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Are you an Environmental Pirate or Evangelist?

For every ‘Yes’, give yourself 1 point.

What your score means:

1-3:            You’re an Environment Pirate! Your lack of attention to your energy usage is probably costing you hundreds of dollars every year.

4-7:            You have Environmental Amnesia! You know that the environment is important and you try to do the right thing … but sometimes you get so caught up in life that you just forget about it. Check out our tips below to help keep you get back and stay on track.

8-10:            You’re an Environment Evangelist! You are very aware of the environment and the damage that high levels of energy consumption can have – both on the planet and on your wallet!

How to improve your rating AND save money!

So, you’re an Environment Pirate.  Your lack of energy efficiency isn’t only bad for the environment – it’s costing you money! The following table shows how you could be saving hundreds of dollars every year, with next to no time investment, by changing a couple of simple things:

Ask your energy company whether they have a scheme whereby you can invest in renewable energy sources.

How to cure Environmental Amnesia: You’re on the right track. Your energy efficiency levels are okay, but it can be easy to forget some of the things that you know you should be doing! Here are a few tips to help you stay on track:

• Put signs above light switches reminding you to turn them off when you leave the room.
• Got kids? Why not make washing up by hand and hanging out clothes part of their weekly chores?
• Buy an air conditioner with a timer so that you can set it to turn off automatically just before you go to bed.
• Buy a weekly bus / train / public transport ticket – you’re less likely to be tempted to drive to work if you’ve already paid for your ticket.

Environment Evangelists: Rejoice! It’s the environment evangelists of the world who will help to ensure there is a planet here for all of us. Even so, here are some suggestions of things you can do:

• If you haven’t already, consider joining a carbon offset scheme where non-profit organisations charge you a small amount to plant trees on your behalf in order to offset your carbon emissions.

• Don’t keep what you’re doing to yourself – share it with others and inspire more people to become environment evangelists! Write an article on the things you’ve done that other people could replicate. Send it to your clients and suppliers. You could also submit it to trade or industry association publications. Then, use your environmental initiatives to inspire others by organising a promotional contest.

*            Savings are approximations based on a three bedroom house and using http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html and http://www.uic.com.au/nip37.htm to calculate approximate energy usage and price, respectively.