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Community Base is committed to reducing its carbon footprint - the amount of carbon dioxide emitted as a result of our activities - as our contribution to fighting global warming and the disastrous effect it is having on the world we live in.
Concretely this means reducing our energy use while maximising the proportion of the energy we use that is from renewable sources. It also means encouraging recycling, reducing our water use and encouraging everyone at Community Base to reduce the amount of energy they use.
Community Base is also involved in Green Champion 2008, a campaign bringing together local community and voluntary groups willing to make ten practical commitments to fight climate change. The what else can I do? page on the Green Champion website is full of useful information for any organisation wanting to reduce its carbon footprint.
It has been estimated that the world needs to reduce its carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 to avoid catastrophic climate change - and for rich countries like ours to reduce their emissions by a lot more. Unfortunately, like most other homes, businesses and buildings, Community Base has increased rather than reduced its energy use over the last few years
1999 - 306 (100%)
2000 - 376 (123%)
2001 - 417 (136%)
2002 - 430 (141%)
2003 - 457 (149%)
2004 - 488 (159%)
2005 - 494 (161%)
2006 - 448 (146%)
2007 - 421 (138%)
Community Base mains electricity consumption (no gas is consumed) 1999-2007 in 1,000 kilowatt hours with 1999 as baseline for percentage comparison
The good news is that in the last two years we have reversed this trend and managed to reduce our energy consumption - but we need to do a lot more if we are to reduce our emissions by the amount we need to if we are to play our part in fighting climate change.
Here are some of the steps we've taken to reduce Community Base's carbon footprint
• We've made sure our electricity is supplied from 100% renewable energy sources from Green Energy - you can compare green and not-so-green electricity tariffs at the Green Electricity Marketplace
• We've taken a lot of trouble to improve insulation in our building and are always on the look out for new technologies to help us improve it further - it's a lot better than turning up heaters or switching on air conditioning!
• We encourage everyone at Community Base to learn how to set storage heaters so they don't waste energy and make efficient portable heaters available during cold spells
• We are installing timeswitches that allow storage heaters to be turned off when an office is not in use.
• In 2006 we installed an automated, energy efficient lighting system throughout our building
• We encourage recycling of paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium, plastic used printer cartridges unwanted furniture and old computers
• We provide energy efficient fridges in our kitchens, coffee room and conference room
• We provide energy efficient kettles in all our kitchens so that boiled water stays hotter longer
• We have fitted the most energy efficient hand driers available in the United Kingdom in our toilets
• We encourage people to cycle to Community Base by providing facilities for cyclists including a cycle room and shower for people working in Community Base and bike stands on the pavement outside the front of the building for visitors
• In 2007 we put some solar water heating panels on our roof to reduce the amount of electricity we need to heat our water
• We have made our conference room a throwaway free zone by providing reusable plates, cutlery and tumblers for groups hiring our conference room and insisting that no throwaway plates, cutlery or cups are used there. You can read the results of our consultation on this issue here
• We are investigating ways to reduce the unnecessary use of power at night when Community Base is closed
We are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint further - please contact us with your suggestions.
