Thirty-six years ago, in 1972, the United Nations General Assembly established World Environment Day – on June 5 – to promote worldwide awareness of the environment. Recognising climate change is becoming one of the greatest issues of our era. Through our partnership with Visy, Carlton is playing an active role to increase the awareness of recycling and minimise our impact on the environment.
On World Environment Day we take a look at how we can all be involved and minimise our impact on the environment. Eddie Betts, one of Carlton’s environment ambassadors, looks at some of the changes he has made around his house and in his life to benefit the environment:
Energy Saving
“We have energy efficient light globes in the house.”
“All the players pay the ‘offset carbon’ fee when we fly interstate for games.”
“We are careful to recycle household waste”
“We do not turn our heater above 20 degrees, instead of turning the heater up on a few of the cold days we have had recently we put a windcheater on inside the house”
Water Saving
“We have a water-efficient showerhead and limit our showers to four minutes.”
(Cutting shower times from seven to four minutes will save 12,000 litres of water a year)
“We wash when we have a full load and save energy by using the cold wash program.”
The following is a breakdown of the use of water inside the home:
Showers 34%
Washing Machine 23%
Toilets 14%
Basin Taps 9%
Kitchen Taps 8%
Baths 6%
Laundry Taps 4%
Dishwasher 2%
Did you know that a leaking tap can waste up to 200 litres a day – that is 73,000 litres of water a year down the drain? To find out if you are wasting water through a leaking tap, toilet cistern, hot water system or leak in the pipes, you can do this simple two-hour test:
Check the reading on your water meter
Do not flush the toilet or turn on any taps, indoors or out.
After two-hours, check the meter reading again – it should be the same.
If it has moved you have a leak and you will need to check for dripping taps or moisture around taps and the hot-water system. Alternatively you may have a leak underground in the pipes and this may require a plumber to find the problem.
For more information on World Environment Day visit http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/
