Tuesday this week was Earth Day. No, I didn’t realise either. Apart from Google adding a turtle and some trees to its logo, Earth Day made about as much of an impact on me as handwriting lessons at school. However, a bit of digging about led to the discovery that we should all have been urging our government to take action against global warming and going to the Green Apple Festival, whilst serving our canapés on biodegradable plates made from leaves (available from Ganesha, if you were wondering). Apparently half a million people in 170 countries celebrate the day, but living in England you wouldn’t know it.
This observation ties in rather nicely with my last blog about green electricity advertising being rather lacking in…well, everything - but especially information. For example, when we buy into a carbon offsetting tariff how do we know someone’s planted a tree for us? Should we ask for a photo and a certificate, like when you adopt a donkey? When I read a few articles about carbon offsetting, I found that it’s a bit of a hazy area. How much CO2 does a specific tree absorb, for example? Vaguely-recalled biology lessons reminded me that during photosynthesis trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it away; but not all trees are created equal (apparently hawthorns are the best at soaking up CO2). Perhaps suppliers could provide a bit of information about the type of tree they’re going to plant for you and how it will help the environment – for most of us the details of offsetting are unclear, so harnessing the power that comes with knowledge could be a fine idea. Perhaps they could provide bi-annual updates on how the tree’s doing; “Spends most of his time with the birds, but seems to absorb rather a lot when he puts his mind to it,” etc.
Much has been made of carbon offsetting schemes as being a way to silence environmental protestors while keeping the status quo. You know how the Sunday after a rather self-indulgent weekend you drink water and eat salads, blissfully unaware that your efforts are useless because the damage has already been done? Well, that’s how some people – Friends of The Earth included – see carbon offsetting. Their website describes it as a smokescreen to ward off legislation, and says it encourages people to continue polluting: “It’s ok for me to fly from Birmingham to London, because I offset last week. While I’m at it, I think I’ll leave the laptop and TV on standby as well…” I can see their point. Offsetting doesn’t actually reverse anything, just tries to redress a balance. But isn’t it something, at least?
Friday, 25 April 2008
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
A quick thought
After logging in this morning and seeing that I’ve had 2 comments (2 comments! Count ‘em!), one issue arising from said comments has been stuck in my head. Rob and Andrea have both picked up on the question of advertising for green electricity.
Basically, we need rather more and it needs to be tailored for different age groups. It’s unlikely that youthful Hoxton types are going to be persuaded by a short film showing a middle-aged home counties couple switching tariffs with surprising ease, and it’s equally improbable that older couples with larger houses and more people to provide power for will be swayed by photos of Agyness Deyn perched next to her wind turbine.
I'm with Andrea – green electricity tariffs were a vague notion in the back of my mind before I took on this challenge (it ranked somewhere between council tax and sub-prime mortgages). Adverts for electricity tend to focus on the money-saving aspects, and they’re also quite boring (the flame family in the British Gas adverts are ok, but they’re not a patch on the Haribo kid or the Cadbury’s gorilla).
I suspect that most of us think green electricity is all wave power and space-age solar panels, and Rob’s point that it needs to be made to seem more accessible is a good one. Who owned an eco-shopper before magazines started giving them away instead of rubbish flip-flops, or before M&S sold them, or before the hoo-hah surrounding the Anya Hindmarch bag? I’d wager not very many of us.
As I said in my last blog, switching to a green tariff is remarkably easy - though perhaps not so easy on the bank account - and the companies need to let the public know this. Granted, I think my dad would ride to work on a penny farthing if he could and contact people only by telegram (well perceived, Rob), but if he would sit down in front of a computer and see how easy it was it’d be a step in the right direction. The same goes for younger people too: we just need better advertising to project green tariffs as a viable option.
Basically, we need rather more and it needs to be tailored for different age groups. It’s unlikely that youthful Hoxton types are going to be persuaded by a short film showing a middle-aged home counties couple switching tariffs with surprising ease, and it’s equally improbable that older couples with larger houses and more people to provide power for will be swayed by photos of Agyness Deyn perched next to her wind turbine.
I'm with Andrea – green electricity tariffs were a vague notion in the back of my mind before I took on this challenge (it ranked somewhere between council tax and sub-prime mortgages). Adverts for electricity tend to focus on the money-saving aspects, and they’re also quite boring (the flame family in the British Gas adverts are ok, but they’re not a patch on the Haribo kid or the Cadbury’s gorilla).
I suspect that most of us think green electricity is all wave power and space-age solar panels, and Rob’s point that it needs to be made to seem more accessible is a good one. Who owned an eco-shopper before magazines started giving them away instead of rubbish flip-flops, or before M&S sold them, or before the hoo-hah surrounding the Anya Hindmarch bag? I’d wager not very many of us.
As I said in my last blog, switching to a green tariff is remarkably easy - though perhaps not so easy on the bank account - and the companies need to let the public know this. Granted, I think my dad would ride to work on a penny farthing if he could and contact people only by telegram (well perceived, Rob), but if he would sit down in front of a computer and see how easy it was it’d be a step in the right direction. The same goes for younger people too: we just need better advertising to project green tariffs as a viable option.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Green Electricity
As my profile states, my mission is to find green changes that suit my lifestyle. Our first assignment is to buy green electricity - obviously, electricity is something I need. A previous family trip to Bradwell Power Station - fuelled by my younger sister's frankly odd love of the place - did little to enhance my knowledge of electricity (my sole recollection is the Bakewell slice I had in the café). What I do know is that because my Dad worked for British Gas for most of my childhood, the Adams family is a loyal BG purchaser. Asking my parents to switch supplier garnered a reaction a bit like I had asked if I could replace their record collection with my iPod: disbelief followed by a staunch 'No'. I suspect this isn't down to the higher price but the rigmarole of switching; previous experiences with changing mobile phone tariffs have obviously made their mark, although I doubt screeches of 'Can I stick diamantes on the handset?' will crop up here.
After a bit of research, I found that British Gas have a green tariff option, so switching wouldn't be that hard. As the desire to avoid hassle is probably what puts people off changing suppliers - I know that my initial response was 'I can't be bothered' - it was surprising to see how easy it would be. The British Gas Zero Carbon plan basically buys carbon emissions for you and offsets everything you consume - so it's 100% green. It also contributes to a green energy fund for schools to reduce their CO2 emissions, all for a bargain extra £7 a month. However, I've never actually paid an electricity bill - at university I was always assigned more mundane tasks like emptying bins - so I was unsure if going Zero Carbon was good or bad.
So I came into work this morning clutching photocopies of our electricity bills with warnings against changing our tariff at my peril ringing in my ears. In a nutshell, changing tariffs would mean a fee for leaving the Price Protection 2010 deal we're currently on, and an average 40% increase in our annual bills. The chap on the phone explained this - as our current deal is the best, changing to any tariff would mean an increase.
On the plus side, it would have been as easy as saying 'I would like to change to Zero Carbon, please.' The only stipulation is that you have to switch your gas tariffs as well: you may as well go the whole hog. Although I doubt that argument will convince my parents to buy green power…maybe I should suggest harnessing Danbury's solar rays - you can get the tiles to match your roof.
After a bit of research, I found that British Gas have a green tariff option, so switching wouldn't be that hard. As the desire to avoid hassle is probably what puts people off changing suppliers - I know that my initial response was 'I can't be bothered' - it was surprising to see how easy it would be. The British Gas Zero Carbon plan basically buys carbon emissions for you and offsets everything you consume - so it's 100% green. It also contributes to a green energy fund for schools to reduce their CO2 emissions, all for a bargain extra £7 a month. However, I've never actually paid an electricity bill - at university I was always assigned more mundane tasks like emptying bins - so I was unsure if going Zero Carbon was good or bad.
So I came into work this morning clutching photocopies of our electricity bills with warnings against changing our tariff at my peril ringing in my ears. In a nutshell, changing tariffs would mean a fee for leaving the Price Protection 2010 deal we're currently on, and an average 40% increase in our annual bills. The chap on the phone explained this - as our current deal is the best, changing to any tariff would mean an increase.
On the plus side, it would have been as easy as saying 'I would like to change to Zero Carbon, please.' The only stipulation is that you have to switch your gas tariffs as well: you may as well go the whole hog. Although I doubt that argument will convince my parents to buy green power…maybe I should suggest harnessing Danbury's solar rays - you can get the tiles to match your roof.
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