I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – it seems that there are days to celebrate just about everything in every month throughout the year.  You have to admire the creative minds and advertising executives who came up with the ideas of Roast Dinner Day (7th), British Pudding Day (9th) and the intriguing, if not potentially dangerous, Hug a Bear Day (7^th)!

However, November is also a time for serious reflection and commemoration – when we give thanks to and remember our armed forces on Armistice Day (11th) and Remembrance Sunday (13th). Read on

Like many of you, and the residents you support we’re all more worried than ever at increasing costs.  I had a smart meter installed at the beginning of November, and it was quite a surprise to see exactly how much energy some of our day to day electrical items were using.  Turning on the kettle for example, made my energy cost jump from 16p to a whopping £1.05 per minute!  I’ve been guilty in the past of switching on the kettle, then forgetting to make the drink immediately, and without a thought would just flick the switch and boil the kettle again 10 minutes later.  Not any more!  My daughter and I spent time over the weekend testing all of our gadgets and electronics to find out which were the worst offenders in terms of the amount of power they use. 

Fridge freezer

This isn’t something we can turn off (obviously), but it did account for the biggest draw of power.   To minimise its energy consumption, try not to live the fridge door open as this increases the amount of work the motor has to do to keep it cool.  It will be a challenge for my daughter to break her habit of automatically opening the fridge door and staring at the contents for several minutes whilst she mulls over what she wants to snack on!

Washing machine

I knew this would be a high user of power, but it was a bit eye watering to see exactly how much the electricity cost shot up when it was switched on.  To make it more economical, I now use it at night when energy costs are cheaper, and use a short cycle with a cooler temperature for most loads. 

TV

This was quite a surprising one.  I’m not a huge TV watcher, but it’s important to get into the habit of switching televisions off at the mains, rather than leaving it on standby, as this continues to draw power.  Apparently, televisions with LED technology use 25% less energy than LCD televisions and up to 40% less than plasma screen TVs.

Oven:

The oven used quite a lot of electricity – so I’ve switched to an airfryer, as this is cheaper to run as a smaller area needs to be heated.  When using an oven, avoid opening the door too often, as each time you do the oven needs to use more energy to come back up to heat. 

Computer

Like many of you, I’m working from home regularly.  I have a laptop that I work from at home, but they do use a fair amount of power – mainly to help them cool internally.  Tips from the industry include reducing the screen brightness, removing the screensaver (even if it is pretty) and switching off additional devices (i.e. the printer, the scanner, speakers…) And of course, switching it off when it is not being used. 

Heating

This is probably going to be one of the biggest costs as the weather grows colder.  At home, I’ve already turned down the thermostat slightly, and changed my central heating timer so that it’s on for a shorter amount time.  Keeping doors closed helps retain heat in different rooms and dressing in warmer clothes will certainly be the norm going forward.  My daughter grumbled the other day that she was chilly, but I pointed out that if swapped her usual shorts and t-shirts for something more seasonally appropriate, she’d be warmer!  Cosy fleeces, onesies and jumpers as well as slippers that she’s had stuffed in the bottom of a drawer are now being made good use of.  I make sure our home isn’t cold – but it shouldn’t be tropical either! 

Lights

I found two particular lights in my house used far more power than others.  It transpired that I didn’t have low energy lightbulbs in those fittings, so swapped them immediately.  We need to make more of an effort to switch off lights when we leave the room – my daughter in particular is a big fan of turning on every light in the house – a habit she’s trying hard to break now.

Kettle

The aforementioned kettle uses a horrible amount of power – albeit only for short bursts at a time.  However, I’ve decided to make use of a hot water flask when at home and at work.  I boil a full kettle, then fill up the hot water flask to use for the next few hours – which saves me boiling the kettle another 5 or 6 times!  Every little helps!

Overall, for me the smart meter is a really good way of seeing exactly what I’m using (and spending), and will make my daughter and I much more aware of our energy consumption on a daily basis. 

If you have any tips on how to save energy prices at home – let us know.

We all seek to run an organisation that is sustainable. One that can be maintained at a certain rate or level, often one that needs to grow at a reasonable but sustainable level. So, what does that mean for an organisation?

Certainly, it is about continuity in terms of funding and continuity in terms of meeting the communities’ needs. But what does an organisation have to do “managerially” to get there? If we look at capacity building what would be the final stage in that building programme for development? The organisation would be managing resources effectively and efficiently and would be adapting to change through continuous development of itself. It is the second part of being able and having the flexibility to adapt to change and being able to find the time and resource to develop that makes it so difficult in achieving real sustainability.

At Sobus, we have designed a 5 Stage approach to Capacity building: Organisational Development – Sobus

Having met the 4 stages earlier you would be progressing as an organisation through stage 5. These would be the indicators to meet, remembering that many structures would have been put in place during Stages 1 –4.

Stage 5

5.1 The organisation is adapting to the environment in which it operates and uses its resources in such a

way that the organisation continues to develop further.

5.2 Strategic planning beyond 12 months is carried out whereby there is vision, clear organisational

values and clarity about how the organisation will progress and develop.

5.3 Effective measures are in place to evaluate the organisation’s performance

5.4 The Board is clearly aware of its skill set and how it should improve for the benefit of driving the

organisation forward

5.5 The organisation uses volunteers to enable it to add clear value

5.6 The organisation has policies, structures and processes in place for effective people management

5.7 The people of the organisation can provide flexibility to enable the organisation to meet varying

priorities

5.8 The organisation develops its people in such a way that they contribute to the organisation’s own

plans and development

5.9 The organisation evaluates its position and is taking steps to continuously improve

Are you at Stage 5? If so get in touch with Nigel at Sobus for a discussion about how it was achieved and what others can learn from that achievement. Email: nigel.jacques@sobus.org.uk

 

The hub details our own EEDI journey at DSC, as well as listing a host of helpful resources for you, including books, articles and training. There are podcasts, organisational culture articles, mindfulness videos and much more! View it here.