17 posts tagged “environment”

I can't believe that I missed Blog Action Day! However, I've subscribed for the email alert so that I don't miss it next year. Get yourself signed up too if you've not already.

Here's a little plug for the Vox group I started a while ago, called Practical Environmental.If you are interested in doing your bit for the environment in a practical way, like changing light bulbs or getting a composter, then it is a great place to share your stories.

When we moved into our house, there were two 500W floodlights on the back of the house. These lit up the back garden fantastically but I didn't like the fact that we were using 1kW of energy in doing so. There were some low-energy lights either side of the garage door and one by the front porch, all on the same timer, but compared to the floodlights, this didn't seem to be enough.

So, this weekend we changed the lights. We replaced the lights either side of the garage door and by the porch with new, better-looking lights. We kept these as low-enerby bulbs. I had to some re-wiring in the garage but these now work on the same electric timer, but the wiring now makes sense and use proper junction boxes.

The old porch and garage lights I have cleaned up and re-used to light up the dark passage way at the side of the garage and for a light over the shed. The shed light is on a timer switch and the passage way lights on an external light switch.

As for the floodlights, we replaced the two 500W lights with three 42W low-energy floodlights, reducing the consumption here by 87%. The lights are fantastic and light up the garden very well without the glare. Each light is equivalent to about 200W of conventional lighting. I must admit that I was sceptical that they would be any good, but I'm very impressed. Although we bought them from a B&Q store, you can buy them online from Screwfix Direct.

Here's some photos of my handiwork plus a close-up of the low-energy floodlight:

A fascinating blog/website, worth looking at: These Come from Trees.

Do you have a light that you always forget to turn off? For those rooms that you don't spend lots of time in, consider using a timer switch. I've fitted a few of these and just put one in our utility room.

Heard about this today. Got to have a proper look yet but thought I'd share it straight away: hugg

I wrote a little while ago about a product called OneClick. I bought one of these devices, rummaged around the back of my desk and re-did the plubs and sockets and, hey presto!, the thing does exactly as it says. Turn off the PC and it switches off power to the monitor and a few other things. I'm probably going to get some more of these. There didn't seem to be too much packaging on the product and it turned up quickly so I'd recommend them.

Unfortunately, it looks like these are only available in the UK at the moment though.

For an entertaining and profile-raising approach to the issue of flying, have a look at the Enough's Enough website.

There's been lots of coverage of this story. However, always worth reading the press release from the horse's mouth (its in PDF) or visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website.

I read about the European Commission's website about climate change yesterday. It's not a massive site but does have some practical tips, interesting videos and a few downloads.