Case Study - Brickendon Liberty Watt Watchers
Brickendon Liberty, a small Hertfordshire parish, launched their ‘Watt Watcher’s Club’ on April 25th 2009, an innovative scheme to cut carbon emissions which mimics a typical slimming club.
The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle group on the Parish Council were successful last July in the East of England Development Agency’s (EEDA’s) Cut your Carbon competition designed to encourage original community based carbon cutting solutions. The scheme is also being supported by East Herts District Council’s LEAF fund and Brickendon Liberty Parish Council (BLPC).
They have been awarded £6,924 to provide all households in the Parish who join the Watt Watchers club with British made ‘eco-eye’ real-time electricity monitors. Members will attend quarterly meetings, clutching their electricity bills for a ‘weigh-in’ to compare their latest readings with their previous quarter’s readings, and compete to win a prize as the ‘slimmer of the quarter’ for the largest % Kwh (kilowatt hour) household electricity reduction. Members will also be encouraged to share information on what has worked best.
The Watt Watcher’s Club launch meeting took place in front of a full house at Brickendon Liberty Parish Hall on Saturday 25th April and more than 50 of the target 150 households signed up.
John Lambie, spokesperson for Watt Watcher’s commented: “We believe we can set many on the road to significant reductions in their energy bills and do our small bit to save the planet. For a £5 annual subscription members get access to an electricity monitoring device worth £49.99 together with personal instruction in how to use the monitor. Club meetings will be run concurrently with the several other ‘Reduce Reuse Recycle’ environmental schemes in the parish. They will provide a real incentive for people to start to appreciate how carbon emissions are linked to very real expenditure and therefore how best to cut costs. The manufacturers of the monitors state that increased awareness can produce a 15% reduction in bills, particularly in the first year.”
A spokesman for the Brickendon Liberty Parish Council said, ”The Watt Watcher initiative came straight from residents opinions on green energy expressed through a comprehensive survey carried out last year which forms the basis of our 5 year Parish Plan.”
Alex Menhams, Cut your Carbon Campaign Manager added: “Brickendon Liberty’s Watt Watcher’s solution impressed EEDA with its real potential to help people learn about energy use and change their energy-consuming habits in a positive and light-hearted way. It is innovative and simple, allowing many other communities across the UK to do the same.”