What you can do at Work to save the planet
David T. Suzuki PhD, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster.
David has received consistently high acclaim for his 30 years of award-winning work in broadcasting, explaining the complexities of science in a compelling, easily understood way. He is well known to millions as the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's popular science television series, The Nature of Things.
His eight part series, A Planet for the Taking won an award from the United Nations. His eight-part PBS series The Secret of Life was praised internationally, as was his five-part series The Brain for the Discovery Channel. For CBC Radio he founded the long running radio series, Quirks and Quarks and has presented two influential documentary series on the environment, From Naked Ape to Superspecies and It's a Matter of Survival.
An internationally respected geneticist, David was a full Professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver from 1969 until his retirement in 2001. He is professor emeritus with UBC's Sustainable Development Research Institute.
David was born in Vancouver, BC in 1936. The author of 43 books, David Suzuki is recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology. He lives with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, and two daughters in Vancouver.
What you can do at Work to save the planet
by David Suzuki
What businesses can do:
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Purchase energy-saving models of office appliances and equipment, such as EnergyStar-approved computers, LCD monitors, printers and photocopiers. Not only will this help save energy, but it will save money too.
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Design for lighting intensity of 1.0 watts per square foot or less. Over-lighting wastes energy and produces glare.
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Install lighting controls to turn lights on only when needed and to provide the required amount of light. Based in Langley, B.C., Ledalite's office lighting technology, Ergolight, incorporates sensors and computer-based dimming controls to provide significant savings in energy costs. Business customers using the Ergolight system have experienced major decreases in energy consumption, in some cases up to 80 per cent.
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Encourage staff to commit to taking alternative modes of transportation for their daily commute at least once a month. This can include options such as car-pooling, cycling, taking public transit or walking where possible. Visit Go Green to help your company reduce vehicle trips to the workplace.
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Reduce your staff's environmental impacts from air travel by using video-conferences for meetings.
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Create a recycling program and decrease paper use.
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If you have a fleet of vehicles, try to use the most energy-efficient models possible. For example, Novex, one of the Lower Mainland’s largest couriers, plans on converting its entire fleet of cars, vans and trucks to low-emission vehicles.
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Energy-efficiency upgrades and retrofits to office buildings can have long-term paybacks. For example, instead of spending more than $3 million to build a new leisure centre, the District of Mission, B.C., upgraded its existing leisure centre. It replaced the refrigeration plant and hot water boiler systems and installed energy-efficient lighting systems among other measures. As a result, Mission will enjoy annual energy savings of $74,000.
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Visit Cool Companies or Power Smart for businesses to find out how your company can cut pollution and save money with clean, efficient energy technology.
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Manage your greenhouse gas emissions (measure, reduce, offset). Learn about the David Suzuki Foundation's carbon neutral program, and how your business can also support the switch to renewable energy
Encourage your local government to move towards energy efficient communities. Encourage your city to expand transit and other alternatives, make city operations more energy efficient and encourage compact development instead of sprawl. Tips on contacting political representatives.
(Reproduced with permission from David Suzuki's Foundation)
What you can do at Home to save the Planet by David Suzuki