Tip of the Month

June 2008

How often do you leave your computer on while it’s not in use? Using the power management features on your computer saves energy, saves CO2 emissions (up to half a tonne of CO2 annually) and saves money. It will also extend the life of your computer and/or laptop battery.

In Control Panel, select Power Options or Energy Saver and select to turn off the monitor after 10 minutes. The monitor uses half the energy used by a computer and this will automatically switch off the monitor after 10 minutes of no activity. Select System Standby or Sleep for 30 minutes. This turns the monitor, hard drive, video and sound cards and almost everything else off, and saves it in the RAM. Everything comes back on when you touch a key or mouse. The only drawback with this option is that if there is a power cut you will lose unsaved data. System Hibernate is similar, but the information is stored in the hard drive and not the RAM.

Other tips:

  • Use a laptop instead of a desktop as they use less energy
  • Turn down brightness setting on monitor
  • Turn off printers, scanners etc. when not in use
  • Don’t use a screen saver.


April 2008

Join in the Kinsale & District Community Powerdown. Save money on your fuels bills and be in a chance to win some great prizes while reducing your Carbon Footprint. For more information or to sign on as an individual or as a business email:

info@transitiontownkinsale.org or call/text 087 2894077.

Achieve any 12 targets (see the Energy Forum page on this website) and you will be entered into a draw.


January 2008

There are two categories of people in the world: those that defecate into drinking water and those that don’t. We in the developed world belong to the former, since we defecate into water that is treated to drinking standard (don’t mention fluoridisation – that’s another discussion) and then we flush it away. Each flush uses between 6 and 9 litres of water, depending on the cistern size, and of all the treated water that we use in the home about 33% goes down the loo. Only 5% is actually used for drinking.

Unlike many European countries, water treatment, which costs money and uses resources, is a free service in Ireland. This can make us complacent about the amount of water we use. We waste it by running taps unnecessarily, taking baths when we could shower and by the average person using 27 litres daily to flush away their waste. Even if you have your own well, it takes energy to pump it out of the ground.

One simple tip to save water is to place a filled plastic litre bottle into the toilet cistern thereby reducing the flush by one litre. Don’t worry, it will flush just as effectively. If everyone in Kinsale did this, it would save 10,157 litres of water a day, 3,707,123 litres a year!


November 2007

Here are some ideas on how to make this festive season a little bit more sustainable without losing the sense of celebration. Remember, sustainability is really about how we use energy. And we’re not just talking about fuel and electricity. If you are overindulgent and expend too much energy during one night’s partying, you won’t have as much for the next one. It ain’t rocket science!

So without being too abstemious:

  • Give presents that won’t end up in landfill. Consider things like concert tickets, beauty/health treatments, food or drink (preferably locally produced). Give gifts made from recycled materials, from hemp, solar-powered toys, cool wind-up gadgets and rechargeable batteries. What about making your own presents?
  • Use wrapping paper that can be composted or is already recycled. Be imaginative with string and natural raffia. Avoid shiny metallic paper and sticky tape that cannot be recycled.
  • Consider sending e-cards instead of traditional cards.
  • Shop for festive food that is local, seasonal and preferably organic. Check out the local market. Choose produce with as little packaging as possible.
  • With all the extra lighting and appliances that will be used, don’t forget to turn them off when not in use. Why not invest in some solar powered light strings?
  • When buying a Christmas tree, buy from a sustainable source. Check with your dealer. Don’t buy an artificial tree which has a life-span of about six years, has more embodied energy and CO2 emissions than a real tree as it is probably made in China and will end up in landfill.
  • Buy a tree with roots that can be replanted or make sure you recycle a chopped one at the end of the season. When buying or picking holly, remember that it is the female plant that produces the berries and because most of us want holly with berries, we might be contributing to the depletion of the species. Consider buying a holly tree as a present and bingo, you have your own sustainable annual supply.
  • Unwanted presents may be highly desired by someone else, so take them to a charity shop or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleCork/ where you might find a happy home for your unwanted gift.
  • Cook sustainably by keeping lids on saucepans to keep the heat in and cook things faster. Compost vegetable peelings.
  • Use candles made from beeswax, soy or are natural vegetable-based. These are smoke-free and biodegradable. Most candles today are made from paraffin, derived from oil and aren’t so good for your health or the environment.
  • When throwing that party avoid plastic disposable plates and cutlery. Use real ones instead or if you don’t have enough and must buy some, get compostable ones made from paper and cutlery made from wood. Musgraves Cash and Carry have a good selection.

Happy Christmas/Solstice/Yule/Alban Arthuan/Shabe-Yalda/the Long Night/Lanaea!


September

With the Kinsale Gourmet Festival just around the corner our thoughts are drawn to ‘food miles’. It almost sounds like the nickname of a certain Mr. Cattell, overseer of the Farmers’ Market. But no, it is the distance our food travels from farm to fork and by implication the amount of fossil fuel used and CO2 emitted in the process. Think apples from New Zealand, beans from Kenya and beef from Brazil. Do we really need to have our food flown in from the farthest reaches of the planet when we can grow most of what we need far closer to home? Ireland exports 40,000 tonnes of poultry annually and since 2002 has been importing in excess of 50,000 tonnes of poultry. Surely there is a twisted logic at work here.

According to the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan, ‘over 90% of the food consumed within Kinsale comes from outside the area.’ And the further our food has to travel the more processing and packaging is required to keep it fresh, and all this contributes to an increase in energy consumption. Locally produced food on the other hand, does not have to travel very far and therefore uses less fossil fuel, causing fewer emissions. And in the case of fruit and vegetables it will probably be require less packaging and processing.

If we are to realistically create a resilient food economy in Kinsale we need to be growing 90% of our food here and not transporting it from miles away. This clearly can’t be done over night. The excellent Farmers’ Market is a good start and TTK are currently looking into the possibility of setting up some allotments gardens where residents can grow food. But ideally what we really need is for a number of local farmers to convert to market gardening. Until then, we can all start to grow some of our own. It’s local, sustainable, healthy, satisfying and tastes so much better than what you buy in the shops.


August

We all know we should be changing our light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, but how many of us have actually gone around the house, counted the number of lights we use, nipped down to the shop to purchase the correct number and replaced all the old ones?

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) save energy, money and the environment. The problem with ordinary light bulbs is they convert energy into heat and not light. Any appliance that converts energy to heat uses a lot of electricity, so think kettles, immersion heaters, tumble dryers, bar heaters, electric cookers etc.

CFLs work by passing the electric current through gas in a tube and causing it to glow, so no energy is wasted by heating. They can last up to ten times longer than ordinary light bulbs, use about 20% of the electricity and can save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases. Good for you, good for the planet.