There are millions of things you can do in the comfort of your home to improve your energy consumption. Most of them are easy peasy small actions.
1. Easy
As overpopulation is an enormous growing problem, the easiest way to cut your carbon emitions is to restrain from having children.
In fact, a couple that has two children instead of three could cut their family's climate impact by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York. (source BBC website's reporting of research by the Optimum Population Trust)
2. Kitchen
To put lids on pans - which also keeps all the nice foody aromas in
To use the right pan size for the amount and the right hob size for the pan
Each minute a fridge door is left open takes three minutes to cool back down again- so don't leave it open long
3. Computers
People always say it takes more energy turning off and on again than leaving computers in standby. In actual fact I've found that unless you're going to use your computer within 24 hours then it's best to turn it off, but if you are then it's best to put it on standby or hibernation.
4. Energy monitor
You can buy an energy monitor which shows you how much electricity you are using in your home, and which things are using the most. The link below is to an ethical shop which sells several varieties.
http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/2-save-energy/owl-119-wireless-energy-monitor/
5. Green tariffs
You can get all your electricity from renewable sources. For not too much more than a regular tariff. On this site you can put your postcode and estimated energy use (if you know it) and find out the price of a tariff in your area. It's interesting to see exactly how much of each company's supply comes from renewables - and nuclear.
http://www.greenelectricity.org/index.php
6. Carbon Zero House
This inspiring couple in Scotland have made their lives carbon neutral. They are pioneers and people come from far and wide to see how they have successfully made a carbon neutral house from scratch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/may/19/reas.zero.carbon.house
7. Local Carbon Budgets
Around 80 per cent of the UK's emissions are from local activity.
Here is a petition to ask you MP to support the move to make every local council to have a local carbon budget to cap CO2 emissions in every council area.
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/local_carbon_budgets_23718.html
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Monday 12 July 2010
Renewable Energy
To ease us in, our first topic is renewable energy.
Our first two points are some background information, worth looking at.
1. TED talk
An excellent debate about nuclear energy versus renewable energy. Both sides are covered very well and make surprising and interesting points. Courtesy of TED.
2. Greenpeace - Energy [R]evolution
Greenpeace has just published 'Energy [R]evolution', an optimistic outlook on sustainable world energy. The summary is an encouraging read. It details how the shift from coal and oil to renewables should be achieved. You can download a copy of the report summary here: there's some nice photos in it too.
3. Windmill maker
Hugh Piggott is an inspirational man living in a wind powered community in North-West Scotland. He teaches people how to make their own wind turbines from recycled materials.
For those of us who don't live in a solitary house on a windy hill, more's the pity, here are some ways you can support existing projects.
4. Pro wind farm petitions/groups
According to polls, 7 out of 10 people support wind farms. It is important to voice this 'silent majority'. These sites have a map showing all wind farms in the different stages of planning, and allow you to lobby your MP in favour of wind farms in your area.
5. Solar
This charity is trying to bypass the dirty fuel stage for developing countries, by promoting solar energy. They teach people to convert their kerosene lamps into solar lamps. The short video shows how such a simple invention could change a continent. You can donate or volunteer: amongst other things, they are asking for graphic designers. A project worth getting into.
Finally a quick and easy petition to get solar on Houses of Parliament
Introductions
We felt bombarded by the amount of information about the consequences of climate change, the oncoming disasters and future chaos. It seemed difficult to find any clear instructions on what positive actions to take. So we decided to start this blog with the aim of presenting a small set of things to do. We will take one aspect of climate change each week, and research far and wide, scouring the net and presenting the best of our findings. We hope to enable people in the same position as us to do something positive against climate change.
Phoebe Halstead and Hannah Simpson
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