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I wish I’d done this ages ago

May 11, 2008

I picked up a Efergy real-time energy meter for £39.95 from Maplin. At this kind of price it finally seems worth it, and after bringing it home and quickly installing it, I’ve now got a sense of how much power the house uses. I’m very happy with it so far, easy to use and nice clear display. It sits in the kitchen.

With all the lights off and the fridge idling, there’s still a little over 100W needed to keep the place running, which is mad. That is going to be a bunch of plugpack transformers (wall warts) that are just making heat while doing nothing. More of those are going to get switched off now.

Turning on the kettle is a shock. I know the kettle is going to use up energy like mad, but watching the display go from 0.100 kW to 3.100 kW was more shocking than I expected.

We’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping this will give us all enough awareness to drop our consumption of electricity about 20%.

Filed Under climate crisis, energy mgmt, environment · Leave a Comment  

Free tech resources for social/eco enterprise - and others

February 27, 2008

Social enterprises and non-profits need all the help they can get. These times require us to think smart and work together like never before.

This year we plan to give this sector even more leverage. Thank goodness hyperlinks subvert heirarchy and web 2.0 allows smaller or less resourced organisations to take on the Goliath of global warming and social justice.

Larger organisations within the sector like Greenpeace and Oxfam are already doing good stuff with blogging. (I wonder if they are aggregating and editing together blog posts coming from around their stakeholder blogosophere? Might be nice for bloggers to see their posts featured on the “mother ship” and get some cred, hits and feedback that way…)

To start the ball rolling, here is a solid list of technology-based resources to help you take action, no matter what your budget is.

Conduct research

  • Survey Monkey - is our preferred tool so far. Lets you design, collate and analyse up to 10 questions for zip. Any other recommendations, just leave us a comment and we can update this post.

Fundraising

Build & host a blog/website

With a wide range of templates to chose from and inbuild content management, you can build, host and maintain your website with a £0 budget. If you need training or support, we can offer it, specially designed for you in dialogue with your sector. Apply for a free or subsided place on our tailored training programme if you are a micro enterprise poised to make a big difference. Just drop me a line.

Even with training included, your total outlay over the first two years might be half the cost of a simple custom built website, with nearly no ongoing costs. Whenever you want to change the site, you have the power to do it. In an instant. In your own way, in your own time.

Web 2.0 tools built to fit your ideas

Understanding Social Media

E-books, blogs, events

  • Authentic Blogging - search around this website to find out about blogging and other social media stuff. Our e-book on The Essence of Authentic Blogging is a good place to start. We will be doing a range of speaking engagements within social & environmental enterprise networks this year, so let me know if you want to go on the mailing list (website upgrade coming soon with subscribe for newsletter) or feel free to invite me to speak at your event.
  • Nixon McInnes - e-books on social media, RSS, etc plus their blog and regular speaking engagements.
  • Geek Habits for Non Geeks - will be veery useful. First one is on 13 March in Brighton, but register on upcoming to be kept in touch.
  • Video Blogging - a monthly free event (in Brighton) to find out all about the wonderment of video blogging. If you want to get started right now, check out Free Vlog.
  • Loads more around and regular, often free, events to support your learning and networking. Go along and see what budding talent you can find to help realise your dreams. Key word search Upcoming no matter where you live or just keep your ears and ears open. Getting an RSS feed from this blog will help you keep in touch too.

Online (dialogue) marketing

  • Video blogging - If you haven’t yet got the equipment or skills to produce simple, short video clips (and even a mobile phone camera might do), then get in touch with Beth Tilson and find out all about Video Blogging while you are at it. Beth’s sessions will be monthly, so get in touch and ignore the dates on upcoming.
  • Facebook Causes - love it or hate, it’s hard to deny the ongoing power of Facebook. Many causes have been fought and won with the help of Facebook. Decide for yourself.
  • Google Adword Grants - can take them a while to get back to you (we’ve heard 6 months!) but if you are planning a campaign in advance there’s no harm in trying.

Note re: blogs vs adwords and search engine optimisation - We still think an effective blog that optimises for the key words that matter to you is better than adwords, but that can take time to build up. Although one recent Authentic Blogging “graduate” reached No. 1 for her search in a few weeks with only a few posts! All depends on what your niche is.

All ’round good guys to know

  • Tactical Tech is an international NGO working at the intersection of advocacy and technology. They use their technical expertise to increase the impact of campaigns in social justice and human rights, but their resources are widely applicable. Lots on their website to explore. Work with Internet Artizans.

The list goes on and on. Many thanks to Jill for many of these. Just goes to show that posting a useful comment can really help grow a conversation.

More here at the ever wonderful Skoll Foundation… You have to subscribe to the Skoll newsletter. It is always helpful and let’s you see you are SO not alone in wanting to make a positive difference.

More resources for social/eco enterprises on Authentic Blogging…

Filed Under edfeature, social/eco enterprise · Leave a Comment