Penguins + News & Information

For the few of you who don't already know, An Inconvenient Truth is the name of Al Gore's documentary about the effects of global warming. A lot has been said about this film. Critics have called it mindblowing, the most important film of the twenty first century. Despite a couple of factual errors, in this country the government has been so moved by it that they've decided to make it compulsory viewing in schools. And yet, a father here is taking legal action against the government to try and stop that from taking place.

Stuart Dimmock isn't an evil man. He doesn't want the human race to wiped out thanks to global warming. Nor is he one of these fools that truly believes global warming is a myth. He's simply a concerned father. He doesn't want his kids exposed to anything but the truth and, as he sees it, Al Gore's film contains too many errors to count as a purely factual resource to be presented to his children. He is among the many people who call this film a shockumentary and say that the science comes second to the scare factor. Well, he may be right, I don't know for sure.

What I do know is that, in the UK, carbon emissions rose by 1.25% last year despite all the warnings about climate change that we've had in the past twenty years. I wonder if Mr Dimmock knows this and has considered that maybe we actually need the scare factor to get up and start doing something before it's too late?



Yes, I know everyone thinks it's very expensive to be energy efficient, but, to be blunt, those people are wrong. Off the top of my head I can think of a few ways to save energy in the home that not only don't cost anything, they actually save you money. The only excuse anyone has for not doing these things is laziness, and yet it's so easy for everyone to reduce their energy consumption. If you've got the time to read this post then you've definitely got the time to make these tiny changes to your lifestyle.

Let There Be Dark
This one is possibly the simplest one but also the one most people don't do. It's quite simple. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. By this I mean every time there's no-one in a room, even if just for a couple of minutes.

Combine this practice with low energy lightbulbs for a more pronounced effect on your yearly energy bills.

Standby Isn't Off
We all do it. Just hit the standby button on remote controls in order to save us a couple of steps out of our chairs. Unfortunately most people don't realise that when something is on standby, it still uses power. When you turn something off, make sure that it's really off.

On a related issue, how many people leave their computers on all day just so they won't miss the little "bing bong" alert telling them that a friend has come online?

Fill It Up
They say that a dishwasher uses over 35% less water than washing up by hand. As most wasted energy goes towards the cleansing and distribution of water, it's a good thing to have. But so many people have a meal, put that meals cutlery and crockery in the dishwasher then turn it straight on.

The same applies to washing clothes. More than once I've seen people put a very small load into the washing machine. Maybe underwear only, maybe just a shirt for work.

Next time you use a dishwasher or washing machine make sure you fill it up before you switch it on. It uses the same amount of water after all.

Use What You Need
I can't count the amount of times someone I know has offered me a hot drink and emptied the kettle first in order to "freshen it". Wasted water. Wasted energy. Wasted planet.

Use only what you need. Only fill a kettle enough for the drinks you're making. Likewise, a bath doesn't need to be filled all the way.



Small Differences = Big Difference

I know what you're thinking. "How can any of this make any sort of difference to the world's problems?" I thought it myself, at first. Sure it'll make a difference, but not enough to stop global warming. I'm just one man, I thought, how is anything I do going to make a difference?

The experts believe that if a family of two adults and one child follow these simple guidelines, they can reduce the energy they waste by over 40% as well as saving an average of 30% on energy bills throughout the year. Now imagine if everyone were to do that. We'd be on our way to stablising the planet in no time and have a bit more money to enjoy it with.

It's not too hard to save this planet. It's not too expensive to save this planet. But it'll take everyone. One person can make all the difference in this delicate balance we find ourselves in. Will it be you?

The penguin in our groups logo is the Yellow-eyed Penguin, one of the most at risk. The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust is an organization that is working to protect the Yellow-eyed Penguins and their natural environment. There are believed to be less than 2,000 breeding pairs of this type of penguin remaining in existance. Learn more about the penguins, the efforts for their conservation, and find some interesting links at their web site:

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure a stunning stretch of the Otago Coastline containing over 40 pairs of yellow-eyed penguins. This represents 10% of the entire population of penguins on mainland New Zealand.

This coastal jewel has significant natural values as well as being a prime penguin nesting habitat. It also supports NZ fur seals, NZ sealions, numerous seabird species, rare coastal plant communities, small remnants of native forest, an archaeological site and potential development for a recreational coastal walkway.