[DebF_EONNext]

Happy Friday Community members!!

April 22nd means one thing..Earth day!



Did you know that a modern glass bottle takes 4000 years or more to decompose? Well, neither did we! It’s very important to keep sustainability and our planet in our minds; and Earth Day does just that! Every year on the 22nd we globally celebrate and appreciate our earth, and I would love for our community to get involved too.

Our topic for this month in the community is: community, and I think that ties in with the Earth very well; we are a whole, we make up the Earth collectively. The theme for this year's Earth day centres around the idea of: invest in our planet; this theme is meant to encourage businesses, governments and citizens to act now on climate change and other issues for a sustainable future and I am sure that as a community we are up for the challenge of being more sustainable!

Over here at E.ON Next, we take sustainability very seriously and we have a lot of challenges going on throughout our business! When we produce your bills; we tend to send these via email, this is to roughly save a whopping *twenty-two million two hundred fifty thousand gallons of water! That amount of water is unimaginable at the least, just imagine how much you’d have to drink to match that! Did you know that paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills. This is a harsh reality, one that we all know we can do without!

Outside of our Community, as E.ON Next employees we all work hard to protect our planet and take up a lot of activities that help towards the sustainability of our planet. We have the opportunity to partake in Litter Picking in our local communities, share tips and tricks on being more environmentally friendly & the option of our Next Climate + tariff.

In honour of Earth Day, and sustainability in general, we have decided to test our community to become more sustainable...and we are sure you guys will smash this! .
A challenge for you!

• Use public transport: It's a good idea to leave that car at home and get the bus to work when walking isn't an option! In 2020, the transport sector produced 7.1 gigatons of CO2 (approximately 21% of global energy-related emissions), of which road freight and passenger vehicles were responsible for almost 80%. By cutting this out, you are not only saving on fuel costs but also helping to protect the environment and help our trees to breah.

• Re-imagine your general waste: Anyone can see that the rubbish we produce is a huge problem, we often find ourselves throwing out things we don't need to sometimes. When you go to throw something out; just think ‘can I repurpose this somehow’ (jars becoming spices and pasta containers). There is a lot you can do if you put your mind to it!

• Turn off lights when you are not using them: Leaving lights on can be more of a problem than you think - Leaving them powered on when not needed can result in more energy needing to be produced to keep them running. (So this one is for your pockets too!).

To learn more about Earth Day you can visit here: Earth Day 2023


Together, as a community I don't doubt one bit that we can't do this!
Have you got any tips, tricks or ideas on how we can stay sustainable? Let us know!

Your E.ON Next Community Co-Ordinators

[Anasa_EONNext]

What a great post! It always shocks me when I find out how long it takes for some plastics to decompose - 4000 years! is crazy! and its' something I really need to stay mindful of.

At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death.

I've been teaching my little girl about recycling and caring for the Earth, she recently won a poster competition to keep Sherwood tidy and really passionate about saving our planet. I was quite surprised how many plastics are still not recyclable as well.

Since she started school and covid hit she has lots of water bottles all different designs and we have gotten into the habit of taking one with us for her everywhere we go instead of buying the plastic fruit shoots in a bottle or a bottle of water to cut down on 1 use plastic.

Did you know that only 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide? check it out here 😊

[Andy65]

In the last few years I've had more time to think about things but I think it's turning me into a grumpy old man. Yes things need to change but we won't get very far because no-one seems to challenge anything these days, education is what's needed.

There's been a lot reported lately about the increase in energy bills, such as why has my DD has gone from £150 to £300? The answer should be why were you paying £150? What are you using, how long is your heating on, what is your thermostat set to etc Understand what you're using and why, is a basic essential, as is the cost breakdown.

Another thing I don't understand, or more importantly, is why no one challenges why so many things come wrapped in plastic. Many of us will remember when you bought your fruit and veg from the local shop, nothing was in plastic, it was all sold loose, free of plastic and perfectly HEALTHY! What's laughable now though is that the supermarkets say that they're reducing plastic (barely) but they still package most things that way because they want customers to buy packs of 4 or 6 rather than 2 or 3 etc. The media don't challenge it though and nor do customers. Being seen to be green and environmentally friendly these days must be one of the easiest jobs going.

Another major problem is that the vast majority of us just want an easy life, why lug shopping bags around local shops (most of which no longer exist thanks to us!) when you can get everything in one go from a supermarket?

Remember when milk was delivered to your doorstep in recyclable containers, by an electric vehicle!

I do have one for E.ON Next. I read my Mums gas meter after Morrison Data Services played Rat-a-tat-ginger, to be fair they didn't knock the door but just pushed the card through and legged it). I entered the reading and she received a bill, but I was a bit surprised that her DD wasn't revised as she was a bit in arrears and the Standard Variable had gone berserk. Common sense was telling me that if she needed to pay more then the revised payment would have been stipulated on the bill, as is usually the case I think. A week later a letter arrives to tell her about an increase in payment, so maybe the extra paper, printing, postage, transport etc isn't that important to E.ON Next. I'm not having a pop, I'm just giving another example where it's easy to say a business might be doing something yet reality can be a different story.

Then there's the topic that no-one mentions, the population. I would imagine that any measures taken to conserve energy in the next 30 years or so will have a negligible effect as the world endeavours to cure all ills. What I don't know is that if you went back 60 years would we still see the same level of global warming etc.

I recycle and re-use where I can but I hate wind turbines, they're a blot on the landscape.

[DebF_EONNext]

Hey @Andy65 👋

At E.ON Next as a sustainable brand we are always looking for ways on how we can make a difference. Ideally we would love everyone to be in a position to manage their accounts online that way we wouldn't need to use any paper at all, however understand that this doesn't suit everyone. We do try to minimise how much actual "post" we send out however sometimes our system doesn't always recognise our values & can go a bit letter happy! If we can we will always try to combine & condense what we do send out.

I agree 100% about wind turbines not being the prettiest, living in the Scottish countryside it can be a bit of an eyesore when you are in such a beautiful environment however I do think that I would much rather have these than thick smog from a power station. Although they aren't the nicest to look at when I do see them I always think of cleaner purer air for some reason (perhaps it's just the environment 🤔)

I try to shop local as much as possible & I have noticed more recently that we have more sustainable greener living shops popping up, we have a re-fill shop close by where you can take your reusable tubs / jars & fill up on produce you need, they have everything from eco friendly laundry products to your cupboard staples like lentils & oats etc. Places like this should be the norm however issue I find with this is that these places do tend to be slightly more expensive so it's not an option for everyone especially at the moment with the cost of living. What we need is more sustainable options without the high price tag. Cheaper products shouldn't mean more plastic it seems to defy logic!

[Andy65]

Thinking about it @DebF_EONNext I suppose my dislike of wind turbines comes from the fact that they never used to exist, I don't have the same feeling about pylons, which are more hideous, because they've always been there as long as I've been around. Wind turbines do however generate significant levels of electricity and so are an important part of the future.

I remember seeing a 'green' coffee refill pack in a supermarket, basically the coffee was in a paper bag to refill your glass jar. A good idea I thought until I looked at the price, it was cheaper by a fair bit to buy it in glass jars with plastic lids than to buy it in a paper bag. I think that many companies and supermarkets, are just giving it lip service. If they were really serious, they would sell it cheaper and also force the market to change. None of this is difficult, after all sugar and flour is still sold in paper bags. It seems to me so far that anything being sold that has environmental benefits, carries a premium.

Many years ago (late 80s) I used to frequent an off licence that sold some spirits from a barrel. You took your empty bottle and they'd fill it up with rum or whatever. The point is that it was cheaper than anything off the shelf, but it was common sense back then and not profiteering on the back of being environmentally friendly.

[Tracy]

Untill people realise they can't eat money then I'm afraid greed plays the part even for the greater good wind turbines kill lots of wildlife that belong here too we have no right to play god , if electricity was that hard to supply they wouldn't be trying to make everyone own a electric car it's just illusion to think they are bettering our life's so we keep dancing to there beat , and i have a milkman delivery once a week👍

[meldrewreborn]

The emphasis has shifted to reducing pollution whether in terms of emissions or waste. The trade off is often cost.

I could install a new boiler to reduce my emissions - however the capital outlay would not be offset by the savings from gas consumption, and whether the new boiler would last very long is debateable.

Similar arguments apply to electric heat pumps to replace gas boilers. So when consumers have a choice, cost to the consumer is a major factor. So we go to the supermarket for convenience and price, despite their use of plastics.

So Governments take the choice away from us, hence the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles in favour of electric. When we don't have choice we'll go for the best we can get from what is available.

Change is always with us and we have to adapt. We've all grown up with cars, but it was only in the past 120 years that engine driven personal transport has been around. I grew up without central heating, fridge, freezer or washing machine in our home - these things came gradually. We will adapt over time to the new situation - those who say that this is the end of life as we know it are well wide of the mark, we can change and we will - its only the pace of change that is in doubt.

I read a quote that went like this:
Person 1 "why do we have to change -things are ok as they are" to which the response was -
Person 2 "it is change that distinguishes life from death"

Think about it!

[Beki]

@Andy65 I'm 100% with you on the plastic front! I think @DebF_EONNext answered you really well in regards to the paper statements, and as standard, everyone goes on to a digital format, however we can't 100% switch, as some customer need paper still. Until society's attitude changes, to a more digital focus (like social media) as well as accepting instead of rejecting wind farms, then sadly I don't think anything will change. I find wind turbines quite beautiful, but then I see beauty is most things I think and that's my perspective on life...
@meldrewreborn That quote is very thought provoking! Throughout history things have changed, from adapting from cavemen to the intelligent species we are now, from electricity, to cars. I think in some ways, technology has created a more complex world and is now creating more problems that are requiring us to change back to 'old ways' and as the species we are, we struggle to accept that as anything but failure...

[Beki]

I've just an email from Chris Packham! (I adore Chris Packham!)

He was inviting you to be part of The Big Plastic Count! It's a brilliant opportunity to do something easy and fun that could really help tackle the growing plastic crisis - and I thought that perhaps we could do it as a Community? What do you think?

If you fancy doing it along side me, you can sign up here:The Big Plastic Count

[DebF_EONNext]

I love this @Beki_EONNext, count me in!