Sweet reminder for staff

Council champions Our Big Energy Challenge

Energy efficient council staff throughout Bath and North East Somerset, are getting sweets to help them remember to turn off their computers at the end of the day.

The prizes are left on the desks by the council’s 45 Energy Champions who are helping to publicise Our Big Energy Challenge.

The sweets are one of the solutions suggested by staff in an Energy Saving Ideas competition. Other ideas included turning off air-conditioning for a week and opening the windows, and presenting the Energy Saving slideshow in team meetings. Prizes were awarded for the most practical solutions.

As well as helping to spread the corporate climate change message, the Energy Champions have also run individual initiatives to help build awareness of becoming energy efficient. The champions also carry out ‘walkarounds’ and answer any questions colleagues may have. They also feed back any further efficiency suggestions back.

The champions work across 25 council sites in Bath, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and Radstock, including offices, libraries, nurseries, a youth project and a day centre.

Challenge 4

Switch off desk lights when they are not in use

Switch off lights when they’re not in use. Individual desk lamps are likely to be energy savers if they are used instead of overhead lighting, but they should still be turned off when you leave your desk – even if only for a few minutes. Lights also give off heat, and in summer the combined output of several desk lamps and computers can make a room feel uncomfortably warm.