TRURO – Richard Wenzel already does what he can in the name of energy efficiency, but he hopes to do more.
The Truro resident was at the Big Cool Saturday event held at the Nova Scotia Community College Truro campus to talk to experts in the energy efficiency field.
“Unfortunately, the people that are attending these kinds of events are the people that already practice energy efficiency,” he said, while sitting with Lowden Ashley, an environmental educator who looks after a robot for the Resource Recovery Fund Board (RRFB).
“The difference is getting to the people who don’t come to these things.
“We’re doing all the things within our power to be energy efficient. We put out one garbage bag per month because we’re recycling what we’re supposed to recycle.”
Along with recycling, Wenzel and his family try as much as they can to avoid phantom power.
“Even though your electronics, such as a radio, as turned off, if they’re still plugged in, they’re still consuming electricity when the power is turned off. We use power bars for our electronics.”
Keeping lights on or electronics plugged in still costs citizens money, but it’s not just about that.
“It’s not about the money, but when you put it in terms of money, people realize they could be saving money every year all while protecting the environment,” said Wenzel.
In the Wenzel home, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are used whenever possible, however that could change in the near future.
“I’m looking forward to LED light bulbs, but right now they are really expensive,” he said.
The family also uses high efficiency appliances, and doesn’t use a dryer for their clothes.
“We hang our clothes to dry, even in the winter,” he said, adding dryers are the appliance that uses the most energy in the home.
Whenever possible, Wenzel goes without using his vehicle, but when he does, there are a few things he keeps in mind.
“We drive our car more carefully. It’s amazing how far your car will coast when you’re coming up to a stop sign. When you accelerate, build your speed up. You don’t need to accelerate fast.”
While talking with Ashley, Wenzel said the trick is to teach children about energy efficiency so they’ll take it home to their family.
Ashley agreed.
“It starts with the kids,” he said, adding he takes Moby, the recycling robot, to teach students from preschool to Grade 6 about the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and composting.
Ashley told Wenzel about seeing the vehicles idling in a fast food restaurant’s drive-thru on his way to talk to students.
“It was full at 6 a.m. and it was full again at noon. It was like all the teachers at that school letting their vehicles idle all (school) day,” he said, adding he told the students at the school that story.
Wenzel ran into one of the teachers two weeks later, who said her child told her she couldn’t go through the drive-thru because Moby said so.
rtetanish@trurodaily.com
