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| News Flash! Switch It Off runner up in the SDUK Awards |
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| The Switch It Off campaign has come runner-up in a major national awards ceremony. The runners up award was awarded by Government Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, at the Sustainable Development UK Awards in London. The campaign was also shortlisted for the Sustainable Cities Award organised by the City of London. |
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| Warwickshire Switched Off on Friday 2nd Nov! |
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A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Big Switch Off, when we asked everyone to switch off items left on stand-by between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday 2nd November. Across Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire we achieved a reduction of 74 mega Watts (MW) of electricity, as monitored by Central Networks. This is the same as switching off over 1.2 million 60 watt light bulbs for an hour. Or boiling 269,090 kettles of water. Or switching off the electricity in over 15000 three-bed detached houses for a year.
Lots of other events have also been taking place as part of Switch It Off, with local schools, businesses, community groups and families taking part. To find out more about what has been happening, check out the Switch It Off results update or click on the navibars on the left hand side. |
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| Pam Reason from Bishops Itchington won a Wattson device in the Family Challenge, where local families were encouraged to live with an Electrisave meter for a fortnight to find out how much energy they use in the home. |
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Mrs J Medlock from Whitley shared her experience with readers of the Warwickshire Evening Telegraph (13/11/07):
"I decided to do my bit and turn off all electrics, stand-by buttons, etc for two hours, as requested. Sitting here by candlelight took me back to 1950. I was just 20 years old and married. We couldn't afford to buy a house and didn't want to live with parents or in-laws. We managed to buy an old army hut miles away from the main road - cheap. We had no gas or electric and water only if the farmer was not milking. Our toilet was a bucket outside. Our light and cooking was done by paraffin. Those days were our happiest ever. The two hours have passed so quickly. I've written this letter, done my crossword and entertained one of my sons. All by candlelight. Where there is a will there is a way, they say." |
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| Background to the Campaign |
Switch it Off is an energy saving campaign covering Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, designed to show the electrical savings that can be achieved when a lot of people turn off unwanted lights and electrical appliances left on standby.
Last year, from Monday 30th October to Friday 3rd November 2006, we encouraged people in their homes, factories, schools and offices, to turn off all unnecessary lighting and electrical appliances. The week culminated in 'Switch Off' day on Friday 3rd November, when Central Networks monitored the region's electricity use between 4:30pm and 6:30pm – the period when we use most electricity every day. |
Last year's campaign was a great success, with a reduction of 64MW electricity consumption noted for the whole of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Coventry during Switch Off day. On Friday, between the hours of 4:30-6:30pm, the range in peak consumption (ie. the ‘height’ of the peak) was as low as it was the previous Sunday, when less people are working, etc.
If this could be achieved every night with people simply turning off what they don't need, it would reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5,000 tonnes a year and reduce electricity bills by almost £1.2 million. This figure is based simply on the people who took part in the SIO campaign, estimated at about 5% of the total number of households across Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Coventry.
If everyone across the three regions had joined in, ie. 550,000 households with a total population of 1.5 million people, an estimated £23 M a year could be saved.
To read the full results of the 2006 campaign, please click on the Switch It Off campaign report.
The Switch it Off pages provide links for schools, offices and homes, so you can look at specific ideas to help you make your contribution to the 'switch off ' campaign. Use the navibar on the left hand side to navigate your way through the different pages. |
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