With rising energy costs, more and more people are becoming worried about their utility bills. Are you one of them?

The social housing sector is a large consumer of electricity, natural gas, water and materials. In fact, the sector spends approximately $400 million a year on utilities and these costs are rising.

In response to these concerns, GLOBE recently launched the Sustainability Toolbox: a free, interactive online tool that focuses on no-cost and low-cost ways to run a more profitable and sustainable business.

When you download the Sustainability Toolbox, you will find some easy solutions for keeping utility costs down both at home and at work. It comes down to following three basic rules:

1. Use efficient technology.

• Replacing or buying new equipment or appliances? Choose the most efficient models available. Look for the EnergyStar logo – it’s an easy way to recognize the most energy-efficient choices!
• Replacing toilets, taps and/or showerheads? Install low-flow models to reduce your water use by 25%-50%.
• Not ready for big upgrades? Faucet aerators are inexpensive and easy to install, and will reduce water use without affecting water pressure.
• Change your lightbulbs! CFL bulbs are up to 75% more efficient and last up to 10 times longer – you’ll not only save energy, but maintenance costs as well.
• Get automatic results. Occupancy sensors and/or motion detectors will optimize lighting and fan use and reduce waste. Programmable thermostats allow for comfort and convenience while managing energy used to heat and cool the area.

2. Make sure that the equipment you have, works the way it’s supposed to!

Maximize efficiency by making sure to follow operations and maintenance recommendations.

• Clean and/or replace furnace and exhaust filters regularly.
• Improve circulation: make sure that nothing blocks radiators, registers or vents.
• Repair leaky toilets, faucets and showerheads immediately. A leak of one drop per second can waste as much as 10,000 litres of water a year!
• Insulate and seal windows and doors against drafts. Caulk all cracks and gaps in and around windows, doors, baseboards etc.

3. Stop wasting!

• Turn lights and electronics off when not in use.
• Don’t heat or cool unoccupied space.
• Use cold water to wash your clothes, and only wash full loads of laundry.
• Don’t leave the tap running when washing dishes or brushing your teeth.
• Reduce the amount of garbage you produce. Compost and recycle as much as possible. Keep hazardous materials out of landfill.

To maximize results, it is important to follow all three of these guidelines – neglecting one will reduce the effectiveness of the other. So if you want to take a bite out of your utility bills, remember that a building includes more that just walls, roofs, doors and windows – it also includes the people who live and work within it. How each part of a building interacts with each other (including residents and staff) will define just how sustainable – and cost-effective- your operations will be.

Looking for more useful tips and tools? Visit the GLOBE website to get your FREE copy of the Sustainability Toolbox. Download here

Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., on June 12. (Dave Martin/Associated Press)

It is “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur” and if it did “….no significant adverse impacts are expected.” That statement was given in February 2009 before BP received approval to begin drilling the Deepwater Horizon well. Now the whole world watches as the disastrous effects of this oil spill unfold in the Gulf of Mexico.

It appears to me not such an unpredictable outcome and yet we continue to react with disbelief every time the unthinkable happens. Technological innovation has been the hallmark of our modern world bringing with it all kinds of life improving advancements. We remain ever confident in next year’s innovation to solve the problems of last year’s inventions. However, as events continue to unfold in the Gulf of Mexico, the cost of disregarding the impact of our behaviours on the planet and placing blind faith in ingenuity to solve all problems is becoming increasingly clear.

An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican sits in a pool of oil along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana June 5, 2010. Sean Gardner/REUTERS

To date over 380 million litres of oil have spilled into the Gulf, threatening marine mammals, fish and birds, and coastal wetlands. Over one billion dollars has been spent so far in trying to stop the leak and the costs to commercial and recreational fishing industries have not yet been included in the tally.

Our failure to apply a precautionary approach when making decisions about offshore drilling reveals our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and the extent to which we will sacrifice common sense in its pursuit.

Instead of the risky business of looking for oil in ever more dangerous situations how about we just use less energy? Perhaps not as sexy as a massive oil rig, but surprisingly effective when we all do just a little more to use a little less. Take public transportation or maybe use your bike or why not just walk to the corner store? You don’t even have to commit to do this all the time just substitute these methods once a week for a time when you used to drive. Close off the lights when you leave the room. Use a space bar for electronic equipment and turn it off when not in use. Or consider participating in incentive programs like the Renewable Energy Initiative which make it easy to start reducing our reliance on non-renewable resources.

For more ideas about how you can make energy conservation part of your operations, check out GLOBE’s Sustainability Toolbox launching soon on our website. Conservation can be remarkably effective and best of all there will never be any negative consequences. Ever.

If you have ever had to deal with overflowing garbage bins, trash blowing around buildings and related residents complaints, you know that this is not only unsightly – it can also be costly and time consuming. Reducing and recycling are not just trends or nice ideas, they are ways to lower operating costs and improve living and working conditions.

Sioux Lookout recently demonstrated how community-led efforts can help solve big problems. This north-western Ontario town of 5,500 recently became the first community in Ontario to move towards the outright banning of plastic bags, a ban that started with a citizens’ environment committee and a survey by high school students.

Why are plastic bags a problem?
The chemicals used to manufacture disposable plastic bags are toxic to both people and the environment. The phthalates used to stabilize and soften plastic are known endocrine disruptors. Vinyl chloride is a proven carcinogen and can also cause liver, kidney, and brain damage.

Although these bags are designed to be disposable, they are highly resource-intensive to manufacture, process, transport and dispose of – especially given that they’re intended for single use. But even if you re-use a disposable bag, most will still end up in landfill, where they can take up to 1,000 years to break down. Like plastic garbage patches in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the bags may be out of sight, but their negative impacts to the environment, the economy and human and animal health persist long after they’ve been used.

Other Jurisdictions
To date, Sioux Lookout is among only a handful of global leaders in their move to ban the bag.

In March 2002, Bangladesh banned plastic bags in its capital after they were found to have been the main culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. Discarded bags were choking the drainage system. Notably, the ban has produced an unexpected positive economic effect: the revival of the jute bag industry. Jute grows abundantly in Bangladesh and requires a lot less energy to process than polyethelene.

Also in 2002, Ireland introduced a PlasTax of about $0.20 per bag. The money raised from the tax is put into a “green fund” to further benefit communities and the environment. The result has been that consumption has decreased by more than 90%, thanks to an intensive environmental awareness campaign, which made the carrying of plastic bags socially unacceptable.

The Power of Community
In the cases of Ireland and Sioux Lookout particularly, engaging the community proved to be critical to the success of the ban and its environmental and economic outcomes.

What does this mean to people in the housing sector? Well, there are many simple and inexpensive actions which you can take to lower costs and complaints in your buildings and improve health, comfort and maintenance. GLOBE’s Community Champions program, recently recognized in the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s recent annual report as a notable initiative, educates and enables the residents themselves to become agents of change in their own communities.

In addition, GLOBE’s soon to be released Sustainability Toolbox is a “starter kit” to identifying opportunities which will provide you with sector-specific examples of improvements that you can make to increase the efficiency of your operations.

To find out more about it, email us!

It has been 37 years since the first Climate Change conference in Stockholm and now we are on the eve of the latest round in Copenhagen.

But what does it mean for us?

Lately there have been questions raised about whether or not Global Warming is ‘real’ or not. In Canada we are becoming painfully aware of the changes in our north with the shrinking of the ice caps and the dangers that these changes mean for our northern communities. Scientists have warned of much bigger and more dangerous changes.

And what is it that is driving all of this?

For the most part it is believed that the burning of fossil fuels to create energy is the main cause of Global Warming. That has been our traditional source of energy for the past 150 years, the same period that has seen the most explosive growth of human kind in history.

But what are the options?

The sun produces enough energy to supply 8,000 times the entire planets needs for 2004. 8,000 times! So why are we not using this energy? Because we have become used to doing business a different way and have set up our economies to mesh with that model. Why not change? Because change is always difficult, especially for those that rely on a particular form of business to create revenue, like oil companies for instance.

But the real question is, whether or not you believe in Global Warming, why would we not want to change to an energy source that is virtually free and will last until the planet falls apart? Why would we not want to switch to a source that does not create toxic emissions and can be accessed anywhere in the world?

When Winston Churchill was preparing Great Britain for WWI he insisted that the war would be lost if the British navy did not switch fuel sources, from coal to oil. The establishment fought hard and claimed that the economy would fall to pieces, thousands would lose their jobs and the war would be lost. Sound familiar?

One thing we do know for sure, energy prices are only going in one direction, up! Given the chance of offsetting a traditional energy source with a renewable one, especially when it might be paid for through infrastructure and/or incentive programs, the choice seems clear.

Keir Brownstone is the General Manager of Green Light On A Better Environment (GLOBE), an SHSC subsidiary. For more on GLOBE, visit www.globeservices.ca