1 Million Women

OUR POWER TO CHANGE - It's estimated our households waste 10-20% of the electricity we pay for

Your POWER target is to save $200 or more a year through cutting your household electricity use by 10% or more by paying attention to lots of little things. Wasting electricity makes no sense and costs us money.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1MW ACTIVITY - to get in touch with your power

A do it yourself activity to get aware of how many electrical appliances in your home and the electricity they use and cost...The average Australian home has about 60-70 electrical appliances. These are all ‘energy actors’ in your home.

Check out our blog

Read what our fabulous guest bloggers have to say about POWER - Lish Fejer, ABC TV's Carbon Cop and developer of Green It Yourself. Julie Goodwin, Australias first Master Chef. Dominique Rizzo, Ready Steady Cook and Pure Food Cooking. Bernie Hobbs, ABC science guru and many more. Click here

Check out our video clips

Learn how to gap fill the floors and double glaze your windows for less than $20 to SAVE pollution. Click here

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Click into the pollution cutting activity centre, check out the household activities for saving energy, choose ones that work for you (and if you're already doing some, find a few more). Start saving today. If you don't have a 1 Million Women profile page JOIN UP today and you'll get one!!

AND HERE ARE A FEW MORE THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

POWER Down & Off

Turn off lights when rooms aren’t being used. Turn off TVs, DVD players, stereos, game consoles, chargers and other equipment at the wall.

Tip: Appliances in standby mode continue to use electricity. A computer or mobile phone charger will cost you money every second it is left plugged in when not charging.

POWER Heat & Cool

Anything that involves heating or cooling is fertile territory for saving.

Tip: Save water, energy and money with shorter showers, which means less water heating (a major item if you have an electric hot water system). Don’t try to heat or cool the whole home – just a key room or two if you can. Plug drafts and gaps and insulate to reduce heat or cooling loss. Always use cold water for your washing machine.

POWER Buy & Use Smart

Market research shows that energy saving labeling (like Energy Stars) enjoys wide recognition with consumers and can save you money for the whole life of appliances. There are lots of great resources online where you can get energy saving support.

Tip: Learn how to count in the language of saving energy.

POWER Time Matters

If you have time of use charging for your electricity – which is becoming more and more common – then ‘when’ you use energy will be critical to your power bill.

Tip: Find out when the peak times arise for your service and try to avoid using too much electricity at those times. It helps to relieve peak use problems that cost everyone.

SOME GREAT LINKS:

GE - Home Appliance Energy Use | GE Data Visualization

NSW Government Save Power resources

Australian Government – Clean Energy Future site, household area

Home - LivingGreener.gov.au

Australian Greenhouse Calculator

Queensland Government - Top Household Tips (ClimateSmart Living)

GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR POWER PART 2