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Issue 2 : October 2005 | |
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Dear carbon based life forms! Life is sweet! "Low carbon lifestyles are the sexiest,
most fashionable, most 'now' thing there is." In this issue:
Sir, last week The Times filed a report entertainingly including the phrase "mankind in a tizzy about oil". If it's downstream climate mega-deaths we're facing – in our and our children's lifetimes – then a bit more of a 'tizz' from the media would surely be in order? Dave Hampton
Did you get to complete mission #1 – green tariff ? (Mission 1 was to spend five minutes switching to a green tariff, and to invite a good friend to do so. Did you?? Do it now – so you don’t get left behind!) Thanks for all your replies. "Yep, done that", or "hey, did that years ago" or "yep, did it, and got my Mum signed up too!" or "Dave – the www.energylinx.co.uk site is brilliantly easy" Please share with me any successes you have – every kilo of CO2 you save counts. Small is beautiful, and I'd love to hear about it from you. Here's one I've had already: “Hi, you'll be pleased to know that, due
to your influence, I've just offset this year's carbon emissions with
Climate Care. Went for a fixed 15.5 tonne offset, at £100. Thanks!”
Speed coaching: carbon coaching the fast lane! I grabbed a coffee with the deputy CEO of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Michael Brown. In just three minutes I ran through all of Michael's principal (home) carbon dioxide tonnages, and what might happily be trimmed. Michael, who drove a Mercedes A-class* from London to Ascot several days a week, was thrilled to hear about the Toyota Prius hybrid. (*The Mercedes diesel already had a good 'grams of CO2 per km' rating.) Now, less than three weeks since the coffee, Mike is the proud owner of that Prius car. No congestion charge. Lower tax bands. Higher mpg. Cleaner running. Says Michael: "Dave made it fun to save a tonne! I hadn't even heard of the Prius. One-on-one coaching made it real, and made it happen. I expect to save £500 a year and Dave tells me I'll trim off one tonne of CO2 each year too. But it's the message that the car sends to people that means most to me. It quietly says that I enjoy living a carbon-lite life." And all for the price of a cup of coffee!
When is a low energy bulb not a low energy bulb? When it's a 'low voltage' spot damn spot! Don't be patronised. If you're having builders in and you're offered 'low voltage' lighting, you will most likely hear the 'low' (of low voltage) and think – yes please! Daily, millions of these little low voltage spots are being installed. Sadly, low voltage doesn't equal low wattage, and it's the latter that clocks up CO2 emissions. A 50 watt low voltage halogen bulb uses the same amount of energy as a 50 watt mains bulb. Low wattage lighting is watt's cool! A room with 10 spots has a 'locked in for life' appetite of 500 watts per hour (at a cost of, say, £80 per year) when that room could be lit just as beautifully for a tenth of the cost!
YOUR special interest One thing that's emerging is the awesome diversity of special interest among those of you choosing to sign up to this newsletter. I've heard from some amazing individuals, some of whom
are into evolutionary consciousness: building hope and synergy
across tremendous space. Other green-minded folk know they
need switch to a green tariff etc, but haven't taken action yet
(and yet assume that everyone else has!). Others switched a while
back, and are now interested in the bigger picture – the
impact of tens of thousands of people switching. I think this focus on what we are doing at home may be enough to maintain an interest for each and every one of you.
Emission mission # 2 – drive down your cost per mile Save one tonne of CO2. Carbon counts – think
range per tankful. How low can you go?
Ten
best diesels, and ten best petrol cars But here’s the real whammy: the overall running
cost per mile of these more economical cars can be massively lower than
'average' cars. With lower insurance, road tax, depreciation and service
costs, you could easily save 20p per mile. So in the example above,
you save three tonnes a year AND £2,500! If you ever have the privilege/responsibility of choosing
a new car, chose well – carefully consider the carbon credentials. Even
if you only plan to drive low mileage each year, it is still you
who is choosing which car is manufactured, and which car will stay on
the road until the end of its days. A small difference in gms CO2/km
mounts up. Over a 250,000km lifecycle, a 40 gram improvement adds up to
10 tonnes – and thousands of pounds on fuel! Don't despair. Official grams CO2/km figures can be misleading. What counts is the number of gallons you burn. See what improvement in mpg you can achieve by driving a bit slower when you can afford to give yourself more time. It's amazing how good it feels to cruise in the slow lane sometimes, beating all previous fuel economy records (and avoiding speed points!). Your car at 50mph may produce less CO2 than
a shiny new hybrid at 70mph. The legendary Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic, and the
original Honda Insight... The Prius is driven by some of Hollywood’s
biggest names: Cruz, DiCaprio… you?! These are magic, and great
in town – but not cheap. Having said that, they're exempt from
congestion charge, and have other special perks! Well, there is one new hybrid 4x4 – the Lexus RX 400h. It does 35mpg. But I'm not really recommending it. Remember what they say about men with big cars. A prize offered for what they say about women, but for starters: "How could someone so beautiful get out of something so ugly?!"
Dave Hampton
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