Green challenge!
Green round challenge
Arch rivals Essendon and Carlton went head to head recently, but not on the footy field, in a GreenHome sustainability challenge. ACF’s GreenHome team put together the four day challenge which included energy saving actions based around the key themes of heating and cooling, fridges and freezers, appliances and hot water.
To help mark the inaugural AFL Green Round, and raise awareness of the need to tackle climate change, players from both teams fought it out in the home energy saving stakes.
Each day, the players did their best to change their behaviour and undertake energy saving actions, such as washing in cold water, setting the thermostat lower for winter, installing water saving shower heads and cutting shower times, as well as turning off standby power.
While reducing their carbon footprint was a major motivation, we suspect so too were bragging rights between the competitive clubs.
A free home sustainability audit and retrofit worth $200 was also on the line for the house that reduced the most greenhouse pollution.
The challenge was kicked off in the Herald Sun newspaper, which followed the challenge over the four days leading up to the Green Round on 14 -16 August. This meant players had the extra pressure of knowing supporters were monitoring their progress too!
Housemates competing in the challenge were:
David Ellard
Dennis Armfield
Kyle Reimers
Tyson Slattery
Kade Klemke
Essendon’s Kade Klemke was pleased to be doing his part with his fellow Bomber housemates.
"It’s not that hard to make a difference to your home when you think about it and we are happy to be taking part in this challenge."
"All it takes is a little effort and care to reduce the time you use appliances…We are being careful to only use things when we really need too.
"We are also pretty keen to beat Carlton too"
So, who took out the prize?
Carlton took out an early lead in the appliances challenge, turning off the TV and other items at the point, and then extended this in the heating and cooling challenge by sealing drafts as well as setting the thermostat.
Essendon never gave up though putting in a stellar 4th quarter for the hot water challenge changing shower heads and making big reductions in shower times, pulling in the Carlton lead. Unfortunately, for the Bombers though it wasn’t quite enough, and Carlton took out the prize by the narrowest of margins – just 0.8 kg of greenhouse pollution!
Both teams put in a stellar performance, and if they continue their actions over 12 months they could save around $200 on their energy bills.
Many community football clubs across the country are feeling the effects of years of drought, some grounds are so dry, or in such poor condition, that play has been interrupted. In other areas, increased flooding has resulted in unplayable ovals.
Drought will be exacerbated by climate change as we experience less rainfall and higher temperatures and evaporation, meaning more and more community clubs will be adversely affected, with flow on impacts for the whole community.
With this in mind, it was great to see some of our AFL footballers doing their bit to raise awareness of the need to act strongly on climate change now.
Carlton’s Eddie Betts also helped raise awareness of the need to tackle climate change and the Green Round by wearing green footy boots in the club’s clash against Geelong.
Eddie’s boots were auctioned and helped to raise $3,000! The funds will be used to distribute more than 200 GreenHome sustainability kits, helping communities become more sustainable.
More Images:
