Understanding the need to have our employees on board in order to support the cultural step-change required to become a truly low-carbon organisation, we established a group of 35 voluntary officers – "Energisers!" – that meet ever three months to discuss actions taken, suggest improvements and disseminate information. These volunteers have been trained and enabled to support carbon reduction within their work areas. Two Energisers, Mike and Amanda, will be recognised in the local community's Support Aylesbury Vale’s Environment (SAVE) Awards for their outstanding contribution to carbon management and several others have told us how increased energy awareness has lead to changes at home, too – including substantial reductions in their own energy bills!

We recently ran a webcast on our intranet to encourage staff to consider energy savings in their areas of work, and to think about adaptations that may be required to their services in a changing climate. Some 41 responses were received and all have been acted upon. A similar webcast by the Finance Director on travel led to a mileage challenge report for decisions on issues such as carbon-centric car loans and annual awards for car shares. We even had staff competing to out do each other on a recent Eco-Driving Simulator challenge!

But our secret ingredient to success? Chocolate! That has been the common motivator to many of our challenges. For example, we left treats on the desks of staff who switched off their monitors when leaving their desks. Give it a try!

Note: Launch Pad, mentioned within the webcast, is a means by which AVDC staff can comment or make recommendations for service improvements, including topical money-saving energy efficiencies.

See also

• Gateshead Council's animated cartoon