The "Switch It Off" and "S.W.A.T" campaigns

S.W.A.T. events week: 18th - 22nd October 2010
Switch It Off Week: 25th - 29th October 2010

Switch It Off (SIO) week has taken place each autumn and culiminates in the Big Switch Off on the Friday of the week. In 2010 it was from 25th to 29th October, ending with the Big Switch Off on Friday 29th from 4.30pm - 6.30pm.

S.W.A.T (Save Warwickshire A Tonne) was a new campaign in 2010 by Warwickshire County Council running for the whole year but with a week of events planned for October.

S.W.A.T. is aimed at getting people to look at what they can do to save carbon. This includes saving elctricity and gas in the home but also considers other forms of waste. The target is for everyone to save a tonne of carbon by doing several things. It could include saving water by fitting a “hippo” in your toilet cistern to save 100 litres of water, driving 100miles less each year, growing your own vegetables to save 100 food miles, fit a low energy light and save 100kWh of electricty (a ton or tonne is slang for 100). All of these save carbon and together with other things you will soon reach a tonne of carbon.

Tell Warwickshire County Council what you have done and they will convert it into the equivalent amount of carbon so you can keep a record of your achievementsS.W.A.T

The campaigns take place across Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Coventry and SIO has been running for four years. The aim is to increase awareness of energy efficiency and to get people thinking about the energy that they waste by leaving appliances on standby. The average family spends £400 a year on electricity and upto 25% of this could be slashed by being more energy aware and switching off unused appliances. Videos, set-top boxes, televisions and even the clocks on microwaves are using surprisingly high amounts of power everyday in our homes.

Act on Energy has supporting all of these campaigns, working in partnership with Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Worcestershire County Council.

A variety of initiatives have been carried out; in previous years this has included giveaways in Nuneaton, Bedworth and Stratford, Family Challenge, Sustainability Challenge, School Secret Energy Check, Universally Challenged, Council Staff Switch Off, anti-idling campaign, Chamber of Commerce competition and Children‘s Centres Big Bulb Giveaways etc. In 2008, Dine by Candlelight was launched with great success and repeated in 2010. If you would like to be involved or organise an event for Switch It Off week, please call 01789 842898 for an update on what’s happening this year or use the contact facility on the website.

Switch it Off at Home

Download the below document to see how much your household appliances are costing you.

Energy cost of a typical household

Switch it Off at Work

Reducing your energy bills doesn't have to mean investing in a fancy new heating system or splashing out on expensive solar photovoltaic panels. It can be as simple, easy and free as promoting the message of no-cost energy efficiency measures to the workforce. This can cut your energy bills (and those of your employees if they take similar measures at home) and reduce your contribution to climate change).