How to Save Energy at Home

Decreasing your energy consumption at home not only helps you to save money, but also reduces or minimizes pollution that you get from burnings fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gases. When we talk about less burning of fuels, it also means lowering the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the primary contributor to global warming.

The first step to taking a whole-house energy efficiency approach is to know and find out which parts of your home uses the most energy. You can do this by conducting a simple home energy audit yourself. Alternatively, you can try to contact your local utility for a more comprehensive examination.

Most energy-saving methods are easy to implement and won’t give you a hard time to carry out. To those who are a bit skeptical as to whether this is possible, there is good news. There is now an energy efficient alternative for almost every kind of appliance or light fixture. This simply means that the consumers have a choice and the power to change their energy use on time to time basis.

With that in mind, these quick energy saving tips should get you on the right start towards conserving energy in your home:

1. First, check the insulation levels in your attic. Proper ventilation in your attic means big energy savings, whereas attics that let in too much heat will cost you a bundle in air conditioning costs. Also, check your exteriors, including basement walls, doors, floors, windows, ceilings and crawl spaces, to make sure there are no holes or cracks that might let air leak into or out of your home. Even electric outlets and switches can sometimes be the culprit, and finding them might spell a big difference.

2. Always make sure that your appliances, heating and cooling systems are maintained properly. For example, a refrigerator that has not been defrosted in a while is known to eat up more energy than its better-maintained neighbor.

3. Make sure you know your family’s lighting needs. This means you can use brighter lights where they are needed and dimmer ones where they are sufficient. You really do not need the entire house shining brightly like a hotel every time. Turn off hallway lights if you don’t need them. Alternatively, look for ways to use lighting controls, like the occupancy sensors or dimmers. This can help reduce energy.

4. Replace standard light bulbs—incandescent ones—with the compact or standard fluorescent ones for reducing energy purposes.

Once you get started with these simple ways to save energy on the most basic of household needs, you will become all the wiser in checking for possible loopholes in your quest to conserve power and maintain a budget. Rest assured, you are not alone in your journey, as many households are also only starting to learn the ropes, and it’s never too late to start. Start now and start enjoying tremendous savings, and the knowledge that you are also being friendly to the environment and the generations to come.

The Importance Of Solar Energy Advantages

It has always been obvious that the earth is capable of producing a lot more energy than we think. In fact, most of the fossil fuels are depleting, and some people are worried about where our energy is going to come from when the inevitable happens.

However, there is a way that each of us can get the energy that we need, with little or no trouble. It is called solar energy advantages, and if everyone used it, there would be not need to ever use any other types of resources.

How Does It Work

There are many ways that solar energy advantages can work for you. First of all, the easiest way for you to take advantage of solar energy advantages is to install solar panels on your home. You can easily install these on your roof or put them in when you build a new house.

The only thing that might take a little doing is making sure that the home is wired to understand the solar energy advantages and where it is coming from. You will need to install, as well, a generator that can harness the solar energy advantages and turn it into usable power.

After you have made the installations, you don't need to worry about using your solar energy advantages only when the sun is out. First of all, the panels will catch the energy from the sun, even when it is overcast.

Also, the panels will catch much more energy than you can use in a day, so the energy is converted and stored in the solar energy advantages generator. This means that you can use it on your own, during the night and other very stormy or cloudy days.

One of the best things about using solar energy advantages is that you are doing your part to help out the earth. If everyone was to use solar energy advantages, our dependence on other types of energy would be completely gone and we'd find ourselves in a much cleaner and happier world.

It might be expensive to install solar energy advantages panels and to convert the energy at first, but once you have the system up and running, it means that you no longer have to pay for any of your electricity or even your heat. Imagine not having those bills to pay.

Also, the best thing about using solar energy advantages is that it is excellent for the earth, and if you have enough panels, you will make enough energy to actually sell some back to the electrical companies. Imagine being able to do that!

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle is a complex Earth system whereby carbon dioxide (CO2) is exchanged among four main regions of the planet. In the carbon cycle, CO2 is recycled through the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere and oceans and other waterways in what are called "sinks" or reservoirs.

The carbon cycle is pictured.

In the carbon cycle, land plants and animals are the most widely known respirators of the biosphere. Plants take in CO2 and give off oxygen, while humans and animals do the opposite.
Issues such as deforestation, reforestation, increasing or decreasing human or animal populations affect the carbon cycle that happens upon land.
But, in the carbon cycle, the greatest exchange of CO2 appears between the atmosphere and the oceans and other waterways. Plant life in the oceans, lakes and other waterways use photosynthesis to turn dissolved CO2 into oxygen.
In the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide is taken from the atmosphere in several various methods besides the plant life already mentioned. At the Earth's north and south poles, cold seawater is especially accepting of CO2 making, the substance soluble.
In addition, the thermohaline circulation of the ocean and surface wind currents from the Gulf Stream drive surface water to great depths and distances, circulating soluble CO2 throughout the oceans.
In another part of the cycle, oceanic plant and animal life absorb carbon in hard and soft tissue of the organisms. The weathering of carbon-containing rocks on land that runoff into the streams and oceans also add to the carbon cycle.
But, the most threatening part of the natural carbon cycle are the parts that are not natural at all. The burning of fossil fuels in the transportation industry and electrical generation in coal fired and natural gas fired power plants create an imbalance in the carbon cycle.
Manmade activities such as the burning of fossil fuels over the past 100 or so years have led to increased greenhouse gases that in turned have led to global warming. At least 999 out of 1,000 scientists agree on this fact.
Since it has taken decades for the carbon cycle to become out of balance, because of the release of greenhouse gases, it will also take decades for man to reverse the effects of global warming. This is assuming an earnest effort is made to reverse the effects, which is not a sure thing at this stage.
Using alternative fuels and particularly those created with renewable energy such as solar, wind and water sources will help the carbon cycle to get back in sync. Without these efforts, however, the natural carbon cycle will continue to erode causing serious climate change and geographical disruption.

Estimate of record emissions is stark warning to governments

Latest estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showing that greenhouse gas emissions from world energy generation reached record levels in 2010 are a stark warning to governments to provide strong new progress this year towards global solutions to climate change, UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres said on Monday. 
"This is the inconvenient truth of where human generated greenhouse gas emissions are projected to go without much stronger international action now - and into the future," said the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 
"Governments are meeting next week in Bonn to prepare for the next major international climate conference to be held in Durban at the end of the year. It is clear that they need to push the world further down the right track to avoid dangerous climate change," the UN's top climate change official said. "I won't hear that this is impossible. Governments must make it possible for society, business and science to get this job done," she added. 
The latest IEA estimates published today show that energy-related CO2 emissions in 2010 were at their highest level in history, following a brief dip in 2009 due to the economic impacts of the global financial crisis. 
The Paris-based organization also estimated that 80% of all projected 2020 greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector are already locked into the global system of power generation by plants that already exist or are under construction. 
Dr. Fatih Birol, Chief Economist at the IEA who oversees the annual World Energy Outlook, today called the latest estimates a "wake-up call" for the international community. 
"The world has edged incredibly close to the level of emissions that should not be reached until 2020 if the 2ºC target is to be attained," he said. 
"Given the shrinking room for manoeuvre in 2020, unless bold and decisive decisions are made very soon, it will be extremely challenging to succeed in achieving this global goal agreed [at the UN climate change conference] in Cancun," he added. 
Alluding to the upcoming round of UN climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany (6 - 17 June), UNFCCC Executive Secretary Ms. Figueres said: 
"No nation will solve climate change alone. And no nation is alone in feeling its impacts. We're only a few days away now from the mid-year climate negotiations and governments need to pick up speed." 
In Cancun, governments launched the most comprehensive package ever agreed to help developing nations deal with climate change, including a set of new international institutions to deliver that support. 
They also agreed a major effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but left open the question of how to raise their collective level of ambition to keep the global temperature rise at least below two degrees. 
Ms Figueres said that, in Durban, governments will have two main challenges that they have agreed to resolve: 
First, to strengthen the international conditions that will allow nations to work together to make deeper global emission cuts. This includes the question of deciding the future of the Kyoto Protocol. 
Second, to agree on the effective designs of the new climate institutions that will provide adequate and efficient climate support to developing countries. This includes the Green Climate Fund, Technology Mechanism and establishing the Adaptation Committee. 
"In the wider world, I see two very encouraging trends," said Ms Figueres. "Countries, including the biggest economies, are moving forward with new 
policies that promote low-carbon prosperous growth, even if they don't always attach climate labels to these policies. And the private sector continues to increase its investment in low-carbon business and renewable energy and wants to do more." 
"In Durban at the end of the year, governments need to take the new steps that will drive both these trends forward and much faster," she said. 
"The meeting in Bonn is a major opportunity to prepare these essential steps," she added.
ENDS

Tropical Forests -- Earth's Air Conditioner

Planting and protecting trees--which trap and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow--can help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But a new study suggests that, as a way to fight global warming, the effectiveness of this strategy depends heavily on where these trees are planted. In particular, tropical forests are very efficient at keeping the Earth at a happy, healthy temperature.

The researchers, including Ken Caldeira of Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology and Govindasamy Bala at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, found that because tropical forests store large amounts of carbon and produce reflective clouds, they are especially good at cooling the planet. In contrast, forests in snowy areas can warm the Earth, because their dark canopy absorbs sunlight that would otherwise be reflected back to space by a bright white covering of snow.

The work simulates the effects of large-scale deforestation, and accounts for the positive and negative climate effects of tree cover at different latitudes. The result, which appears in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, makes a strong case for protecting and restoring tropical forests.

"Tropical forests are like Earth's air conditioner," Caldeira said. "When it comes to rehabilitating forests to fight global warming, carbon dioxide might be only half of the story; we also have to account for whether they help to reflect sunlight by producing clouds, or help to absorb it by shading snowy tundra."

Forests in colder, sub-polar latitudes evaporate less water and are less effective at producing clouds. As a result, the main climate effect of these forests is to increase the absorption of sunlight, which can overwhelm the cooling effect of carbon storage.

However, Caldeira believes it would be counterproductive to cut down forests in snowy areas, even if it could help to combat global warming. "A primary reason we are trying to slow global warming is to protect nature," he explains. "It just makes no sense to destroy natural ecosystems in the name of saving natural ecosystems."

eight things you can do to make our planet cleaner and greener

1. Turn off the darn lights! You've heard your Mother say it and you've heard your father say it. Now we are telling you too. Turn off lights and other appliances when you leave a room. Don't leave the refrigerator door open. Don't run hot water with no one in the shower and turn the thermostat up or down a couple of degrees depending on the season to save power.
Electricity comes at a high Global Warming cost. If we use less juice we create fewer carbon emissions to create that power. Plus your parents will save plenty on their energy bill.


2. Save cans, bottles and paper.It is far less expensive to make new products from old ones. Aluminum cans are a perfect example. It takes only 10% as much power to melt down old aluminum cans to make a new one as it does to mine and refine Bauxite into fresh aluminum. Some plastic bottles can be melted down to make new plastic and even the ones that can't can be ground up and used as raw materials for other products. Refined petroleum based oils in products like Jelly Bracelets and Shoes can be squeezed out and used to make… Guess what? More Shoes! Paper products are the easiest of all to recycle. Old newspapers and school paper are 100% recyclable. You can directly recycle too simply by folding up cardboard boxes until the next time you need one and reusing them.


3. Piggyback a rideDon't wait until your parents have already been out and back to tell them you need a ride somewhere. Plan your travels so as to save gas by consolidating family trips. Find out where your parents will be going and coordinate the place you want to be with their destinations. Of course you may need some dark glasses for days when your Mom is going to the mall the same time you are. But the greenhouse gases your family car creates can be cut in half with a little planning. Also have your parents pick up friends along the way to places like the movies so that their parents won't need to make a separate trip.


4. Donate your outgrown clothes.Like most kids you are constantly growing. You clothes don't grow with you and usually don't wear out before you are too big for them. Sure your little brother or sister may not want to wear your icky clothes. But there are people in your home town and around the world that need clothing and shoes desperately. Handing down clothes to a younger relative is direct recycling, the most efficient kind of sustainability there is. Don't leave clothes you no longer wear hanging in your closet for years. Bring them to agencies that will give them to people without.
There are programs like Soles 4 Souls that give your gently worn shoes to children all around the world who have none.





Click here to go to Soles4Souls.org


5. Walk, Bike and Ride the busFor short trips there is one means of transportation that never seems to grow old. This of course is walking. In fact people have been using their feet to get around for at least a million years (Homo Erectus). True our great great great great great great great great great great great ancestors didn't have to get to the Cineplex before the price increase at 4PM, but we don't have to look out for Saber Toothed Tigers.
There are over a billion bicycles in the world. That is twice as many bikes as there are cars. Obviously this machine, first invented over 150 years ago, is a great way to get around. Wear a helmet and use the buddy system. You can safely travel anywhere you want without using a drop of gasoline. Plus the exercise from cycling is a low impact high aerobic workout. You can stay fit and get to wherever you want.
Sometimes the places we want to go are just too far to walk or ride a bike. Most towns and cities have bus routes and bus passes available at great prices for kids.





6. Plant a tree, or two or threeEvery 6 seconds the Earth loses an acre of rainforest. Trees play an essential role in climate. They extract ground water through their roots and evaporate that water into the atmosphere through their leaves. Without the precipitation created by trees areas of major deforestation are prone to drought. This is how rainforests become deserts.

How can the one, two or three trees you plant help? Eventually that tree will grow tall enough to provide shade. The air conditioner in your house won't have to run as much. Your little tree will also draw Carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen. One tree can consume 48 pounds of CO2 per year and create enough oxygen to support two people. Plus your little city tree reduces fossil fuel consumption enough to save 15 trees in the forest.





7. Refill and reuseOn a cold day there is nothing that can make you feel as warm and comfy as some hot soup. You don't need to nuke a container of soup in a microwave to get some. Pack your lunch with a thermos and fill it with hot soup or beverages in cold weather and ice cold drinks in summer. Pack your sandwiches and snacks in resealable plastic containers that get washed and reused. Refilling and reusing is direct recycling, the most efficient way to save the Earth's resources.


8. Read a book!Not just any book, try reading an eBook. EBooks are inexpensive and don't require the sacrifice of a tree to make them. You will find all your favorite books, magazines and newspapers are available online and many of them are free. Visit the openlibrary.org and you will be amazed at all the wonderful books there are for you to read that are absolutely free. It won't use any gas to get there and as with all libraries once you start reading you are free to travel the world.

Global Warming May Increase the Capacity of Trees to Store Carbon

One helpful action anyone can take in response to global warming is to plant trees and preserve forests. Trees and plants capture carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, thereby removing the most abundant greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and storing some of it in their woody tissue.

The paper summarizes the results of a 7-year study at Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts, in which a section of the forest (about one-quarter of an acre) was artificially warmed about 9^oF above ambient, to simulate the amount of climate warming that might be observed by the end of the century without aggressive actions to control greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation.Yet global warming may affect the capacity of trees to store carbon by altering forest nitrogen cycling, concludes a study led by Jerry Melillo of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study confirmed, as others have, that a warmer climate causes more rapid decomposition of the organic matter in soil, leading to an increase in carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere.

But the study also showed, for the first time in a field experiment, that warmer temperatures stimulate the gain of carbon stored in trees as woody tissue, partially offsetting the soil carbon loss to the atmosphere. The carbon gains in trees, the scientists found, is due to more nitrogen being made available to the trees with warmer soil.

"Tree growth in many of the forests in the United States is limited by the lack of nitrogen," Melillo says. "We found that warming causes nitrogen compounds locked up in soil organic matter to be released as inorganic forms of nitrogen such as ammonium, a common form of nitrogen found in garden fertilizer. When trees take up this inorganic nitrogen, they grow faster and store more carbon."

Melillo says that the biological processes that link soil warming, increased soil organic matter decay, increased nitrogen availability to trees, and increased tree growth will likely operate together in many temperate and boreal forests -- forests found in North America, Europe, Eurasia and much of the developed world. Tree growth in tropical forests is often limited by factors other than nitrogen, so lessons from this new study are not widely relevant in the tropics.

While Melillo thinks that the carbon-nitrogen interactions he is studying at Harvard Forest will help us to make predictions of carbon storage in forest over the coming decades, he adds that "the carbon balance of forest ecosystems in a changing climate will also depend on other factors that will change over the century, such as water availability, the effects of increased temperature on both plant photosynthesis and aboveground plant respiration, and the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide."

No place to land:

Observed in over 50 countries on 14-15 May, World Migratory Bird Day 2011 looks at “Land use changes from a bird’s-eye view”

Bonn/Nairobi 12 May 2011 -

On their epic journeys, often spanning thousands of kilometres, migratory birds cross many borders, linking different countries as well as ecosystems. The annual migration of an estimated 50 billion birds representing around 19 per cent of the world's 10,000 bird species is one of nature's great natural wonders. Yet each year, more and more of the natural habitats migratory birds need to complete their journeys either diminish or disappear completely.

The theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2011, celebrated around the world on 14-15 May, is ' Land use changes from a bird’s-eye view ' and it highlights the negative effects human activities are having on migratory birds, their habitats and the planet’s natural environment. The loss, fragmentation and degradation of natural bird habitats is occurring globally and is mainly caused by the pressures resulting from a growing human population, rapid urbanization and unsustainable human use of natural areas.

“Although migratory birds face many serious threats, the way humans use the land around them has by far the greatest negative effect. Unsustainable human land use, whether through deforestation, intensive agriculture, biofuel production, land reclamation, urbanization and mining directly removes or damages the habitats of migratory birds, affecting their populations on a global scale”, said Bert Lenten, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and initiator of the World Migratory Bird Day campaign.

World Migratory Bird Day is being organized by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) - two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). BirdLife International, Wetlands International and the Secretariat of the Partnership for the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAFP) are also main partners of the global campaign.

“As the two intergovernmental treaties dedicated to the conservation of migratory animals, including migratory birds at global and flyway scale, the Convention on Migratory Species and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement have launched World Migratory Bird Day to make people aware of the threats migratory birds face along their migration routes”, said Bert Lenten.

CMS and AEWA bring together governments and other stakeholders to coordinate and further develop global flyways policy, to ensure that all flyways in the world benefit from some kind of coordination mechanism that promotes cooperation at ground level among the countries involved. This includes working towards establishing a viable network of sites which can be used by migratory birds to breed, rest and refuel during their migration.

Dr. Marco Lambertini, BirdLife International’s Chief Executive said: ‘Land-use change poses an immediate and increasing threat to the world’s migratory birds. Habitats vital to these species on their incredible journeys are being destroyed or degraded at an alarming rate and the bird’s-eye view is becoming bleaker. The BirdLife Partnership, with over 110 conservation organizations along the world’s flyways, is working across borders to help stem this tide and achieve the effective joined-up conservation needed to make a difference for these inspiring birds.’

Initiated in 2006, World Migratory Bird Day is an annual campaign backed by the United Nations and is devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting their conservation worldwide.

Events for WMBD 2011 in over 50 countries will include bird festivals, education programmes, presentations, film screenings and birdwatching trips, run by hundreds of volunteers, dedicated groups and organizations around the world.

Earth Hour action plan for Governments

To make Earth Hour successful in every city, we ask the local governments and leaders to commit to the following:

1. Switch off the lights in your state's CM's House and/or State Capitol Building at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2012.
2. Encourage major landmarks within the state to join the CM's House and/or State Capitol Building in "going dark" during Earth Hour.
3. Join our WWF state teams and collectively host public events, such as a press conference, launch event, Earth Hour rally, and/or Earth Hour VIP viewing to generate awareness and media coverage.
4. Reach out to the business community, the faith community, municipal and civic organizations, the media and other entities to create public awareness and support for Earth Hour. Encourage leaders within these respective groups to raise awareness about Earth Hour.
5. Encourage citizens to participate in Earth Hour in their homes and businesses.

 Go beyond the hour

The Government of India has a range of policies and programmes in development to aid ecologically sound growth.  As individuals and businesses increasingly take an active interest in understanding and taking action on climate change it is important that government a) continues to take tangible action as broader policies and programmes develop and b) engages and communicates with business and citizen stakeholders in an open manner. 

In the past Government organisations have successfully taken action during Earth Hour – this year governmental bodies can use Earth Hour + as a spring board to rejuvenate interaction and communication with citizens and promote leadership on environmental solutions.     

Policies and Programs:

• Augment policies supporting energy efficiency at a household level including expansion of product labelling schemes (moving more products into mandatory category).  Policy introduction needs to be supported by robust awareness campaigns that engage the wider public.
• Work is being undertaken to develop a set of sustainable procurement guidelines for Government. Where possible government departments can begin to take action by amending procurement policies to ensure purchase of star rated appliances where possible.
• Create a channel for clear communication of action and implementation of all National Action Plan on Climate Change Missions, most likely in the form of a website – perhaps linking from the PMO website.
• Build a set of guidelines for internal climate change action that can be scaled and applied to central ministries as well as municipal government.  This will include easy to implement measures such as behaviour change (switching off lights, turning off appliances at the wall) as well as more systematic changes (upgrading washrooms, installing more energy efficient appliances)
• Mandate energy audits at all Government and municipal buildings, with follow up action plans as part of the deliverable.

Communication and Interaction:

• Create a central repository (or portal) for government departments to be able to access information, tool and tips for energy efficiency and ‘green activities’
• Build a network of municipal councils (and perhaps state level governments) that share information and build capacity on relevant climate policies and programs
• Communicate activities clearly to the wider community (stakeholders) to encourage and inspire action, this can be done through websites, effective networks with NGOs and other public groups.  This also provides a mechanism for stakeholders to suggest action eg. Improved walkways, cycle safety, and increased numbers of buses.
• Encourage municipal governments to set climate targets and work towards them accordingly.  Targets should be around waste, transport and energy sources, which will all enable savings as well as better quality of life and cost savings.

Additional Points:

• Switch to LED table lamp while studying (in individual energy section)
• Switch to Laptop from desktops (in individual energy section)
• Switch off ignition of cars in traffic red lights when its more than 30 seconds as per Car Manufacturer guidance (in Transport section)
• Drive car at speed of 40-50 kmph as per PCRA to save fuel (in Transport section)
• Rainwater Harvesting systems wherever possible (under water section)
• Reduce unnecessary printing of papers and usage of formats
• Request for e-statement for your mobile bills, electricity bills, etc.
• Pass on used textbooks/books to juniors to avoid printing of a whole new book.
• Wherever possible take lunch/dinner together with your  family and avoid unnecessary usage of microwave oven
• Switch to front load washing machines than top up washing machines, it saves both water and energy.
• Use bright colour paints in home, it reduce the requirement of light.
• Wherever possible, promote community compost for organic waste which will reduce the methane emission
• Wherever possible, use kitchen grey water for gardens since it reduces the fresh water load and also contain manure property.
• Energy bill comes from your washer and your dryer, because these two appliances use quite a bit of energy. A dryer with a moisture sensor will help you to reduce your carbon footprint. Alternatively, dry clothes the old-fashioned way on a line;
• Add double layer glass else double pane windows to reduce energy consumption at both extreme weather conditions i.e. summer and winter;
• Go for local produced and unpackaged goods wherever possible;

Earth Hour action plan for Businesses and Corporates

The link between the environment, sustainability, business, economy and lifestyles is no longer an issue that can be ignored. Businesses today need to work in a sustainable manner to find real solutions to our environmental problems. It is time that businesses become accountable for their actions and responsible in their business practices, while still being profitable.

Here’s how your business can participate in Earth Hour!

Switch Off on 26 March 2012

1. Turn out the lights in your buildings, facilities and signage for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday, 26 March 2012 and encourage participation at every level in your organization. Communicate Earth Hour to all staff using email, newsletters, posters, intranet, SMS, website, staff associations and committees. Encourage staff, colleagues and their families to commit to ongoing positive actions for the environment both in the workplace and at home.
2. Communicate Earth Hour to your other offices nationally and globally. Encourage organisation-wide participation in Earth Hour as well as a commitment to actions beyond the hour that reduce your organisation's ecological footprint.
3. Communicate Earth Hour to your partners and clients. Share information about what your organization is doing to reduce its environmental impact with partners and clients, and urge them to consider what they can do.
4. Communicate Earth Hour to customers: Encourage them to take part in Earth Hour 2012 at 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March and commit to an ongoing action that benefits the planet.
   • Include a link to the Earth Hour website from your homepage or host an Earth Hour banner on your homepage.
   • Include Earth Hour in any email or SMS bulletins you send to customers.
   • Include Earth Hour messages on bills/statements/catalogues/other printed material you send to customers.
   • Promote your commitment to Earth Hour in stores, branches, foyers, terminals, stadiums, shopping centres by putting up Earth Hour posters.
   • Run joint promotions in the lead-up to Earth Hour.
   • Are there other ways you can spread the Earth Hour message through your facilities, services, products and channel?
5. Communicate Earth Hour to the general public using your advertising, PR and other channels: Support Earth Hour by donating advertising space or by running your own Earth Hour advertising product in the two-week lead-up to 26 March. Modify existing Earth Hour advertising product - print, radio, TV, outdoor and online advertising - to include your brand and specific Earth Hour message. Or create new product. Earth Hour can supply existing artwork for modification and logos.

 Go beyond the hour

Given the wide sphere of influence of business there is a significant opportunity for these organisations to work in a sustainable manner and help drive real solutions to our environmental problems.

Here are some ways businesses can contribute towards reducing their impact on the environment:

1. Begin to understand and map your carbon emissions and energy footprint, you don’t have to do everything in one go – but it is good to know where you are starting from and map out a plan of action.  There is a well used saying: ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’ – so look to use that as your starting point for action.
2. Manage down the emissions that are easiest by making small changes in your organisation that will make high impact energy efficiency gains
3. Take broader action to influence suppliers and get involved in making wider changes to your polices and practice that will influence a broad set of stakeholders

Plan and Measure:

• Map your organisation’s energy usage, get an energy audit done
• Map your organisation’s carbon footprint (this includes factors such as waste and travel)
• Everything doesn’t have to be done in one go.  Create a road map of actions and activities for your organisation to take, starting with easier to implement activities, moving to more broader change within your organisation and the way it projects itself to suppliers, vendors and other stakeholders 

Manage:

• Based on the your Carbon Footprint and Energy Audit begin to take action, focusing on doing simple activities first:
  • Switch off lights in the office, reduce paper wastage and encourage double sided printing, avoid use of stand by options for electronic equipment like computers, printers, fax machines and copiers during non business hours.
  • Replace appliances in the office with Star Rated appliances; shift from Desk tops to laptops – which are far more energy efficient.  100 desktops replaced by laptops will reduce your annual CO2 emissions by 20500-27900 kg!
  • Upgrade lighting fixtures by installing CFLs and LEDs and save upto 70% electricity
  • Ensure timely maintenance of buildings to ensure faulty taps and leaks are fixed quickly – a lot of energy is used in cleaning and pumping water to buildings
  • Where possible, encourage staff to take alternative transport measures rather than drive by themselves to work each day. Eg. Establishing a page on your intranet dedicated to carpooling, or encourage flexible work practices
• Many organisations will have initiated change within their offices and can start to look at wider opportunities:
  • Harness the ideas and interest of your staff by developing a network of team members interested in Green Initiatives, you will be surprised at the level of interest and some of the amazing ideas your people come up with.
  • Implement smart building systems to help with energy and lighting management in offices eg. Install lighting occupancy sensors that automatically turn off lights when rooms are unoccupied.
  • Learn about Green Ratings for buildings and consider as an option for any planned office move.  The Green Building Council of India provides a handy definition “A green building is one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building." Why not visit their website for more ways to get involved in the Green Building Movement?
  • Build lasting relationships with smaller or related organisations to share your approach to reducing emissions and increasing energy efficiency
• As your organisation increasingly embeds sustainability and climate change practices, there will be an opportunity to be identified as a leader and influence the actions of suppliers and vendors:
  • Map your supply chain CO2 emissions and assess the reduction measures you can implement – taking into account both internal and external practices.  Begin to communicate with suppliers and vendors your vision for more climate friendly services and products and encourage them to take action
  • Think about the products you produce and build in efficiencies that reduce environmental impact in the manufacture and use of the product - this will become increasingly important if you supply to government as they work to establish sustainable procurement guidelines.  Where possible reduce emissions produced through transportation of products by manufacturing locally
  • Join networks to reinforce and build on leadership, such as the Climate Savers Initiative – there are leading companies that have over the past decade, with the help of WWF, reduced emissions by 50 Million tonnes