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Carbon Footprinting, Council Offices, Worksop

Fri, 17 July 2009

LAEP Communications Pick n Mix

Bassetlaw District Council

Carbon Footprinting, Council Offices, Worksop

17/07/2009

Visitors:                                                approx 25, 18 footprints calculated

Highest footprint:                                    35,233kg

Lowest footprint:                                     7,269kg

Average footprint:                                   12,203 kg   

Friday was a relatively quiet footprinting day at the Council Offices, but we had a reasonable flow of visitors and lots of interesting in-depth conversations about climate change and carbon emissions. Most footprints calculated were for staff at the Council, though we did also catch up with a few visiting members of the public.

Several people who found that they had higher than average footprints seemed to be quite deeply shocked and concerned about their high emissions. Many visitors found that despite insulating their homes and switching off lights, their footprints were huge as a result of flights or high car mileage. They were then faced with a very difficult dilemma about giving up holidays and travel to reduce their carbon emissions.

Another key issue raised during the day was the difficulty of making quick changes to lifestyles or properties. On a positive note, a few people explained that they had plans to install new boilers, cavity wall insulation or more efficient appliances, as soon as they had the cash available or other building work completed. 

As well as calculating footprints, we gave out some free lightbulbs and certificates, plus advice and information about insulation, renewable energy and recycling. The carbon footprinting stall was well supported by a display on sustainability, and awareness raising amongst council staff during the week, through emails and the intranet. The council employee with the lowest footprint was genuinely delighted to win a prize of a local food hamper at the end of the day.

Light Fantastic, Keyworth Show

Sat, 11 July 2009

Rushcliffe Borough Council

Light Fantastic, Keyworth Show

11/07/2009

Visitors:                                                     approx 600

Bulbs distributed:                                        1500

Powerdown Units distributed:                       220

CO2 saved (lifetime):                                    215,910kg

Retained economic benefit (lifetime):             £99,380

Saturday 11th July was overcast and threatening, which led to a slow start. But people got braver and realised that the rain was not coming and we eventually got very busy in the afternoon. We had Rushcliffe Borough Council next to us giving away TV powerdowns and general advice, so we were able to focus on low energy lighting and more technical renewables questions. We had a lot of enquiries about solar thermal systems, these seem very popular in the area.

The children (and some dads) loved the energy bike and many were really interested in the computer powerdowns when we explained how they worked. Many were shocked when we told them how many bikes they would need to power their games consoles (three).

As usual we visited all the stall holders as well and had a quick chat with them. One chap, Peter (photo attached), is a steam engine enthusiast who visits all the country shows in the area. He uses a light bulb display along with an ammeter and voltmeter to display the output of his engines. He had six 40 Watt bulbs in his display and was complaining about the amount of diesel he has to put in his engines to keep them alight. We gave him an 11 Watt and 15 Watt bulb to replace two of them. He was very pleased to see the instant change in fuel demand, and said he would change the rest of the bulbs to cut back on costs.

Carbon Footprinting Stall, Nottingham, Sunday 28th June

Sun, 28 June 2009
Carbon Footprinting stall
Midsummer Energy event, Green’s Windmill, Nottingham
Sunday 28th June 2009, 11am-4pm
 
We ran a busy and successful carbon footprinting stall at Midsummer Energy on Sunday, with a nearly constant steam of people queuing up to calculate their footprints throughout the day. Calculating each footprint takes some time, and many visitors wanted one-to-one support with the process, so the total number of footprints completed at the stall was relatively low. However, every single one of the completed footprints involved in-depth discussions about how to calculate carbon emissions, and how to reduce emissions. Issues raised during the day included how to allocate emissions from work-related activities, especially for self-employed people, the dilemmas resulting from having family living abroad, and how to improve the efficiency of solid-walled houses. All completed footprints were posted up on the display boards, and people were keen to compare themselves to others – even to the extent of a husband and wife competing to get the lowest footprint! Though the audience was a relatively ‘green’ crowd, many people were surprised at the large size of their footprints, or at the emissions from areas of their lives that they had not really considered before. Almost all commented on how useful and interesting they found the process.

Current Cost Monitors in Derbyshire libraries

Thu, 1 January 2009

Your local library in Derbyshire has just started a new and exciting scheme to help you reduce your carbon footprint - and increase the size of your wallet! Curent cost monitors, which give you a live display of the current electricity consumption in your house, are now available to borrow from all Derbyshire libraries, including the mobile libraries.

They can help you find out where you’re wasting energy, encourage your family to be more efficient, and help you save money on fuel bills. For more information, visit your local library, or call 0845 6 058 058. At the moment this scheme is only running in Derbyshire, but Nottinghamshire libraries may join in later, so look out for more news