KNOll to Wind Farm has created a Green Action Group to help the village address green issues.

RESEARH
The Green team has been researching, and will continue to research, issues where individuals can become "greener". It will then communicate opportunities to the community.

INFORMING THE COMMUNITY
So far, it has set up

• a "Green Information" notice board up and running in the Post Office
• have had an information stall at the parish hall bazaar, giving information out on recycling also ways to save power and water in our homes
• contributed several articles to the village magazine

And proposes to set up information links on this web site.

GREEN ACTION
To date, the Green Action Group has;

• explored the opportunity to heat and/or power the village hall using micro wind turbines or solar power
  
• been campaigning to get a plastic and cardboard recycling facility for the village, cardboard is still unavailable, due to funding, but a plastics recycling bank will soon be available at the Red Cow Public House
  
• has arranged a recycling weekend in conjunction with Sanders Garden World on 25th and 26th February. People will be able to bring along paper, cardboard and unwanted clothing. (the clothing will be donated to a local hospice shop)
  
• arranged for Sanders will be taking old flower pots and toxic garden waste
  
• collected Christmas Trees for recycling
  
  

GREAT GREEN SITE FOR KIDS

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/web/earthday/househunt.html

http://www.littlerotters.org.uk/index.html

http://www.kids.organics.org

STANDBY ELECTRICITY

Many appliances these days are actually using electricity when they are switched 'off'. This is more commonly known as standby power, where the appliance consumes energy when it is in on standby or OFF mode. These "standby loads" occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. These appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched "off".

Although we know we can't switch off fridges and freezers, unless we want to defrost then, it is important to switch off appliances once they have been finished with. To avoid the standby mode and help stop wasting money we need to change the way we behave. Hopefully the following sections will help demonstrate the problem and illustrate where changes could be made and how much money the homeowner could save. A significant amount of energy can be saved across Scotland by reducing the electricity demand being wasted by electrical appliances in the standby mode.

The problem of standby power consumption is essentially a technological concern; more should be done by the appliance industry to help reduce the power consumption by equipment in standby mode. However, switching the appliance off at the correct place, or unplugging the appliance can help avoid paying for standby electricity. Alternatively using a multi-socket power bar can make it easier to turn off several appliances at once.

Household Standby Electricity Consumption

Many people are perhaps unaware that appliances on 'standby' actually consuming electricity needlessly. By switching off appliances at the wall we can actually save money and also the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Taking the examples from the living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, which have been illustrated above the total saving can be demonstrated over the period of a year. This illustrates a wide variety of possible electricity being consumed unnecessarily and the thought of paying for electricity that we are not using is not a nice one, especially when it could be costing £116 per year - worst case scenario.

In most probability standby electricity is more likely to cost somewhere in the region of £38.

The idea of paying for something that we are not using is not very encouraging. Consider switching appliances of properly in a bid to safe electricity, this is not only saving you money but also helping the environment. If you want to find out how much money you could save by reducing standby electricity consumption in your own house please try the Standby Electricity Consumption Guide.

From our calculations the current average household standby power consumption as 60W, however this amount could increase further with the growing number of electronic appliances in the average house.

60W = 0.060 kW x 8760 hrs = 525.6 kWh / year

Taking the average household electricity consumption as 3,880 kWh per year this indicates that standby power is responsible for 13% of home power consumption. The associated costs for a three bedroom flat are estimated at £35.70

The Office of National Statistics website quotes the number of dwellings in the UK as 21 million. If we conservatively estimate that only 75% of these waste on 'stand by', the cost to the nation would some £500 million.