Earth Day lessons – reduce your energy use
More than 1 billion people took part in thousands of events across the globe yesterday to mark Earth Day 2013.
The first Earth Day took place in 1970 and this year’s event focused on encouraging people to take responsibility for climate change. The theme was The Face of Climate Change – and there is still time to send in photos which will become part of a ‘global mosaic’ to remind people to do their bit.
The impact of business
Many businesses, particularly smaller ones, may struggle to with ideas on how to prevent climate change. The key to creating a green office lies in energy reduction, according to Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust.
When it comes to the business sector, he says the answer is to: “Reduce energy demand, starting with enhanced efficiency measures for industry and commercial property, where big change can be delivered cost-effectively and fast. This in turn will make our industry more competitive. In parallel, we must fast-track investment in a smart grid, better able to handle high levels of renewables and decentralised power.”
Guides to support energy efficiency
The Carbon Trust publishes guides and reports to help businesses become more energy-efficient and Npower has produced a helpful guide of bite-sized advice that makes a great starting point to developing a green office environment. By monitoring your energy use, making team members responsible for managing their energy and realising the benefits of saving energy, your business can do its bit to prevent climate change.
Save money as well as the planet
Not only does unnecessary energy use harm the environment, it harms your bottom line. Many businesses recognise this and it can be simple actions that help.
- Switching off a photocopier when it’s not in use can save £194 per year
- Using the power save option on monitors instead of using screensavers, can save £25-£45 per monitor per year
- Enabling the ‘energy save’ function on all equipment could save up to 80% of power consumption
- By keeping photocopiers out of air conditioned areas you will save the extra power used to help them warm up for use
- Use low energy light bulbs to save around £16 per year per bulb