Its purpose is to identify and evaluate the environmental impacts of a product at every stage of its existence from its constituent raw materials to its final disposal and everything in between. At each of these stages, the environmental aspects, such as the amount of energy and water used, are quantified. This would include research, development, raw material extraction, production, transport and distribution, consumer use and final disposal.

Often, we seem to concentrate on the production stage of a process, activity or product when assessing the environmental impacts. However, with examples such as care and washing machines, this production stage may account for only 20-30% of the environmental burden.

After quantifying the impacts, the figures are then used to calculate the associated environmental impacts, such as climate change. Then there is the identification and evaluation of the options for reducing these potential impacts. LCA is often useful for making a comparison between the environmental impacts of different production materials and methods. For example, some people think that recycling is the cure for all impacts, but often the process requires even more energy than manufacturing the product from scratch.

It is recommended to use life cycle analysis when implementing environmental management systems like EMAS or ISO14001, but it is not formally required.

At the most basic level, LCA must consider inputs such as materials and energy, and outputs via emissions to air, land and water as well as solid wastes. The natural progression would be to consider even the environmental impacts from suppliers and contractors.

A thorough LCA should consider the upstream impacts of a product. A system or Green or Environmental Purchasing should be employed to ensure that the products and services brought in meet the existing standards of the organization bringing them in.

Downstream impacts must also be considered by employing a process of Life Cycle Design. The product is manufactured in such a way that resources are used efficiently and waste is minimized on final disposal.

Overall, LCA is a powerful set of tools for quantifying, evaluating, comparing, and improving goods and services in terms of their potential environmental impacts. It does have its limitations in that it can be difficult to implement consistently across the board and over various nations. This will be discussed in later articles. Hopefully, the use of modern life cycle cost analysis software will aid an improvement in consistency in the future.

The use of solar energy in your home essentially relies on the capture of solar energy by solar panels. There are two main types of solar panels which use completely different technologies to make use of the energy from the sun

Solar water heating collectors are panels that absorb the energy from the sun and transfer it to heat water. Such systems can provide over half of a household’s hot water requirements over the year. These can be flat plate collectors which are made from a sheet of metal painted black which absorbs the suns energy. Water is fed through the panel in pipes attached to the metal sheet and picks up the heat in the metal. The system is usually installed on the roof. Alternatively, they may be an evacuated tube system. Here, a series of glass heat tubes are grouped together and are highly insulated, due to a vacuum inside the glass.

Photovoltaic or solar electric panels transform the solar radiation directly into electricity. The variety of applications for solar electric is numerous, indeed large PV systems can be integrated into buildings to generate electricity for export to the national grid. Solar water heating systems have a much lower initial cost to install than photovoltaic systems; hence more citizens view this method of renewable energy as the way to go.

The general advantages of solar energy in your home are summarised below. I have omitted specific installation costs as these tend to change rapidly with new technologies, according to popularity and competition. Similarly, technological advances will continually improve the efficiency of such systems.

Saving Money on Energy Bills

Although the initial investment can be expensive, in the longer term solar electricity is cheaper than buying it from an energy company. In fact once the start up cost has been recovered, the energy is basically free. This is in comparison to paying a monthly bill forever with the probability of traditional fossil fuel prices rising at least with inflation.

Some studies have shown that a photovoltaic system can pay for itself within 5 to 10 years. Obviously this payback period can vary depending on how much electricity your household uses. Others claim that solar panels can generate enough clean electricity within their first 2-4 years of operation to cover their manufacturing costs.

The value or desirability of your home could be improved (or maintained whilst property values decrease elsewhere) by having a solar electric system installed

Financial incentives may be available from the government that will reduce your initial cost. Many governments will provide some kind of tax credit or incentive for people purchasing solar energy systems.

If your system produces more energy than you use, then you may be able to sell your excess electricity. Many utility companies will gladly buy or credit you for this excess electricity.

There is a variety of solar panel systems available, ranging from costing multi-thousands of dollars, to just several hundred. This means that most people with a suitable property and planning permission could have the opportunity to participate to some extent.

Reduced Environmental Impact

Solar Energy is a clean, renewable and sustainable resource (unlike fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas), helping to protect our environment. This is because it does not pollute the air by releasing greenhouses gases, carcinogens and carbon dioxide like many traditional processes of electricity generation. Hence, there is a reduction in global warming, acid rain or smog potential. Also, it does not contribute to the cost and problems of the recovery and transportation of fuel or the storage of radioactive waste (from nuclear energy).

We never have to worry about running out of sunlight or using it all up. Even though it might be stronger and more abundant in some areas of the world, the sun is a consistent power source and hence will never be depleted. This is in sharp contrast to the fossil fuels we utilize now which are decreasing in supply.

Less Reliance on Energy Utility Companies

Solar energy can be utilized to offset utility-supplied energy consumption. Not only does it reduce your electricity bill, but will also continue to supply your home with electricity in the event of a power outage.

A Solar energy system can operate entirely independent and self-sufficiently, not requiring a connection to a power grid at all. Systems can therefore be installed in remote locations. Solar panels can and do work anywhere, even in cloudy conditions; it’s just that their efficiency is reduced. This reduces the dependence on foreign and/or centralized sources of energy, and their related volatility of supply.

Reduced Maintenance Costs

Solar energy systems are virtually maintenance free and will last for decades, often with warranties of around 25 years. In fact they can be simply added to in the future, if desired. Their reliability stems from the lack of moving parts and hence the worry about replacing mechanical parts.

Solar cells operate silently while collecting energy. Compare this with having a wind turbine in your garden!

In summary, by using solar energy to power your home, you are going to save money, be more independent, spend less time on maintenance and be less affected by the inevitable changes forced upon societies by the need to consider our impact on the environment!

ALL HAIL THE ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR ENERGY IN YOUR HOME!

Water pollution occurs when organisations, industry, agriculture or individuals extract water or discharge substances into water bodies in ways that affect the hydrological cycle and cause negative effects on humans or wildlife. This could be by affecting drinking water, dirtying water that humans come into contact with, or causing toxicity to animals and vegetation.

What are the causes and effects of water pollution?

Industrial processes

An obvious cause of a reduction in water quality is from industrial processes. Often the waste discharged has high levels of organic matter that begins to biodegrade (break down) in the water. This biodegradation needs oxygen and so causes the de-oxygenation of rivers and lakes. When materials are non-biodegradable; for example those used in industrial cleaning processes, it can form a foam layer on the water and reduce oxygen levels in the water.

Although in developed nations water discharges are regulated to some extent or other, there is always the risk of incidents, accidents and emergencies that create infrequent but highly damaging effects. For example, toxic chemicals leak into a river or the sea. Also; even when regulated, industry is often permitted to discharge a certain amount of effluent into water courses, often in the form or organic matter.

A less obvious form of industrial water pollution is thermal pollution – when the discharge is of a different temperature to the water body it is entering into. Warm water from sources such as large industrial plants and coastal power stations has lower oxygen content and so will cause a reduction in the overall oxygen content of any cooler water it is being added to.

You will notice that this pollution is generally related to causing a depletion of oxygen or too much toxicity. Both can cause the death of wildlife (or at least the damage of aquatic ecosystems) or make water unfit for human contact or consumption.

Agricultural processes

Agricultural pollution from farming is also important. Modern processes often include the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides that the rain can wash into rivers, lakes and especially groundwater, meaning an increase in the concentration of harmful phosphates and nitrates in water. These nitrates have been linked to causing serious diseases like cancer and together with phosphates also help form blue-green algae in lakes and rivers which unfortunately can kill the native aquatic wildlife. Farming is also a source of biodegradable organic matter from silage and cow slurry that leads a reduction in oxygen levels in water courses.

Domestic Use

All of the waste water that we use in our homes and workplaces has to be disposed of. Whilst some of it is cleansed at water or sewage treatment works to some extent, it rarely returns to the water cycle in a pure state. So all of the waste that we flush down our toilets becomes biodegradable organic matter that uses oxygen when discharged to water courses. Also consider the various detergents we use to clean things with in the home that gets thrown down the sink or an outside drain. It all ends up in the water cycle at some stage!

Oil pollution

A big issue that rears its head all too frequently is that of oil pollution. I remember reading that it accounts for about a quarter of all water pollution incidents. One of the main problems is the thin layer of oil that forms on the water surface. It excludes oxygen from the water, meaning asphyxiation of the wildlife beneath. More obvious is the fact that large animals like seabirds or otters become coated in the oil. This affects their mobility and also the maintenance of their body coats that are important to survival. Unsurprisingly this can lead to widespread deaths and environmental disasters. Oil pollution even indirectly affects large mammals such as whales because the toxic oil kills plankton and other basic organisms that are an important food source in the food chain of the aquatic ecosystem. Although people tend to think of high profile incidents as being the main source of oil pollution, the truth is that the main sources of oil into the water cycle are the everyday operations of refineries, tankers and oil drills as well as poor storage and careless disposal of waste engine oil.

Water extraction

Although we tend to think of water pollution being principally caused by discharges into the hydrological cycle, the extraction of water is also important. If water is taken out of the cycle during the warmer summer months, it can cause a reduction in groundwater and river levels so that any pollution already existing becomes even more concentrated. Both the lower water levels and reduced water quality can cause serious damage to aquatic ecosystems and subsequent disruption or death of wildlife.

Conclusion

For much of the 20^th Century and beforehand, a blind eye was turned to the issue of water pollution as water bodies were an easy, cheap and almost invisible way of disposing of waste. These days; at least in more economically developed countries, there is thankfully more regulation to help reduce or prevent much of the everyday causes of water contamination. Unfortunately, this does not prevent the inevitable major disasters such as those caused by accidents with oil tankers. As population, consumption and the resultant waste continues to grow globally, the issue of how to reduce water pollution will only become more prominent, especially in an increasingly inter-connected world where there is virtually no hiding place for pollution perpetrators from pressure groups.

Air pollution occurs when activities by humans causes the release of substances, vibrations, noise, light or heat into the surrounding environment, where these emissions cause harm to people and wildlife or damage to property or amenities used by people.

In terms of substances, these usually take the form of chemicals, particulate matter and biological materials.

What are the causes of air pollution?

Although air pollution can be caused by natural means such as dust, animals, volcanic activity, wildfires and radioactive decay of the Earth, the main sources of harmful gases, smoke and dust that are emitted to the atmosphere by human activities are; power stations, waste incinerators, motor vehicles, quarries, landfills, fumes from solvents, military activities and industrial processes.

The quality of air can be made worse by certain weather conditions. One of the most common scenarios is a temperature inversion when polluted air may be trapped at ground level under a layer of warm air on a calm, sunny day. This is the cause of extreme smog in places like Los Angeles, where the dirty air released by large numbers of cars becomes trapped by warm air above.

The main pollutants include sulphur and nitrogen oxides that are emitted by anything that is burning carbon based fossil fuels such as oil or gas. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas mainly emitted by vehicle exhaust fumes. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are also important, including gases like methane. A major source of them is paints and protective coatings. Particulate matter (tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in gas) – again caused by the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles and power plants – is also significant. Carbon-dioxide, although occurring in natural quantities, is also released by respiration, combustion and cement mixing. Other pollutants released in lower quantities include Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs – now banned from use), ammonia (from agricultural processes), radioactive pollutants (from nuclear processes and war), toxic metals (cadmium, lead, copper) and odours from sewage, rubbish or industrial processes.

What are the human health effects of air pollution? Does air pollution cause asthma?

There is lots of evidence to support the idea that air pollution is strongly linked to human health problems. This is especially the case in urban areas.

Particulate matter has been linked to heart disease, lung cancer, altered lung function, and asthma. Man made VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, nausea, damage to kidney, liver and the central nervous system. Although VOCs are not toxic in small amounts, the issue is of the long-term compounding effects of exposure. For this reason it is quite difficult to get hard evidence to support any links. Nitrogen dioxide is toxic by inhalation but this is rare. Of course, “smelly” odours are also very unpleasant and must therefore be classified as pollution, but whether this should be considered a legitimate health effect is another matter.

There is certainly a belief that air pollution contributes to increasing incidences of childhood asthma. Recent studies show a relationship, but like all research, it is an ongoing process of providing evidence to support the theory that is difficult to determine for sure because of the complex interaction of other causes of asthma such as genetic factors and allergies.

Noise pollution is another type of air pollution, but is discussed separately on this website.

What are the environmental effects of air pollution?

The most notorious environmental effect is the issue of climate change. Whilst recognising that there is a lot of argument against man-made climate change being true, the logic of how it might occur is as follows. Burning fossil fuels and the clearing of carbon sinks such as peat bogs and forests cause the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This atmosphere has a natural balance of so-called greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane, CFCs, water vapour, nitrous oxide and ozone that keep the planet warm. The release of extra carbon dioxide causes a change in the delicate balance of these gases and traps heat that would normally escape back into space. This is the concept popularly termed as Global Warming.

Although climate change also happens naturally, nonetheless the possible effects are potentially damaging to humans and wildlife alike. For example, a change in weather patterns would affect agriculture and food production; melting ice-caps would cause sea-levels to rise and affect coastal and low-lying areas, reducing fresh water supply as well as destroying agriculture, urban areas and installations such as power stations. Animals would migrate to where they can survive best or else become extinct. And diseases such as malaria that are only found in hot areas would potentially become more pervasive.

Ozone layer depletion is another important effect. Ozone is a gas that forms a layer high up in the atmosphere and protects the Earth’s surface and human beings from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet light rays. These rays can cause skin cancers in humans. The main causes of this depletion are CFCs and other human-made gases like halons. Fortunately CFCs have been banned around the world, whereas not so long ago they were prevalent in aerosols, refrigerators, air conditioning and fire extinguishers.

Acid rain is another issue. Although rain water is naturally slightly acidic, when it reacts with oxides of sulphur and nitrogen it becomes even more acidic. This rain is very toxic to plants and so when it falls it can kill vast swathes of forest or vegetation. Also, when this acid filters through soil or freshwater, it releases other naturally stored metals such as lead and aluminium that themselves are toxic to fish and vegetation. Finally, the corrosive effect of the acid can cause damage to man-made structures made of alkaline rocks like limestone, or metal features.

Conclusion

Air pollution, along with water and land, is an increasingly important issue for human beings to face. Although the writing above may seem to show environmental effects to be greater than human health ones, one must realise that all of the environmental issues will and are affecting humans down the line. The secondary effects of something like climate change will affect our whole survival system in terms of food production, freshwater supplies and where or where not we can live. The health effects of those issues would be huge, even if climate change turns out to be a completely natural phenomenon!

To simplify, local and global environmental issues can be described under four categories; resource depletion, pollution, biodiversity and sustainability.

Resource Depletion

Most people have heard of the concepts of renewable and non-renewable resources. As human beings we need them to survive and progress. Non-renewable resources such as coal, gas, oil and minerals are finite and therefore non-renewable. Once they have been used, they are gone forever to all intents and purposes. Renewable resources such as water, wood, animals and plants can be re-used or replaced.

Globally the world consumes more non-renewable resources than renewable ones and presently more renewable ones than we can regenerate quickly enough. Because of this inefficiency, and especially considering a rising global population and consumption in rapidly developing economies, there will come a tipping point where the planet cannot support the world’s consumption and use of natural resources. This is why it is considered important to preserve those resources through re-using, recycling or greater efficiency.

Pollution

As human beings use resources inefficiently, there is inevitably a level of waste that must be released back to the environment, whether light, heat, noise,or substances. These are released into three environmental media – water, land and air. Pollution can be defined as when these releases harm people, wildlife or property.

 - Water Pollution

Clean water is necessary and vital for human life, but it is also used by industry and homes for washing, cooking, cooling or taking away sewage and effluent. This means that water is over-extracted or polluted.

Over-extraction

When too much water is extracted from the hydrological cycle, whether from streams, lakes or elsewhere; it affects the Earth’s natural water purification process. Pollution concentrations increase during hot, dry weather and wildlife is killed.

Oil, Agricultural, Industrial and Domestic Water Pollution

Oil is very toxic to aquatic and marine wildlife, especially organisms such as plankton that large organisms like whales rely on. Oil also covers sea birds and other marine wildlife and inhibits their survival as they can’t maintain their natural body coat. A cover of oil on the water surface also stops oxygen entering meaning that wildlife beneath the surface can’t breathe and therefore dies.

Agriculture uses pesticides and fertilisers that get washed into groundwater, rivers and lakes. This causes an excessive concentration of phosphates and nitrates that may cause cancer and other serious diseases. Also, fluid from silage has lots of organic matter that can reduce the oxygen levels in rivers and lakes. The reduction of oxygen levels is bad for aquatic wildlife.

Industry emits waste water (effluent) into water courses. If it is organic, again it causes deoxygenation, whilst if it is non-biodegradable the foam can reduce oxygen entry to the water course. If the effluent water is too warm it will also reduce oxygen content.

 - Land Pollution

Land pollution can be particularly damaging to humans if it incorporates toxic substances that can be inhaled, ingested or contacted with the skin. If this toxic material is filtered through the land it can enter water supplies, affecting humans and wildlife that use it. It can also give off gases when decomposing, causing air pollution.

Land Pollution includes; illegal dumping (fly-tipping), landfill sites, waste tips from industry, and contaminated old industrial sites.

 - Air Pollution

Motor vehicles, power stations and industrial processes emit dust, smoke and harmful gases into the atmosphere. This might cause increased childhood asthma as well as general breathing difficulties. This is more pronounced in urban areas.

Ozone layer depletion

Ozone is a gas found high up in the atmosphere that protects the Earth’s surface and human beings from harmful ultraviolet light from the sun – the type of light that causes skin cancers. It is thought that ozone is destroyed by human-made gases such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and halons, many of which have been banned in some countries these days. Typically they are/were found in aerosols, refrigerators and air-conditioners.

Acid Rain

When fossil fuels like coal or oil are burned, they release oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. When these oxides react with rainwater it increases the acidity of the water. When this rain falls it can directly kill forests and vegetation, as well as releasing toxic metals in soil and surface water.

Noise pollution

When noise is unwanted or harmful to humans it can be said to be pollution. Commonly this is emitted by road and air traffic as well as industry and construction. The effect is much wore during unsociable hours when it interrupts the rest patterns of humans.

Climate Change

This is of course one of the more controversial concepts, with whole books having been written arguing both for and against its links to human causes. Basically, the Earth contains greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide, water vapour, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons) that keep it warm. Air pollution through burning fossil fuels as well as the destruction of “carbon sinks” such as forests or peat bogs creates a change in the proportion and balance of these gases in the atmosphere. This stops heat from escaping back into space and so average global temperatures increase, known of course as “global warming”.

Global warming (whether natural or human-induced) is seen as a major issue as it would disrupt weather patterns (affecting agriculture and food supplies), increase sea levels (affecting living places, freshwater supplies, agriculture or vital installations on coastlines or low-lying areas) and spread killer diseases that are confined to hot countries, such as malaria. Of course it will also cause wildlife to migrate to areas where it can survive, or worse still cause extinctions.

It is important to remember that carbon is completely natural and indeed vital to life on Earth and is often naturally emitted by volcanic eruptions, fires and rock weathering – only to be subsequently recycled by natural processes. The problem is when human activities release too much of previously stored carbon to the atmosphere and disrupt the balance.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is basically the number and variety of plant and animal species on the earth. This number is important because of the important services they provide to ecosystems and humans such as: medicines, food, shelter, aesthetics (people like nature and greenery), food and flood reduction (by water absorption).

It is being threatened by several processes including; habitat destruction (e.g. deforestation), invasive species (e.g. the non-native grey squirrel has caused the threat to the native red squirrel in the UK), pollution, population expansion (leading to construction and conflict with nature) and over-harvesting (because of the planet’s growing population putting a strain on existing food resources).

The greater the biodiversity, the stronger the ecosystem and ecosystems are the natural method of the Earth to sustain all life. So by causing extinctions of plants and animals, we are threatening the health and maintenance of all life. Importantly, there are natural resources which we are yet to discover or have not yet discovered their potential to help us. So by reducing biodiversity, humans might just be destroying a life-saving drug or natural fuel that we are not yet aware of.

Sustainability

Sustainability or sustainable development is the concept that we should continue to economically develop, but not at the expense of future generations or the environment. Therefore human beings should not use more resources than can either be regenerated or replaced. Nor should they use resources in a manner that causes destruction to vital ecosystems or creates pollution that causes parts of the planet to be inhabitable for future generations.

Scope of the ISO14001 Standard

The scope of the standard only includes those environmental aspects which the company or organisation can be said to have a control or influence over. It is not obligatory but is seen as best practice to obtain, and a reflection of the intention of an organisation to manage its environmental performance in a pro-active way. This can reflect positively to the various stakeholders or downstream consumers that might interact with the organisation.

ISO14001 accreditation might be used by an organisation to:

- Implement, maintain and improve an EMS where one doesn’t yet exist

- Use as proof or assurance that a stated environmental policy is being complied with

- Show to internal and external stakeholders that there is compliance

- Provide external certification or registration of an EMS

- Demonstrate the status of conforming to an international standard regarded as best practice.

It is up to the organisation to decide whether they want to concentrate on just one or several sections of practice or to adopt a corporate approach throughout.

The standard incorporates the following steps:

Environmental Policy

This is a signed statement of the organisation’s principles and intentions relating to potential and actual effects on the environment. Targets should be realistic and open to public scrutiny, as well as being communicated to all employees and available to the public.

Planning

Firstly the company must identify all of its environmental aspects and impacts. “Aspects” are defined as ‘elements of an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the environment’. “Impacts” meanwhile are ‘any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organisation’s activities, products or services‘.

These aspects and impacts can be direct, indirect, past or future effects. They should also consider normal/abnormal conditions.

According to ISO14001 the organisation should also ‘establish and maintain a procedure to identify and have access to legal, and other requirements to which the organisation subscribes, that are applicable to the environmental aspects of its activities, products or services‘.

The third part of planning is to create the environmental objectives based on the organisation’s significant environmental aspects. Fourthly is the creation of a management programme to state how the objectives and targets are to be achieved.

Implementation and Operation

In short, this process includes the following:

- Organisation structures and responsibilities (who will do what)

- Training, awareness and competence

- Communications (internal and external)

- Documentation (the EMS manual, written procedures and document control)

- Operational control (establishing and maintaining procedures to cover all situations relating to the environmental policy and to suppliers and contractors).

- Emergency Preparedness (to be aware and prepared for the environmental consequences of an emergency situation and to minimise the threat of them occurring).

Checking and Corrective Action

This is an evaluation of the EMS to see whether it is likely to meet the ISO14001 audit requirements. It incorporates:

- Monitoring and measurement of operations and activities that can have a significant environmental impact

- Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action

- Records

- EMS audit to determine whether or not it meets the requirements of the standard and has been properly implemented and maintained.

Management Review

The EMS must be periodically reviewed to ensure its continued suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. Any requirements for changes to the policy and objectives must be addressed by the management.

This article only provides an outline of the requirements of the ISO14001 international standard. It is important to remember that the standard does not itself state specific environmental performance criteria apart from the expectation that procedures that are considered to be best practice be adopted. For more information, be sure to contact specialist ISO14001 consultants or an ISO14001 consultancy.

Instead of providing an environmental audit definition, it is more useful to say that such an audit has several main objectives:

- To verify compliance with any legal requirements. These requirements will obviously differ depending upon the country

- To compare the existing procedures to the best management practices in the industrial sector. What are the strengths and weaknesses?

- To collate evidence on which aspects of environmental performance or related environmental management systems are effective or not.

- To evaluate the above evidence in terms of potential environmental impacts, both positive and negative

- To pass on the conclusions to the management of the organisation

- To provide assistance in improving the systems, compliance and general performance

- To provide environmental awareness to staff

Phases of an Environmental Audit

The audit process can generally be divided into three phases; the pre-audit, on-site audit and post-audit.

The pre-audit is basically a preparation phase when the environmental audit committee or team will become familiar with the existing operations and systems of the organisation. This is a time when all relevant background information will be collated and the actual audit plan will be created. For example, who and how many people will conduct the audit and what will be their tasks and roles.

The on-site process will include gaining a better understanding of the operating systems and processes in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses that are then evaluated and subsequently reported to the management. This will be done by touring the facility, interviewing staff members, reviewing documents and then evaluating and communicating what has been found out.

The post-audit activities include recording and communicating the audit results to management, ensuring that all results are considered and subsequently addressed by the management, and feedback and reflection on the whole process for future improvements. As well as completing a full environmental audit report including recommendations, there may also be a follow-up stage to see if the audit recommendations and actions have been implemented.

There are of course many specific tools and techniques involved in the various phases of the audit. For example, evidence may be either physically seen, documental or just circumstantial whilst there are also the testimonies from staff interviews to consider. In addition, the final report should be written and communicated in a completely neutral and factual manner and avoid making personal judgements. They key points should be written in a way that is understandable to a broad range of stakeholders, including the full recommendations for improvement.

Conclusion

Overall, at all stages of the audit, good and clear communication is the key. Ensuring compliance or adherence to management systems is to the benefit of the organisation or company and clarity will make this easier to achieve. If possible, try and obtain an environmental audit, checklist or example before the process is in full swing.

With so much of our current lifestyle seemingly revolving around technology and therefore electricity supplies, we have become accustomed to using a whole stack of appliances that have caused us to become complacent about our electricity usage. Do you think that it’s time to think again? How many of the things that you use around your home really need to be turned on all of the time? Do you even know which things actually use the most electricity? Maybe there are simple daily routines that you can modify that will result in less use of electricity without any inconvenience. Adapting some of the following changes could help you to make big energy and financial savings.

LIGHTING YOUR HOUSE

The most obvious saving is to actually turn off the lights in a room when it is not in use. If you feel the need to partially light the rooms for reasons such as security, use dimmer switches. If you are actually in the room you turn up the power so it is lighter, if not you reduce it.

If you are worried about security because you are away on holiday, use light timers that will automatically turn on and off at the times that you program them to.

Apart from these, a cheap and easy change is to implement a different type of light bulb. Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) or power saving halogen bulbs are said to use much less electricity than older tungsten incandescent ones. In fact up to 80% of the energy could be saved! If you can’t afford to do this immediately, just do it bulb by bulb as and when they individually expire.

HEATING YOUR HOUSE & YOURSELF

If you have air conditioning, be aware that it can be a big user of electricity, so it really is important to know how to use it efficiently. For example, instead of leaving heating on in an empty home during the day, install a programmable thermostat that can be automatically lowered or raised when you are out of the building. You can even program the space to be warmed or cooled to a comfortable temperature for the time you expect to return.

Windows and doors are the most obvious means for heat to escape or cold to enter, so control the temperature naturally by opening and closing them sensibly. Increase efficiency either way by insulating and sealing the windows, doors and walls.

ENTERTAINMENT

Televisions and home computers are often great wasters of electricity. Turn them off and unplug them when not in use. Even leaving them on standby wastes some energy!

Laptop computers use less energy than desktop ones, but both continue to use energy when left plugged in. So perform a full shut down procedure when away from them for a reasonable length of time. By using a switchable power strip you can also make sure that all other connected or external devices are also turned off.

Bear in mind that using screen savers on your monitor still implies using energy, so deactivate them or choose a blank screen so that they “go to sleep” after being inactive for a short period.

WASHING MACHINES & DISHWASHERS

Some of the biggest wasters of energy are old appliances. Most dishwashers, washing machines and driers have become much more efficiently recently so you should really consider upgrading if you can. You can save twice as much water and therefore energy by using a newer dishwasher.

With washing machines, much of the energy is used in the heating up of huge quantities of water. However, if you use modern detergents you can get your clothing equally germ-free and clean by using cold water. Also, make sure that when possible, you only use the washing machine when you have a full load.

If you use a modern efficient dishwasher properly, it can clean your dishes using less energy and water than by doing it by hand. Consider aspects such as making sure that the hot water tank temperature is not too high, that the cycle period is not excessive, that you don’t rinse before loading, that you have something approaching a full load, and that you don’t use too much detergent.

KITCHEN

As above, consider upgrading your kitchen appliances to more modern efficient models. Older fridges, microwaves and freezers can be big energy wasters.

If you are re-heating food leftovers, a microwave can save up to 40% in electricity costs, not to mention being quicker than heating them on top of the stove. If you are using the stove for small amounts of food, the smaller rings on your stove/cooker use less energy than the big rings without much time difference in the preparation.

You also save power by removing cold or frozen food from your refrigerator a while before your mealtime as you won’t have to defrost it or heat it for as long.

Also, it goes without saying that you should never boil a full kettle for a single hot drink! Only heat the amount that you think you will need.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

If you see yourself in the same home for the long-term, it could be efficient and sensible to switch to a renewable energy source such as wind or solar power. This will depend on the type of property you reside in and planning laws as well as the cost of changing. The inescapable fact is that initial implementation costs are quite heavy, but if you are staying long enough for these costs to be recouped, your electricity supply will essentially be free. Some corporate energy providers even offer to buy up the excess energy from you!

FINAL WORD

Overall, you can hopefully see that saving money on electricity bills isn’t necessarily complicated. If you wanted to, I bet you could do something towards it this very minute, such as switching of a power supply to a computer or television. The important thing is to get into the routine of doing the simple things without thinking and educating everybody else in your household to do the same. Try and explain rationally without sounding like you are nagging!

Remember that every little bit adds up. Why not commit to doing everything viable for a short period of time, so that you can see the results for yourself? By the end of the period you will probably find that you are doing the simple things without even thinking about it.