Marie-Claire
We don’t claim to be energy saving experts – leave that to the energy companies and consultants. But because we provide a green product (by giving businesses a way to avoid business travel), we’re understandably interested in what different businesses are doing to save energy.
The following list is not exhaustive. But we thought we’d list our favourites because they are things that businesses (like yours maybe) can do here and now to reduce energy, save money and be green. They cost nothing up front and you can do them today!
Eat more…
Well, technically, it’s not about eating, but about burning more calories. It’s proven that we burn more calories when the temperature drops. And more calories burned means not just slimmer, healthier people but also skinnier energy bills too. Turning the thermostat down from, say, 21 to 20 can save you 10%. Go on, do it now and reward yourself with a chocolate biscuit.
Stop the standby
Want another 10% of your electricity bill? Look no further than the walls of your office. When you leave in the evening, turn it off at the plug and prevent electricity seeping out to keep the machine on standby mode. If that sounds like too much hassle, there’s always the Standby Buster. Despite the rather aggressive name, it’s just a handy little gizmo that makes it all easier for you.
Immerse yourself in a car pool
I know one company with about fifty people and at least 40 spaces in their car park. So why not share with someone who drives past your house? It’s not just a chance to save money but to get to know your colleagues better…
A lightbulb moment
Someone had a bright idea that lightbulbs should produce light not heat, so they invented the energy-saving light bulb. A surprising amount of offices (like ours, up until last week) still has a few of the old kind around. Why not replace them today?
Nature’s air con
OK, it gets hot in summer. And it gets cool in winter. But on those in-between days, why not just open the windows? Why condition air when you don’t need to?
Resist the print impulse
It’s almost second nature. File menu>print. Control-P. Apple-P. However you do it, we all do it when we don’t need to. Resist the impulse. Read it on screen. Only print if you really really need to. If we all resist the print impulse once a day, we would save enough paper to save an acre of forest every month. Probably.
Be an advocate
The ideas above seem pretty simple and effective to us. But getting people in your office to do them is often the problem. The solution (in our experience) is not to ask people to do it, but just to do it. If people see others doing it, they want to join in. Far better than preaching (and probably requires less energy, come to think of it…)
There are millions of other tips, but we think these are the ones you can do in the next 24 hours, and the ones that we have tried to take to heart recently. For longer-term tips, there are plenty of other lists out there on the web. Just don’t print them out.
