Bugging your brain like a stone in your shoe!Going even greener?
Nope, I'm not deepening the colour scheme for Wooley Insights! We're greening up some more by switching energy suppliers!
We've long been unimpressed by British Gas but figured we were between a rock and a hard place as far as Gas supply was concerned... There is no 'green' gas as such as it's all non-renewable energy! However, following the recent, disgusting, insensitive, profiteering price rises by our gas supplier and with a hefty jolt from the Ethical Consumer magazine (Great Energy-Supplier article and comparison in this quarters magazine!), we've managed to make a Gas Supply switch that, whilst not entirely green, does offset some of our nasty energy usage by investment in renewables! E-On will be supplying our gas very shortly, dumping British Gas as a no-hope tragedy of fossil fuel hell!
We may even make some financial savings as a benefit!
But better than all this - our electricity switch has also just been actioned... Not content with the 25% renewable energy we were getting from the great and good Ecotricity, we've taken things a step further by switching our energy supplier to Good Energy - a 100% renewable electricity supplier! 
Our CO2 emissions, based on our energy usage will be zilch, nil, nada! This can only be a good thing, though I've always applauded Ecotricity and supported their efforts to construct more Wind Power turbines so I feel just a tad guilty in leaving them - but then, with the lure of 100% renewable energy, I should soon be feeling just fine about our actions again!
Interested yourself? Why not check out GreenHelpline and enter your energy usage... You never know - green may just save you money too!
In addition to these online changes, we've also gotten our mitts on a rather nifty little OWL! 
This wee device is a carry around digital display of our energy consumption at any time day or night... It's programmable to display the electricity use in terms of cost at that moment in time, Kilowatts per hour or by Greenhouse gas emissions, though the latter will be zilch, nil, nada, in our household very soon...!
It's fascinating and rather obsession-fuelling to watch the device readings go up and down as you boil your kettle, cook the Sunday roast and / or watch TV... And interestingly, we've discovered that switching on our energy saving bulbs makes no dent in our electricity usage whilst our one, old-style bulb in the bathroom has an impact! Proof that we're reducing our bills by switching bulbs...
All this means that we're going to be just another step greener over the coming weeks without having to spend a load extra... In fact, we may well be making savings over the coming months and years by being a little more Eco!
...Just a shame about the new car really - whoops! Jxx
Labels:
eco-friendly,
gadgets
2 comments:
Hello
Well done on your energy conciousness!
I would ask however if you have considered the fact that Good Energy invest £0 per customer on new renewables rather buy existing green electricity off the grid. Therefore your electricity consumption may be coarbon nuetral but it actually does nothing to reduce carbon emission of the UK as a whole because it simply takes "green" electricity from the grid and other consumers.
Ecotricity invest their profits in new build which actively increases the amount of green electricity available. They do also have a 100% green tariff aswell.
I'd suggest you take a peek at www.whichgreen.co.uk for a league table of who spends what on new renewables.
Thanks!
Matt
Thanks for that! There's an ethical / Eco-minefield that we tread, trying to be green and supportive of others making an effort.
I've utilised the trusted source of Ethical Consumer magazine that highlighted Good Energy as their highest rated electricity supplier on a whole host of factors. I'm not suggesting that you don't make a valid point - in fact, it just goes to prove that there are always differing ways of looking at things making it hard for consumers to get to grips with what is the best way forward.
I'll certainly consider what you've added!
Thanks again, Jxx
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