Sunday 26 October 2008

She's electric

Let's start from myself, and be honest!!
So, do I waste energy? Do I consider myself an eco friendly person? Am I aware of the issues? Why?

1. Unfortunately yes, it happens to me to waste energy. Sometimes I leave my mobile plugged to the wall for the whole night, or leave the light on in the bathroom especially once I am out. I do own appliances which are on standby. My showers quite often are over 5 minutes.
2. Yes I consider myself an eco friendly person, like the idea of not wasting and would like the information about those issues to be out there in the tube on the street as a single mother I sometimes do not have enough time to search for them online or read serious article in a newspaper. And I find news really depressing.
3. Why do I waste energy? And was I wasting energy also when living outside the UK?
In many cases it is a TIME ISSUE. I live life which is hard to slow down, and there are moments when being on time is more important than energy efficiency at my place. However if I stop and think twice there is no question what is REALLY MORE IMPORTANT.

LIGHT LEFT ON.
The thing which annoys me to bits is my bathroom light which remains switched on on couple of occasions. The thing is that the bathroom doors are quite well fitted and I cannot see if I have forgotten to swath the light off. So if I had done it completely unconsciously it may be left out there for a while. What would help me is a reminder by the bathroom door and also by my computer when I am most often during the day. Also I would probably need to have one on my front door, to bring a thought about this light once I am leaving the flat.

A STANDBY ISSUE.
Yes there is quite a few appliances using stand by option in my home. Remote controls do not really do their job so to really switch of the TV I need to unplug it by the wall. Which I mostly do. However my nightmare is my microwave which is on standby all day as it is plugged into the board which contains plugs for other appliances. There is quite a few of them there and I do not unplug it as I may switch off a fridge/freezer by mistake and loose all my food by mistake. What would help me is a way of differing my cables which are on the same board, so I won't make mistake.

BATH&SHOWERS.
I am really trying to indulge myself in other ways and a while ago I reduced my bath and shower times but longer showers do happen at my place. I find it both relaxing and a good thinking time for me. What would help me is an information of how much energy a month I may use within a safety zone. Once I know that I am able to sort out most important issues for me on a monthly basis. Also using a clock or a beeper would be helpful to reduce my bath time.

TRANSPORT. I do use public transport but I very often find it a hard experience. In most of the tube station I use, which in most cases would be Northern Line there is a lot of stairs which doesn't make things easier once you hold a pram. Cycling with your little one in a back of your bike is scary. But as I do not have a car I am not contributing in that respect to CO2 emissions. What would help me is safer London, and better infrastructure for bikers, who want to travel with children. I would also like to see the center of London restricted to public transport only which would make using for example bus travel more efficient and reliable. I find OYSTER CARD system helpful as it helps me as a Londoner save money on public transport.

ANOTHER COUNTRY. I was born in Poland and lived there for 25 years before I came to the UK. I came from an intelligent family with my both parents leading a busy professional lifestyle. I have a younger brother and would say that I was raised in quite a modern home. Although throughout my life the eco issues were always important they have always been connected to money. Once studying I got through hard financial moments and as many students was quite vulnerable on that respect, as there was very high unemployment then back home. Nevertheless I was using my energy more cautiously then now, as I simply couldn't afford a high energy bill. From that point of view change of my personal circumstances had an effect of treating those issues on every day basis. What would help me is a reminder which I would like to be visible, fun and nice. I guess that I like designer's products, so from my reminder I would expect to bring in a good visual impact to my home as much as do it's job.

1 comment:

Ritika Gupta said...

I really like this post. I've been thinking about energy conservation and how much I consume and waste. The pink dot idea is awesome! It's such a brilliant idea to use personal examples and use it in the project.