HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE EVERY DAY OR DRIVING AWAY

It must be the creeping Christmas spirit. A wave of green ideas is rolling through.

WWF, the World Wildlife Fund, is out with One Planet Lifestyles, a new book about how to better live an earth-friendly lifestyle.

And BP is touting Helios House, a new gas station it operates in Los Angeles that is making every effort to sell the stuff that drives Angelenos (no, not ego, auto fuel) in the most environmentally friendly way it can.

The WWF book is aiming for “a new standard in sustainable publishing.” Intended for use as a non-material e-book that uses no paper or ink, a print version of One Planet Lifestyles can also be ordered. It will be in non-hazardous inks on FSC certified paper and bound by screw rivets (so updates can be added instead of new editions being printed).

The WWF handbook begins with provocative information about its title. The earth’s population is using more resources than the planet has. It is a giant case of deficit spending. If the whole world lived like Europeans, it would need 3 earths. If the whole world lived like North Americans, it would need 5 earths. WWF’s handbook points to simple lifestyle practices that might resolve the resource deficit, and balance the planet budget at 1 earth for the 1 earth population.

The handbook’s top ten tips for the home:
1. Turn off lights and appliances.
2. Use cavity wall and loft insulation.
3. Use energy efficient appliances and bulbs.
4. Switch to a green tariff.
5. Insulate the hot water tank and pipes.
6. Adjust down the thermostat ONE degree.
7. Draft-proof the house and pull the curtains at night.
8. Use a water meter and flush savers.
9. Cut water use on the lawn and conserve rainwater for the lawn.
10. Leave a wildlife area in the garden.

Examples of useful information from the handbook:
1. Lighting is 15% of the electricity bill.
2. Electronics can use almost as much energy in standby as when in use.
3. Efficient bulbs can cut the cost of lighting 70%.
4. A third of heating escapes through non-insulated attics.
5. Double-glazed windows cut heating by 50%.

Helios House is an “Eco-Laboratory” gas station reconstructed on the site of an existing station to include a range of eco-friendly innovations, from recyclable stainless steel framing to PiGNX, a non toxic environmentally friendly gel for keeping pigeons away.

Helios House has solar panels, LED lighting, HID lighting, green roofs, insulation and a water reclamation system. BP saves 16% on the lighting and is therefore able to operate entirely off the power from its 90 solar panels.

Helios House is run by a “green team” that interacts with customers like service station attendants from a bygone era, making sure tires are filled to efficient levels and the station’s special features are noticed.

BP could easily be accused of greenwashing but this is so flagrant it cannot, ultimately, be anything other than what BP says it is, a way of provoking new thinking about what a gas station can be.

More information at One Planet Living

More about Helios House at The Green Curve



Essential reading for low-carbon lifestyle
2 Decembwer 2008 (World Wildlife Foundation)
and
Live Chat About Helios House with BP’s Nicole Dotts
December 2, 2008 (Greenopolis)

WHO
World Wildlife Foundation (WWF); Nicole Dotts, station manger, Helios House

WHAT
- WWF’s One Planet Lifestyles is a handbook for consumers, intended to help readers cut their carbon footprints.
- Helios House is BP’s unique, eco-friendly Los Angeles gas station, designed to provoke new thinking about what a gas station could be.



WHEN
- The WWF handbook’s release is timed to coincide with the launch of its 2008 Living Planet Report, which elaborates on the “ecological credit crunch.”
- The excess use of resources by the earth’s population will require another planet by 2035.
- Helios House has been functioning for 2 years. Its manager expects to the station to pay off all New Energy and Energy Efficiency investments by the time it has been in operation for 5 years.

WHERE
- WWF estimates the earth’s population is using up 30% more resources than the planet has every year.
- If the whole world lived the European lifestyle, it would require 3 planets.
- If the whole world lived the North American lifestyle, it would require 5 planets.
- Helios House is at the corner of Olympic and Robertson Boulevards in the business district of Beverly Hills.
- LA was chosen for Helios House because (1) LA and California are at the forefront of enviornmental regulation development, (2) LA is one of the biggest hybrid vehicle markets and therefore inclined to “think green” and (3) what happens in LA often spreads around the world.

WHY
- The WWF Pocket Guide offers top tips on how to be environmentally-friendly in the home, the workplace, in healthcare, in holidaying and in driving.
- One Planet Lifestyle: Living and working in a way that is compatible with earth’s natural limits.
- The earth’s population presently requires an average 2.7 hectares per person for sustenance at today’s usage but the earth only has 2.1 hectares per person.
- 75% of world fisheries are over-fished and facing commercial extinction
- Half the world’s original forest is gone and another 2% goes every year.
- Waste can be reduced by better design, by reusing-recycling-composting waste, and by capturing the biogas from waste and using it to generate electricity
- One Living Planet calls for sustainable transport, sustainable agriculture and food consumption, sustainable water use and respect for wildlife habitat.
- Helios House is iconic architecture designed to draw customers in to begin the conversation about sustainability.
- Helios House is the first LEED-certified gas station.
- Helios House was retrofitted with only recyclable stainless steel.
- All water that falls on the Helios House site is captured in its canopy and used to water 'California climate' friendly plants. All (bathroom) grey water is filtered into the same cistern system.
- All pumps are powered by the 90 solar panels.
- No air conditioning or heating is needed in the restrooms.

click to enlarge

QUOTES
- WWF One Planet Lifestyle handbook: “…[W]e face a massive global ecological credit crunch. But our debt to the earth is one that no one can afford. This book is about the steps we now can ALL take that can help make a big difference to our living planet.”
- WWF One Planet Lifestyle handbook: “One Living Planet means investing in energy efficiency, and generating energy from renewable sources.”
- Nicole Dotts, station manger, Helios House “Helios House was part of the Beyond Petroleum campaign for BP. It was an experimental project to find a way to revamp a low involvement category (retail gas stations); a little better can mean a lot where people expect so little. It was to bring back that friendly, clean gas station and begin an educational process around green thinking and living a little greener in our every day lives. The slogan is 'a little better gas station experience'…”