Is it possible to have ‘ethical’ electricity?
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For day 43 of our carbon fast we’re looking at our electricity supplier.
The advice reads “Ask your electricity and gas suppliers if they have a green or renewable energy plan and make the switch to a green plan today.
Bonus: Switch to an energy company that supplies 100 percent renewables such as Good Energy. ”
Well this is something that is definitely on my mind.
I’m afraid that at the moment money talks for me. Although I’ll gladly pay for organic food, pay more to support my local stores and support fairtrade my budget can’t stretch to all the aspects of eco friendly living I would like.
However, we have made one small switch. We’ve now moved to Co-operative Energy. They don’t use coal, but they do support nuclear (unsure how I feel about that at the moment). Although only 8% of their power is renewable they have pledged to tackle climate change and are planning to ensure that, by April 2012, the carbon content of their electricity is less than half the national average.
But do you know what I love most of all? They only have one tariff!
How many times have you felt like tearing your hair out when getting overwhelmed with choice? I’ve sat for HOURS with a calculator trying to figure out the best deal with my electricity suppliers in the past so to have one transparent tariff seems about the most ethical service a company could offer!
I’ll still keep checking the comparative costs of a 100% renewable company because I’d love to support them and switch at some point, but in the meantime I’ll settle for a compromise and with my solar panels at least I feel like I’m doing my bit.
Do any of you use a 100% renewable energy supplier? I’d love to hear about it!
If any of you are interested in the Co-operative, I didn’t write this as a sponsored post, I am genuinely supporting the company – so if you decide to switch could you contact me as I might be able to get some referral loyalty points – thanks!
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As a somewhat large aside 🙂 Here’s a film about the storage problems of nuclear energy (no its not boring, but beautifully filmed). It’s about a massive underground storage compound being built in Finland, to store their nuclear waste. It’s meant to last for 1,000,000 years! One of the questions asked in the film was, what if some future civilisation tried to dig down into the compound! Should we leave some information for them to know what is is or just seal it and forget all about it?
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/nuclear-eternity/4od#3184793
One to add to your list of must watch films Mrs Green?
thanks for this J, I’ll check it out later this week. I hope you are well! 🙂
Did you see Watchdog in the week? They hit the big Energy Suppliers with their complicated Tariffs and huge profits. The total of tariffs has risen from 180 to 300 since 2008! One question in my mind that wasnt asked is what was being done with all this profit?
The big boys in the energy industry should be on the forefront of producing greener energy but in comparison the the profit margins i don’t see much in the way of ‘green’ coming from them!
@Matthew: Hi Matthew; we’re TV free, so I didn’t see it – perhaps it will still be available on catch up somewhere; it sounds very interesting. I’m still very pleased with the co-op and their lack of tariffs; the cost seems really reasonable too
Hi,
I’ve joined Green Energy UK. They only offer 2 tariffs which are 100% green and 100% renewable respectively. It is so refreshing dealing with a small honest company. Only downside is that they only do electricity because gas is not green. I did manage to find a decent separate gas deal elsewhere.
Ironically, I was rather annoyed with the coop. Looking at their website they gave the impression that you could switch either your gas OR electric…but when I rang up they wouldn’t have me on gas only. What a shame! I’m sure they may have good service…but wasn’t given the chance to find out.
@mausy: Hi Mausy, thanks for sharing your experiences with us and what a shame the co-op didn’t work out for you. but it’s great to hear that you have found an ethical company that works for you…