You can install a Geyser Blanket yourself which is relatively quick and easy, or hire someone to do it for you. Costs range from about R60 – R500 depending on whether you are buying one yourself or not. That’s very cheap considering you’ll be saving between 10-20% of your electricity bill every month!

If you want to install it yourself you can buy a kit from any major Hardware store around the country

Why should you buy a geyser blanket?

• A geyser blanket is proven to save up to 1 800kw/h per year! (depending on the size of your geyser)
• Reducing your homes electricity requirements, reduces your carbon footprint and therefore directly benefits the environment
• It is a once off installation with no maintenance or ‘’check ups’’ required for the rest of your geysers life!
• Geyser blankets are endorsed by Eskom

Have a look at our Shop to buy one today and sign up for the Challenge below:

• In South Africa an average of 13 million printer cartridges are used each year, with at least 80% of these going straight to landfill once empty
• Empty printer cartridges are a hazardous waste and in addition the plastic casing takes years to decompose

OUR CHALLENGE: get your school, office or community involved in aiming to prevent 30% of the cartridges South Africa uses from going to landfill by December 2012

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SIGN UP TO GREEN OFFICE NOW – FREE Nationwide collection

Our Challenge to you is to Boycott Bottled Water – this means no buying it in shops or restaurants, here are some reasons why:

YOUR HEALTH:

• Plastic Bottles are made up of: Polycarbonates, Polypropylene, High-Density Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate (of course there are many variants)
• This is the effect on your body: asthma, birth defects, cancer, chronic bronchitis, deafness, diabetes, genetic changes, hyperactivity, indigestion, infertility, liver dysfunction, obesity, skin diseases, skin rashes, ulcers, vision failure
• Not only do you pay for this but you probably can’t tell the difference between Tap Water and Bottled Water

THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year
• That plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce
• Over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away and end up in Oceans and Landfill, thus releasing the poisonous chemicals in the plastic into the Earth
• Plastic waste in the Ocean is now at such a volume that the size of it is bigger than Texas!
• Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity’s most precious resource (and yet we ship water around the world)

ALTERNATIVES:

• Buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it instead of buying new Bottled water all the time
• Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparkling fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost

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• The average brown-bag lunch from home generates 29 kg’s of garbage per child per school year
• Lunch waste is 1/3 plastic, 1/3 paper, and 1/3 food
• Waste-free lunches cost almost 40% less to make than lunches filled with pre-packaged foods

This Challenge is for all of you who pack a lunch for work or school each day, either for yourself or for someone in your family. It’s time to cut the carbon waste out of your midday meal. If you haven’t given much thought to making waste-free lunches for yourself or with your family, here are a few suggestions about where to start:

• The first thing you need is a good, reusable lunch bag. Your new bag doesn’t need to be hard-sided; you’ll be packing the squishable food in sturdy containers that go inside the bag.
• Next you need sturdy, washable containers to replace the plastic bags or aluminum foil you’ve been using for sandwiches and other foods. Remember that it’s better to reuse containers you already have than to buy new ones; that way you aren’t responsible for the energy and carbon dioxide associated with the manufacture of the new container
• If you find that you do need to buy new containers, you have choices. When buying plastic containers, look for products that say on the label that they are BPA-free. (Bisphenol A or BPA is a plastics additive that has been in use since the 1930s. Recently, BPAs have been in the news as a possible serious health risk. If the scientists and government safety organizations can’t agree on it, it seems smart to just avoid it.)
• Once you have the washable containers, you need to get the food to put in them. Buy large bags of chips and then pack smaller portions in your washable containers. Buy large tubs of yogurt and spoon a single serving into one of your washable containers instead of taking individual, pre-packed yogurts. Loose granola in a container replaces a pre-packaged granola bar
• After the food comes the drink. Don’t pack juice boxes. Those antiseptic drink box containers (containing either juice or milk) are almost impossible to recycle. Many communities don’t even try. So it’s time to find a refillable drink bottle that will fit in your lunch bag. Check your cupboards. Again, it’s always better to use something you already own rather than buy something new. If you do need to buy a new refillable drink bottle, either look for refillable plastic bottles certified to be BPA-free (the CamelBak Better Bottle or newer products from Nalgene) or look for a stainless steel or aluminum bottle
• Don’t forget utensils! You want to replace the disposable plastic forks and spoons with reusable, washable utensils like the ones you use at home
• Finally, pack a cloth napkin with your lunch instead of a paper napkin. Bring it home and wash it with your laundry
• Small businesses often have kitchens with dish washers. If you and your colleagues all bring in extra mugs, plates, and metal utensils from home for the office lunchroom, none of you will have to bring any from home each day! And remember, if you have plates at the office, you don’t have to take paper plates and plastic utensils from the restaurant when you bring in that pizza and salad for lunch

Many colleges, school systems, and individual schools are having success with waste-free lunch programs. Visit Waste Free Lunches to get ideas about how you can launch a program in your school, business or community.

Check out PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD TAKING UP THE CHALLENGE

Extra Reading:

Much of the disposable garbage in a lunch bag (including the bag itself) is paper and plastic. Like all manufactured products, the manufacturing of paper and plastic wrappers and containers used in the typical bag lunch is a source of greenhouse emissions. Most often, fossil fuels are burned to create the energy needed to initially manufacture the paper and plastic, to create packaging from the paper and plastic, and then to actually package food in the paper and plastic. There’s also the fossil fuel needed to transport the raw materials or manufactured from one place to another. And burning fossil fuels leads to the release of carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere. If we can reduce the amount of paper and plastic we use by reducing the disposable garbage in our lunches, we can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions.

WRAPPINGS:

Instead of buying wrapping paper that will be thrown away as soon as it’s been used – wrap your presents in Newspaper decorate the package with items found around the house (and the bottom of drawers) like old shoestrings or ribbons from last years presents

CARDS:

Try opting for an emailed card (Blue Mountain, Amazon.com, Someecards.com) instead of a paper one, lets be honest they get thrown away anyway. If you MUST buy a card then consider ones that donate a portion of their sales to charity, or try a card that has been made from recycled seed-paper

TREE:

Here’s the big one, if you use a fake tree then well-done, they aren’t exactly biodegradable but they will be used year after year (donate them to your kids so they last even longer!). If you choose to use a live tree then buy a re-plantable one that stay’s in it’s pot and is planted into the earth after xmas

LIGHTS:

If you are shopping for new xmas tree lights buy LED ones that last forever and if one breaks the rest still work. If you use your regular ones be sure to monitor their on time, some families leave them on for days on end, morning and night. The lights might be pretty but climate change isn’t

GIFTS:

If you are giving or receiving a gift chances are you don’t really need anything. If you don’t want more clutter or things that you will never use then ask family to rather make a donation to a favored charity – after all that is the true spirit of xmas

SPRING CLEAN:

There are many families in need who would greatly appreciate any donations you may have in the form of old toys, clothes or kitchen appliances (and more). Get the family together, sort through your old things and give a true gift this year. Please don’t forget the animals, they also need blankets, food and love

Almost every person on our beautiful planet loves animals – and pretty much all of us either have pets or wishes that we could. But when we travel, they have to stay behind, or be subjected to the stress of traveling in the cargo hold. Wouldn’t it be great if our small pets could travel just like any other passenger? Summer holidays by the sea won’t mean leaving half the family behind or being forced to drive.

All over Europe and America this is an every day occurrence, lets get South African airlines up to scratch (excuse the pun)

Fill out the survey below and please forward to your friends! Lets make Pet Air happen!

Commit to taking the bus at least one day a week and send us your photos to inspire your fellow South Africans

Helping you join the Challenge:

• To view the bus and train route click here (select the ‘bus route’ button on your right)
• To view the prices click here
• To view the timetable click here

You can comment below or send your photos to our FaceBook page

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Have you got an idea to reduce the effects of Climate Change? Submit your idea and stand in chance to win great prices with Don’t Be A Passenger

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All you have to do is capture change where you see it
(and hopefully you’ll be creating some of that change yourself)

Send us mobile uploads of pictures or video

Share your experience of change taking place around you. Take it one step further and challenge those around
you to take some action as well

• Which Restaurants are still serving plastic bottled water?
• Who did you see leaving the light on or not switching off their computer?
• What about the stranger you see picking up a piece of litter?
• Which companies leave their lights on at night?
  

WE WANT TO KNOW

You can comment below or upload your pictures or video to our FACEBOOK wall

The 2010 Climate challenge builds on the 2009 Climate challenge and through a collective effort now extends the challenge to all South Africans. In partnership these 10 organisations will pool their efforts to inspire their networks to help build a groundswell of forward thinking South Africans committed to changing the way they live today in order to be ready to respond to future challenges of climate change.

THE 10 PARTNERS ARE:

• Project 90 by 2030
• I am changing the world
• 350.org
• Wild Life & Environment Society of SA (Wessa)
• Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN)
• Urban Sprout
• Green Office
• Activist!
• For love of water (FLOW)
• Ms Earth South Africa
• Oxfam International

Have you got an idea to Cut Carbon?
Send us your ideas by filling out the form below

We will collect all submissions, follow up with entrants on their progress and request you to send in proof of your having achieved your objective by the end of the Challenge. Prizes that can help you to further reduce your carbon footprint will be awarded to the best achievers at the end of the Challenge

If you commit to undertaking a challenge that can be measured, we will follow up on your progress and check whether you’ve achieved your objective by the end of the Challenge. …

If you want to be kept updated on the progress of the campaign, please subscribe to one of the mailing lists below

BE PART OF THE CHANGE

Changing how you live now impacts your environment’s future. Four South Africans took this to heart by developing Joule, Africa’s first battery-powered car with zero carbon emissions

By taking just four minutes to watch this video, and then sharing it with others,
you too can make a change for the better

WHAT CAN I DO?

There are many actions you can take to change the world, start with educating yourself by watching
our video, submit your Idea below or Evolve your thinking and win a trip to the Arctic

Dontbeapassenger is a project that celebrates the people who make a difference to our society and our environment, driven by Optimal Energy, the company behind South Africa’s first electric car. Individual efforts, big or small, collectively can accomplish extraordinary change and have a real impact on the future of our planet.

We know that everyone can play a part in advancing the movement, from large corporate companies committing to environmentally friendly practices, to small families using energy efficient appliances in their homes. Optimal Energy has taken action through the groundbreaking engineering of Joule, a battery electric car with zero carbon emissions. The company’s founding members recognised the urgent need for an alternative to traditional urban transport – a prime source of pollution and an wasteful use of energy.

Through Joule, Optimal Energy wants to establish and expand an electric vehicle industry in South Africa, empowering our people to reduce their personal carbon footprints and adopt radically greener lifestyles.

Dontbeapassenger is a communication platform for Optimal Energy. We seek to foster a vibrant online community of green-minded individuals and spark progressive discussion and fresh ideas. With special interest pieces, informative articles, interviews and competitions, dontbeapassenger highlights and explores environmental issues and invites users to get involved by commenting or contributing their own material.

To be a part of the movement and find out how you can make a difference visit dontbeapassenger.com. You can also check out our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter