Who's the Greenest Ward? Toronto Hydro's City-Wide Challenge
Energy conservation is big this year: first it was Earth Hour, then the OPA brought in Ed Begley Jr and now Toronto Hydro has launched the city-wide challenege Count Me In Toronto. Toronto's 44 wards are pitted against each other, dueling for top conservation honours, and Ward 30 (Toronto Danforth) is leading the pack - with 8 people signed up.
The idea is that residents sign up for one or all of four programs, most notably Spring Turn On and Keep Cool. The former encourages people to use CFLs and both this weekend and next lucky customers at Home Depot and Canadian Tire will receive one free (the rest of us will get discounts). Keep Cool earns you a $25 Home Depot gift card in exchange for an old but working room a/c unit.
The challenge also considers those who sign up for peaksaver and the refrigerator roundup, and Hydro users who participate in all four programs will help their ward earn the green energy retrofit Toronto Hydro is dangling as a prize. Individuals who sign up, though, are eligible to win one of five MacBooks.
Which makes we wonder, will people sign up because they should be conserving energy, or because they want a MacBook?
I'm kind of impressed Toronto Hydro has taken such an active lead in encouraging Torontonians to use less electricity, and it's great to see partnerships with highly visible businesses - I suspect the 40,000 lightbulbs being given away this weekend and next will fly out of volunteer's hands - but I also find myself lamenting that the focus is still on CFLs.
Yes, we all should be changing light bulbs and yes, it would make a big difference if we all switched to more energy efficient illumination. But things like home energy audits are even more important. The message about CFLs shouldn't be different than the message about recycling: it's the minimum we should all be doing.
Of course, when the new Time-of-Use pricing takes effect, people will start seeing an economic disincentive to sticking with the status quo.
But now that summer is upon us, it's time to change some light bulbs and replace some air conditioners. Do it for your wallet, your ward or conscience; the contest runs through September 6th.
Full disclosure: Toronto Hydro is an advertiser on blogTO. To prevent any potential for conflict of interest, this post was written by a contributor not involved with any of blogTO's advertising initiatives or programs.
Comments (9)
It makes sense in our global economy since we are importing such cheap labour that came from areas with such little electricity usage that the entire world should downgrade to slumdog-style usage
I'll continue to use the the cheaper tungsten light bulbs. Why, you ask?
Read on. I did my homework on the 'green' toxic light bulbs.
"Health experts warned this week that people with certain skin ailments will suffer from the new eco-friendly bulbs which cause conditions such as eczema to flare up. Additionally, the bulbs have been linked to migraine headaches in some people.
There are 6 to 8 milligrams of toxic mercury in each bulb. Users who break a bulb should vacate the room for at least 15 minutes, the new guidelines say. The debris should not be removed with a vacuum cleaner, which could put toxic dust into the air, but with rubber gloves. The broken glass and all residue is to be placed into a sealed plastic bag and taken to a local official recycling site for proper disposal. Because these light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, they could cause a problem if disposed of in a normal bin.
It is possible that the mercury could be released into the air or from land-fill when they are released into the wider environment. That is a concern, because mercury is a well-known toxic substance.
COUNT ME OUT TORONTO. Being green and politically correct is very dangerous.
Howabout we have a real "green" challenge at Toronto Hydro? The green being money. Let's reduce the bloat and outrageous salaries. The employee with the most realistic pay can win a MacBook.
I forecast that at the end of this "challenge", if it is successful, some time later we will hear some calls from Hydro to increase the per unit cost of electricity delivery. They did it last time, saying all the conservation caused them to take a hit in the pocketbook, and we weren't even that conservative! Gotta pay those workers $30/hour to stand around, gotta pay those executives the million dollar salaries.
Sean,
Indeed the word is starting to spread that maybe CFLs aren't a very good idea after all. Toronto actually considers them Household Hazardous Waste.
I'm not sure why eco-nauts still push them on us, when the real push should be simply to encourage people to turn lights off when not needed.
Actually, if you read the British study on CFL's it says:
"All fluorescent lamps emit some UV. Typical fluorescent lamps, including CFLs, which consumers would encounter, emit very low levels of UV. In order to measure any UV radiation from these lamps, very sensitive measuring equipment must be used.
The glass used in CFLs already provides a UV filtering effect. In addition, any additional glass, or plastic, or fabric used in lighting fixtures that is between you and the CFL will further reduce the already low levels to still lower levels since these materials act as additional UV filters. Increasing the distance between you and any radiation source, including CFLs, will also reduce the small level to a lower level.
If you still wish to take additional steps then you might wish to purchase the type of CFL that has an additional glass or plastic cover that enclosed the CFL to make it appear more like a traditional incandescent lamp. These covers provide an additional reduction of the low level of UV to a lower level."
Another thing most people don't know, and don't realize. CFL's are really not suitable for short cycle use - the guarantees & savings are based on minimum 3-4 hours use per turn on. For the person who needs a light for shorter periods (& residential use for most rooms when lights need to be on is less than 2), the savings is lost because of early burnout of the lamp. They are also not suitable in vibration locations: garage door openers, under stairs (landings in multi-story stairs).
Instead of pushing CFL's, which is what the industry wants, we should be pushing research & certification of LED lamps. There are some out there now, but they are not bright enough to be effective replacements for most applications. LED's are suitable for short on times, use a lot less electricity than CFL's, and, if made properly, are suitable for use in locations that vibrate.
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