Reducing carbon cost + saving money...

[jtaylor]

An environment enthusiast at work mentioned this one to me, and it set me thinking......

A mobile phone charger if left plugged in when not charging will be responsible for between 35 to 70kg C02 over the year. Always unplug the mobile phone charger when not in use. Feel it, the warmth is caused by the constant consumption of electricity.

Given the number of kids at CH who must have mobiles, I wonder how many mobile chargers are left plugged-in, and are wasting money and contributing to CO2 production?

On anothe note, I finally moved over to a water meter this month - predicted saving of >£300 per year.....

Anyone got other easy-to-do suggestions for saving money and the environment....?

J

[Mrs C.]

Perhaps someone would like to ask the Bursar just how much the school forks out annually for power..... and how much that bill has increased in the last few years, not only due to price increases, but also due to the huge number of electrical items that all the pupils can`t live without these days.

It`s not just chargers - it`s lights, music systems, laptops etc etc - I`m forever turning things off when I`m on duty . it only takes a second to switch somthing off - but teenagers do not seem to be programmed to do that!!

(and it`s a sometimes case of " we pay school, school pays for power, so we`re paying for it anyway. And school has stacks of money anyway so why does it matter if we leave things on ?" False assumptions, I`m afraid.)

Anyone got any ideas on how to make them more aware???

[Mid A 15]

An environment enthusiast at work mentioned this one to me, and it set me thinking......

A mobile phone charger if left plugged in when not charging will be responsible for between 35 to 70kg C02 over the year. Always unplug the mobile phone charger when not in use. Feel it, the warmth is caused by the constant consumption of electricity.

Given the number of kids at CH who must have mobiles, I wonder how many mobile chargers are left plugged-in, and are wasting money and contributing to CO2 production?

On anothe note, I finally moved over to a water meter this month - predicted saving of >£300 per year.....

Anyone got other easy-to-do suggestions for saving money and the environment....?

J

When you close down you computer switch the monitor off also.

I am not anti car particularly as public transport is so inadequate as discussed on other threads. However more than half of car journeys are less than two miles which, time permitting, can be walked in 30-40 minutes by the able bodied or cycled even quicker.

Use bath water for the garden once it cools.

[J.R.]

Perhaps someone would like to ask the Bursar just how much the school forks out annually for power..... and how much that bill has increased in the last few years, not only due to price increases, but also due to the huge number of electrical items that all the pupils can`t live without these days.

It`s not just chargers - it`s lights, music systems, laptops etc etc - I`m forever turning things off when I`m on duty . it only takes a second to switch somthing off - but teenagers do not seem to be programmed to do that!!

(and it`s a sometimes case of " we pay school, school pays for power, so we`re paying for it anyway. And school has stacks of money anyway so why does it matter if we leave things on ?" False assumptions, I`m afraid.)

Anyone got any ideas on how to make them more aware???

Plenty, but I'm afraid I'd end up in court.

Gone are the days when we had to blow the candle out at 20:00hrs !

[englishangel]

Perhaps someone would like to ask the Bursar just how much the school forks out annually for power..... and how much that bill has increased in the last few years, not only due to price increases, but also due to the huge number of electrical items that all the pupils can`t live without these days.

It`s not just chargers - it`s lights, music systems, laptops etc etc - I`m forever turning things off when I`m on duty . it only takes a second to switch somthing off - but teenagers do not seem to be programmed to do that!!

(and it`s a sometimes case of " we pay school, school pays for power, so we`re paying for it anyway. And school has stacks of money anyway so why does it matter if we leave things on ?" False assumptions, I`m afraid.)

Anyone got any ideas on how to make them more aware???

Perhaps they could email them to my husband as well.

He has been away this week and it has been quite nice sleeping in a room without little green, red and orange lights in every corner.

Oh yes, and he took the car so I was walking the 2 miles to work every day.

[Great Plum]

Perhaps someone would like to ask the Bursar just how much the school forks out annually for power..... and how much that bill has increased in the last few years, not only due to price increases, but also due to the huge number of electrical items that all the pupils can`t live without these days.

It`s not just chargers - it`s lights, music systems, laptops etc etc - I`m forever turning things off when I`m on duty . it only takes a second to switch somthing off - but teenagers do not seem to be programmed to do that!!

(and it`s a sometimes case of " we pay school, school pays for power, so we`re paying for it anyway. And school has stacks of money anyway so why does it matter if we leave things on ?" False assumptions, I`m afraid.)

Anyone got any ideas on how to make them more aware???

How about having lights in the refurbished boarding houses that turn of so the whole place doesn't look likea Christmas tree (especially in the holidays!)

[jtaylor]

Movement sensors on the lights would be a good idea - we have these at work in our support department - the temptation to spell a word in the ceiling lights in the morning when nobody else is on.....

[Vonny]

Movement sensors on the lights would be a good idea - we have these at work in our support department

Annoying if you sit still for a while though as they switch off and you have to wave your arms about like a mad fool to get them to switch on again!

[Vonny]

On anothe note, I finally moved over to a water meter this month - predicted saving of >£300 per year.....

When we moved last year we moved to a house with a water meter and I was a bit scepical but it has saved us a fair bit in the last year and we now live in a much bigger house than we had before. And that's with 2 kids who are in & out the toilets every 5 minutes

[Laura M]

The grecians houses have lights on a timer so they turn off after a while. However that mwas really irritating when you were heading down the stairs at night and found yourself plunged into darkness.

[Hendrik]

get a composter. if you don't have one, you really should. councils sell them heavily subsidised (cost you about a tenner) or some councils give them away for free.

they are incredibly low maintenance. you shove in biodegradables, stir it around twice a year and it gives you amazing stuff in a year or so. the difference the compost produced made to our flower bed has to be seen to be believed.
if the composter gets a bit dry in the summer, chuck in a litre of water or so.
if you find you can fit more in there than you have to put in there, ask your neighbours if you can take their bio rubbish away, unless they also have a composter, they won't say no. or bin raid the big green biowaste wheelie bins which some councils provide.
you can also feed composters newspapers and eggboxes etc.

and they don't smell even a bit!

p.s. if you want no hassle organic veg: instead of throwing away potatoes, onions, carrots and stuff which has started to sprout, simply scatter them around the base of the composter (where lots of nutrients leach out), cover them with grass cuttings and enough water to soak the lot. the result for me was the tastiest potatoes i have ever had in my -albeit short so far- life.

both of these save money and the environment.

[Mark1]

Actually, in new Maine, there are movement sensors on the lights in the toilets/showers/bathrooms, so that technology is being implemented. On the other hand, all the corridor lights stay on at half power during the night... necessary?



Mark

[Great Plum]

Actually, in new Maine, there are movement sensors on the lights in the toilets/showers/bathrooms, so that technology is being implemented. On the other hand, all the corridor lights stay on at half power during the night... necessary?



Mark

In 'Old' Maine, all the lights were off at night - did this affect anyone? No.

[Mrs C.]

GRW has its very own light monitor - in the form of Darthmaul.

[ben ashton]

i think people should stop spending all day on this forum
think of the planet!
lets make a recyclable paper version instead...