ECO INITIATIVES
Anyone committed to enjoying wild spaces must have developed a strong sense of stewardship for this planet. Our lifelong commitment to minimising our own environmental impact has not just arisen from from recent media hype.
At Outdoor Link we believe that everybody and every business can minimise their environmental footprint by making small, simple and inexpensive changes to the way they live and operate. We challenge you to do the same.
If you have any creative ideas that involve simple, cheap and effective methods of minimising resource use and improving the environment please let us know.
Some of the small changes we have made to our lives include:
- Contact your electricity supplier and pay the few extra dollars for green energy alternatives. Most suppliers will have cheap options if you wish to replace 20% of your supply with green energy. Some suppliers will offer 100% green energy options. If they cannot offer these services ask them why and change providers. By encouraging electricity providers to source renewable energy we can ultimately make the necessity to generate power from fossil fuels redundant. We pay 5c/kWh extra to receive 100% wind power and therefore have zero carbon emissions for the power in our home and office.
- Insulate your house. The ceiling and the walls of our home and office are all insulated to reduce heat loss. The largest contributor to household electricity use (and greenhouse emissions) is heating.
- Don’t use air conditioning. Design or renovate your house and garden to maximise the natural heating and cooling of the sun and the seasons. We moved and added windows to our house to improve natural heating and cooling of our property and planted trees in certain areas to shade the house. Add fly screens, open windows and encourage the flow of air.
- Use slow combustion wood or gas heating. While burning timber releases greenhouse gasses, it is much more efficient than using electricity because it is a renewable resource. Heating your house with electricity produces considerably more greenhouse gas emissions than using wood or gas. Only use sustainably harvested timber for heating.
- Use solar hot water. Solar water heating is cheap and efficient. Heating water is the second largest producer of greenhouse gasses in the home (30%). Gas is a more efficient fuel for water heating than electricity. To minimise wasted heating turn your thermostat to a level where the hot water is perfect for showering (without mixing in cold water). Insulate your hot water pipes and minimise the distance between your hot water service and your bathroom.
- Use natural gas for cooking. Natural gas produces considerably lower greenhouse emissions than electricity. Use gas or wood-burning BBQs.
- Turn appliances off at the wall. Appliances that use a “Stand-by” mode: TVs, stereos, microwaves, washing machines, computers, printers, and phone rechargers consume energy when not in use. Turn them off!
- Choose energy efficient refrigerators and appliances. Refrigeration is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the home. Choose a fridge with a high Energy Rating. Set the thermostat in the fridge and freezer to the warmest level. Don’t run a spare fridge if you don’t need to. Don’t open the fridge unless you need to.
- Don’t use excessive appliances. Do you really need to use a dishwasher, or a dryer, toasted sandwich maker, garage door opener, electric can opener, insinkerator? Do you need a TV to just act as background noise when you are not watching it? We don’t.
- Use efficient lighting. Use energy efficient light globes and turn off the lights you are not using. Install motion sensors for outside lighting. Place lights where they are most effective. Have candle-lit dinners. Compact fluorescent globes will save money and emissions.
