Our Greenprints blog collects ideas on how to reduce our ecological footprint. Do you want to share your tips? Simply click on the category you want to post (Energy, Food, Garden, Home, Office or Transport) and post your tip.

Electricity accounts for 50% of energy consumed by Australian households and for 85% of greenhouse emissions.

Posted By: oaatf
Posted On: November 13, 2008

Electricity accounts for 50% of energy consumed by Australian households and for 85% of greenhouse emissions.

This November 23rd – 29th is Zero Footprint Week. An initiative of the One at a Time Foundation, Zero Footprint Week is an umbrella awareness week that invites individuals, families and businesses to take simple steps to reduce their ecological footprint, save money, and help to halt climate change.

Here are three progressive tips from Zero Footprint Week and the World Wildlife Fund Australia (www.wwf.org.au) to help reduce your ecological footprint from energy use.

1. The First Step: Turn off appliances and power ports when not in use
Light bulbs aren’t the only things in your house impacting the environment and running up your energy bill.  Electronic appliances such as computers, DVD players and stereo systems all draw power from an outlet, even when idle.  So before you leave the room, make sure to switch the outlet and appliances off.

Benefit: Switching off appliances set on standby or idle can save 45 kilogrammes of green house gases per appliance and save you up to 10% on you energy bill.

2. The Next Step: Choose Energy Efficient Appliances
Appliances such as clothes dryers, electric water heaters and refrigerators require a large amount of energy to operate.  Selecting the appropriately equipped energy efficient appliance can reduce both your energy bill and your ecological footprint.  For tips on making your next appliance purchase more energy efficient, please visit http://www.energyrating.gov.au/tips.html.

Benefit: Appliances account for up to 40% of a household’s energy use.  As a result, buying energy appliances can save you another 10% on your energy bill.

3. The Big Step: Switch to GreenPower
There are currently over a dozen accredited providers of GreenPower in Australia and switching to one of them can make a huge difference.  Visit www.greenpower.gov.au to find out more about green energy providers. 

Benefit: Choosing an accredited GreenPower provider can reduce your home’s carbon footprint by up to 70%.

To find your environmental footprint and more tips on how you can best improve it, visit the EPA Victoria’s footprint calculator at http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/default.asp.