5th June 2007, 07/177
A swimmingly good way to save the
environment
Innovative leisure staff have come up with a bizarre way to help
save the environment - encapsulating swimming pool filters with
bubble wrap.
West Lancashire Community Leisure Trust is backing the Government's
drive to encourage companies to reduce the carbon emissions into
the environment.
As part of this initiative, staff at the leisure centres at Park
Pool and Nye Bevan Pool have used rolls of foil lined bubble wrap
to cover the facility's six 8ft x 8ft filters.
This idea has helped to save energy and according to the latest
figures has cut the Trust's electricity bills as a result - thus
helping the environment.
Tony Wood, Contract Manager for Serco, said: "The idea was first
suggested at a meeting I attended last year to discuss innovative
ways companies could reduce its impact on the environment. We
already installed electronic timers on all boilers within the
leisure facilities to reduce energy consumption. But, as a company
our energy consumption is huge because we manage large buildings,
which take a lot of energy to heat. We wanted to come up with a
cost-effective way of saving energy, which is why we decided to
cover the filters, pipe work and valves in foil lined bubble wrap
and insulation. As a result we've reduced our electricity usage by
8 per cent and gas usage by 25 per cent in comparison to figures
from the previous year."
The news also coincides with todays World Environment Day (5th
June), for which the theme is climate change and what people are
doing to tackle the issue.
Bill Lloyd, Company Secretary of the Community Leisure Trust, said:
"There is an overwhelming consensus that climate change is
happening but we can all do our bit to reduce emissions of CO2 by
using less energy and I applaud staff at the leisure centres for
this innovative way of insulating the filters to save
energy."
Cllr Rob Bailey, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Cultural
Services, added: "I think this is a great way of saving energy at
the leisure centres and also compliments the Council's own energy
efficiency campaign, which was launched in April to encourage staff
to save energy wherever possible."
Tips for saving energy:
· Only fill the kettle with as much water as you need - and use a
plumbed in water heater instead if you have access to one.
· Switch off lights in unoccupied rooms
· Think about options other than using your car when going out -
consider cycling, the train, bus or car sharing
· Moving fridges a few inches away from the wall helps them to use
less electricity
· Leaving a space around radiators helps them work more
efficiently
For information about any of the leisure centres, visit the
Sports
Centres section or the West Lancashire Leisure
website.
Related information
> Council
news
> Sports centres and pools