Tuesday, May 15, 2007

You Gotta Switch

So far 3 Bean Sprouts readers have voted in this month's poll to say they have switched to a green energy supplier. I'm a bit disappointed about that. It's very quick and easy to do, it makes a major difference to the planet whilst causing negligible trouble or expense to you, and it sends a clear message to the energy industry, to the government and to other people just how serious we all are about climate change.

On the plus side, 8 people have voted in the poll to say they are already on a green tariff. That's encouraging to me, and I hope it encourages some of the waverers to make the switch. Go to http://www.uswitch.com/ and spend a few minutes changing your supplier.

Only one person voted to say they didn't want to change because they were already on the cheapest tariff. So what are the rest of you waiting for? At least go to uswitch and investigate. You can plug in your typical energy usage (dig out a couple of recent bills) and it will tell you how much green energy will cost you. We actually saved money when we switched to green because it turns out our previous supplier had been quite pricey.

If you're still unconvinced, I'll write a bit more tomorrow about what "green energy" actually involves.

5 comments:

Moonwaves said...

Don't forget that some of us living in rented accomodation are limited in some of the changes we can make. I also don't think there is much choice of alternative energy supply in Ireland. We do have Airtricity although they serve mostly (possibly only) the business rather than the domestic market. Still, you continue to give me ideas for things I definitely want to be able to do/have whenever I get my own place.

Anonymous said...

I'd gladly (believe me, more than gladly) switch suppliers if i could: however our bill with both electricity and gas is currently in major dispute, a complaint is going forward to energywatch, and until that's resolved.. we can't switch. I can't even run accurate comparisons on sites like USwitch as our bills are that messed up..!!

welsh girls allotment said...

I am that dreadful person who wants the cheapest tariff, however, all my bulbs are energy efficient we often potter around until dusk with no lights on, standby is a swear word in this house no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and due to general savings we try to use as little as possible, however when I used a comparison site it calcualated that our bills would increase by approx £200 a year, dependant on your income this may have a huge or insignificant impact, so whilst our electric and gas suppliers may not be green our cars are LPG we haven't be abroad for 5 years, we minimise of gas consumption by bulk cooking and having a wood burning stove in one room instead of heating the whole house, so we can all make a difference in little ways.

welsh girls allotment said...

sorry that sounds quite ranty now that I've re read it but was not meant to 'sound' ranty, just an explaination why I choose a cheaper tariff !!

janet copenhaver said...

We're off grid. Sun and wind is our source. We do have propane for cooking and water heater. Heat with firewood. It's as green as we get.