Householders join forces to combat climate change

Cowra Guardian
Friday 1/9/2006, Page: 8

Cowa residents are amongst the first householders in the world to combat climate change by entering the revolutionary world of carbon trading.

Easy Being Green is a company behind a concept to distribute Climate Saver Packs free of charge, which contain six energy saving light globes and one AAA rated water saving showerhead (for electric hot water users).

By installing these packs, a record number of Cowra householders are saving $150 off both their annual electricity and water bill and saves one tonne of greenhouse gas pollution from entering earth's atmosphere. Pack recipients also save an average of 21,000 litres of water each year.

CEO at Easy Being Green, Paul Gilding, said the current scheme in NSW is the only one in Australia and the only one of its kind in the world, as it allows householders to trade the pollution emissions they save.

"Easy Being Green is accredited to trade carbon credits on to energy companies to assist them in meeting mandatory emission targets set by the NSW greenhouse gas Abatement Scheme. In order to meet their targets, energy companies can purchase carbon credits from accredited providers like Easy Being Green," Gilding said.

Gilding, former Executive Director of Greenpeace International, said a critical part of the bargain is installation.

"By installing the Pack, residents can reduce greenhouse pollution, which is the leading cause of global warming and climate change. But before receiving the pack free of charge, each householder must sign a form pledging to install the light globes. This then gives Easy Being Green the right to trade the value of the energy they save by installing these light globes," he said.

"Everybody wins with installation: the householder saves money by reducing their power bills, the environment benefits and Easy Being Green trades its carbon certificates, which helps to promote reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Because of our commitment, we survey customers to monitor installation in order to resolve any problems they might have.

"So far, Easy Being Green has given away over 210,00() packs. Our goal is to see that one million householders in NSW install the packs before 2007 and that 70 percent of Australian homes reduce energy and water use by 30 percent in 10 years;" Gilding said.

Easy Being Green's Climate Saver packs are just one way householders can reduce their impact on the environment.

"We are also offering residents the chance to sign up to Green Power, which provides electricity from renewable energy sources, rather than coal-fired power plants," Gilding said.

Easy Being Green, in partnership with leading integrated energy business and Green Power retailer, TRUenergy, is helping householders double their options to tackle climate change.

When signing up to receive a Climate Saver Pack, recipients can opt to receive further information about TRUenergy's government accredited green energy products, including TRUenergy Wind - a 100 percent wind power energy plan.

Look out for your Climate Saver Pack in your letterbox, for more information log onto www.easybeinggreen.com.au.