to mention healthier, economically beneficial and generally rewarding. The podcasts are an easy way to absorb Gav's great lifestyle. I recommend to anyone.

  • Thanks Gavin!
    August 31, 2014 by Honeywoodmilk from Australia

    Great practical advice for a greener lifestyle. This podcast is for anybody interested in growing their own food in suburbia, saving electricity, brewing beer, making cheese, all that wonderful business and most of all, saving money! Thanks Gavin, love the podcast mate!

  • Enjoyed those ideas for staying warm
    August 15, 2014 by enduringdragon from United States

    Like you we are having winter here in Chile—brrr! Every bit we can save on heating we will.

  • Green Podcasts
    July 26, 2014 by Carneu from Australia

    Excellent podcasts, which are full of information to help get started on a sustainable lifestyle.

  • Practical ideas and inspiration
    July 19, 2014 by HeathrowHeath from Australia

    I highly recommend Gavin's podcast and blog. Down to earth, entertaining and inspirational. Thank you.

  • Interesting & easy to listen to
    April 27, 2014 by Velocity3 from New Zealand

    Gavin & his guests make this green journey lots of fun.

  • Great green listen
    April 18, 2014 by Obscurenickname from Australia

    Gavin is a great down to earth, tell it like it is aussie with a passion for sustainability and growing food and making cheese

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