COAL IS DIRTY!
And in South Africa the majority of our power comes from dirty, expensive coal powered fire stations. These are ridiculously taxing on our wallets, but also incredibly taxing on our environment for a number of reasons!
Water
Did you know it takes approximately 2.5 litres of water to make 1 Kilowatt Hour of Electricity! South Africa is one of the driest places on Earth and we have already exhausted virtually all of our fresh water supplies.
Carbon Dioxide
Using 1 kWh of electricity releases approximately 900 grams of C02 in to the atmosphere. If you want to know how important this is to the entire planet then I'd suggest you read this article from Tree Hugger: Climate Hits 400ppm of C02 for first time in 3 Million Years
Coal
Every 1 kWh requires 534 grams of coal to be burnt. This coal has to be mined, cleaned, transported. The life cycle of which is extremely polluting and unsustainable.
What Can We Do?
Today we have 13,660 Facebook Fans and we wanted to calculate the effect our Facebook Fans could have on the use of Water, Coal and C02 emissions if they changed 1 x 60W Incandescent bulb in their home to a 7W LED Bulb.
The Numbers
Below is the list of numbers we will use to calculate the effect of our Facebook Fans in addition to the figures talked about above.
Facebook Fans: 13,660
Electricity Cost: R1.50 per kWh
Wattage Saved: 53 Watts (60 Watt Incandescent less 7W LED Bulb)
Daily Use: 2 Hours per bulb
OK so now we have the basis to calculate the savings.
Electricity Saved Per Day: 13,660 Fans x 53 Watts x 2 Hours Usage = 1,447,960 Million Watts
Rands Saved Per Day: 1448 kWh x R1.50 = R2,172.00
Water Saved Per Day: 1448 kWh x 2.5 Litres = 3,620 litres
Coal Not Used: 773 Kilograms
Carbon Dioxide Not Released: 1,3 Tons
Amazing right? So now consider the effect if you change the security bulb that you leave on overnight for safety which maybe runs for 8 hours a day! Multiply all these figures above by 8 and you get some serious savings that helps you save money and helps the environment.
But what we really wanted to do was show the annual effect of making this simple 1 Bulb Change, and what it would mean personally to an individual user.
Each Facebook Fan would be personally and proudly responsible for the following reductions and savings! Note this is based on a single bulb over a year of use.
Electricity Saved: 38,690 Watts
Rands Saved: R58.00
Water Saved: 96 Litres Saved
Coal NOT Used: 20 Kilograms
Carbon Dioxide NOT Released: 34 Kilograms
What Can Yo Do!
Make the 1 Bulb Change - Find the most used light in your home (probably the security bulb left on overnight) and change it to a 7W LED Bulb for only R80 and you will be doing your part! We also have a 5W LED Bub available for R60 which will increase your savings by another 28%
We will be monitoring the success of our 1 Bulb Challenge and will be giving regular feedback on targets met via this blog and on our Facebook Page.
Be part of the solution!
