(We’re delighted to share with you the first of a series of thought provoking blogs, by our new guest blogger – Rachel Guy.
Rachel is a friend to the business, local resident and is passionate about all things Eco.)
We know how it is. January rolls around, and every year your soul is alight with a righteous passion!
That’s it- I’m cutting carbs! John is going to start running 3 times a week! Jen is going to start yoga! Dave wants to go plastic free…
As I write, I am cosily tucked in the warm complacency of August. The opportunities to change my ways brought by the cold blast of January have come and gone. I might have even waved at them as they passed by, with a knowing jollity that comes from the memory of many other Januaries, and many other fires of good intentions that have, by August, long fizzled out.
The trouble is, whilst we will undoubtedly live to laugh off another Get fit January, our planet might not. At some point the initial passion we feel to change something NEEDS to stick. The changes we make NEED to be for life, and not just for New Year’s.
So, what’s you’re green go-to? What’s the first thing you feel you can change in order to make the world a healthier place? I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like that problems with our planet are too enormous, and my efforts are too insignificant. It can be overwhelming to know what to tackle first.
A recent article in the Energy in Industry magazine suggests that we, as eager but clueless Brits, don’t really know what to do. It talks about how the most popular response is to avoid throwing out food (one I have patted myself on the back for, I must admit). Next comes the wave of boycotting single use plastics in various guises- another important step, without a doubt. However, only 22% of us think that “leaving the light on at home” might be damaging to the environment. How is it that saving energy is so far down on our list of “must tries” when it comes to saving the planet?
Perhaps “leaving the light on” is an unhelpfully trite sounding thing, but when you consider that a massive 51% of our nation’s energy comes from burning fossil fuels (according to energyUK.org), which are finite, non-renewable resources, suddenly, it’s not so trite. The burning of fossil fuels release greenhouse gasses, which trap heat in our atmosphere, making them the number ONE contributor to global warming.
Suddenly, “leaving the light on” seems a whole lot more serious, doesn’t it!
If, like me, you are now feeling the uncomfortable tingle of a pricked conscience, I am here to reassure you- It’s not all doom, gloom, and greenhouse gasses. There’s so much we can do, and so much that is already being done.
In November 2018, the guardian reported that the capacity for renewable energy had overtaken that of fossil fuels for the first time ever- “in a milestone that experts said would have been unthinkable a few years ago”. AND, if that wasn’t enough great news to warm the cockles of your heart, in May, the UK celebrated over 2 weeks without the use of coal power. The world is slowly, but surely, turning its back on fossil fuel, and we can be a very real part of that. Yes YOU!
We, at Eco installer are proud of the part we play in helping people go Eco by choosing renewable energy solutions. Our Heat Pumps are, one by one, changing the world, by making homes across Cambridgeshire greener. Your home could be one less household relying on Fossil Fuels. You could make a change that lasts beyond January; a change that doesn’t just sooth your conscience, and impact the planet, but one that saves you money in the long run too, with cheaper running costs, and the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to benefit your pockets as well.
Unlike the no carbs commitment, you made at the beginning of the year, this change could last a lifetime. Let us do all we can do, together, for our planet.
So, let’s be clear on our Eco priorities. Don’t waste food, by all means. But also SAVE energy. Do something different. Change the world. Go Eco.