Getting the household involved

The report the third in the IPCC series has been hailed by many for bridging differences on the issue of cli­mate change. The report shows scientific consensus that human activi­ty was to blame for climate change and that global warm­ing was already adversely af­fecting human, animal and plant life.

As I have outlined in this blog many times efficiency within the trans­port, buildings and household is one key factor that can lower emissions without a real change to lifestyle. It is clear the next two to three dec­ades are crucial in setting the stage for stabilisation of the concentration of carbon di­oxide, the key greenhouse gas contributing to global warm­ing.

I am an advocate for action such as a fuel tax or mechanisms that bind us to the limits for carbon dioxide emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol. However not all actions should be at a Governmental level. On the efficiency end we can get our children involved at a household level and bring up their awareness. Here’s how we are doing it in our house…

Our children get pocket money like many other children. But they need to invoice us as parents on a weekly basis. No invoice, no pocket money. The end amount scales up to a maximum sum that they get if they have made adequate contribution that week. Within our “family council” we have evolved the design of the invoice over time to include aspects such as tidiness and energy consumption…. their actions to turn of lights, aircon and reduce our consumption of electricity is a factor in the weekly pocket money. In Singapore it’s hot every night, so they have the responsibility to turn off aircon when they come out of their rooms in the morning. Lack of action on this item will reduce the amount they can claim for that day.

It’s worked for us; we don’t have to harp on about turning off electrical devices and saving energy. And, our discussion and agreement around the invoice design gets agreement on what’s important and why. It’s a simple one page sheet with tick boxes and it sits on a clip board in the room. The use is daily (although I must admit sometimes this needs a little reminder!). Even discussion on what temperature we should set the thermostat to is a critical discussion.

Replacing all bulbs that were incandescent with low energy long light bulbs was another action that is simple and effective action that reduces consumption without changing lifestyle. Have a look at this slide from a kids school presentation that I did. The first

For short trips (to the local shops and Roti Prata stall) we use and encourage bike riding rather than taking the car on these short trips. Again you can engage your family in a discussion about the impact of this action - raising awareness and benefit of reducing car usage. Depending on your views it is also known that one non-technical option for mitigating climate change, is eating less meat. Emissions associat­ed with the beef cycle are significant however we have not invoked this, and prefer to use other mechanisms to reduce our carbon footprint. But the family discussion is worth the time and effort again just to look at how the earth is impacted by our activity and what actions is appropriate for us as a family to minimize our footprint.