Warwickshire News Mine

The Warwickshire County Council led Switch it Off campaign won the Communications Category at the annual Energy Institute Awards in London, defeating such high profile campaigns as Marks and Spencer with their Plan A campaign, and an energy initiative from Trillium (the Department for Work and Pensions), to name just two.

This year is the third time the Switch it Off campaign has been run, and once again recorded some great results in persuading people to not leave everyday household appliances on standby, and to turn off what they are not using.

In making the campaign a success Warwickshire County Council works with Coventry City Council, Worcestershire County Council, Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre and many other partners.

Central Networks monitored the Big Switch Off on Friday, October 24, and found a huge dip in the amount of energy used on the Friday evening, when compared to the same evening the previous week.

A 98 MWh drop in electricity demand was recorded which is equivalent to 1,632,108 60watt light bulbs being turned off for one hour, or 14 typical three-bed detached houses turning off all their power for one year or boiling 391,706 kettles full of water.

Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “With almost no budget this team has won a Communications award, beating campaigns costing tens of thousands of pounds, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff.

“You only need to go back a couple of years and most of us wouldn’t have given too much thought to saving energy or what our Carbon Footprint might be (or what the phrase even meant), it’s only through awareness raising campaigns such as Switch it Off that we can change the behaviour of local people to be more energy efficient for the benefit of the environment and their own pockets.

“The threat of climate change is a real concern in today’s world. Rising temperatures, increased risk of flooding and extreme weather patterns, are just some of the likely effects of climate change. 

“Carbon dioxide is the main climate change causing gas released into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels. In the UK, the energy we use to heat and power our homes accounts for 27 per cent of our total carbon dioxide emissions and this continues to rise.”

For more information on taking steps to `Switch it off’ visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/switchitoff or call the energy advice hotline on 0800 512012.

Link to WCC