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Switch It Off week 2008 - Monday 20 October
with the Big Switch Off on Friday 24 October from 4.30-6.30pm. |
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Last year's campaign has been short-listed in the Energy Institute Awards 2008 in the Communications category and in the National Energy Efficiency Awards 2008 in the Public Sector category.
Did we switch off this year?
This year’s Switch it Off campaign has once again received massive support across Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire with thousands of people joining in with the Big Switch Off, which took place Friday evening between 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Central Networks monitored the Big Switch Off on Friday evening and found a huge dip in the amount of energy used on the Friday evening, when compared to the same evening the previous week. A 22 MegaWatt drop in electricity demand was recorded which is equivalent to 3,192 typical three-bed detached houses turning off all their power for one year.
People are becoming increasingly aware of energy efficiency with energy bills having increased over the last few months. Whilst carrying out the give-aways in Stratford, Nuneaton and Bedworth we had a great opportunity to speak to people, asking them what if anything they Switch off, to our great surprise the majority of people said they all ready switched off lights and items left on standby when not in use so the switch it off message is definitely having an impact on peoples behaviour
The aim of the campaign was to get people thinking about the energy they are wasting in their home by leaving appliances on standby. Videos, set-top boxes, televisions and even the clocks on microwaves are using surprisingly high amounts of power everyday in our homes. The average family spends £400 a year on electricity and up to 25 per cent can be slashed from this by being more energy aware and switching off unused appliances.
According to the Energy Saving Trust nationally, 71 per cent of people regularly leave items on stand by in their homes, and 65 per cent of people leave lights on in rooms they are not using.
The threat of climate change is a real concern in today’s world. Rising temperatures, increased risk of flooding and extreme weather patterns, are just some of the likely effects of climate change.
Carbon dioxide is the main climate change causing gas released into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels. In the UK, the energy we use to heat and power our homes accounts for 27 per cent of our total carbon dioxide emissions and this continues to rise.
This is the third year of the campaign, which began in 2006, and has grown year on year.
Once again Warwickshire County Council co-ordinated the campaign with Coventry City Council, Worcestershire County Council and WEEAC (Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre). The Coventry Evening Telegraph were the main media partner, helping to promote the campaign as widely as possible throughout the county.
Lots of different initiatives were planned - Big Switch Off with giveaways in Nuneaton, Bedworth, and Stratford, Family Challenge, Sustainability Challenge, School Secret Energy Check, Universally Challenged, Council Staff Switch Off, anti-idling campaign, Chamber of Commerce competition, Children's Centres Big Bulb Giveaways etc. |
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| Did we switch off last year? |
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Last year's campaign was a great success and the Big Switch Off was supported by thousands of people across Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire. We asked everyone to switch off items left on stand-by between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday 2nd November and, across the three areas, 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.
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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Lots of other events were arranged as part of Switch It Off, with local schools, businesses, community groups and families taking part. To find out more, check out the Switch It Off results update or click on the navibars on the left hand side. |
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| A measure of the campaign's success is that it came runner-up in Sustainable Development UK Awards 2008 and was shortlisted for the Sustainable Cities Award organised by the City of London. |
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| 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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