Loxley House

Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Energy Saving Tip 8: Turn off your tap!

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

When you brush your teeth in the morning and at night, do you leave the tap running or do you turn it off? If you do leave the tap on, hang your head in shame! This is something that’s really simple to change and can have a big effect on the amount of water used in your household – if you are on a water meter, it will also help to reduce your bills too.

toothbrush

It is estimated that on average, a bathroom tap will flow at a rate between 5 to 7 litres a minute! If you don’t believe it, try putting the plug in while you brush your teeth and see how quickly the bowl fills up.

If you start turning off your tap, you could save around 20 – 30 litres a day. A family of 4 could therefore save somewhere in the region of 80 -120 liters! If everyone in the UK were to turn off their taps while brushing their teeth, the water saving would be the equivalent of supplying 500,000 homes.

What a waste!

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The photo for this blog post didn’t need much effort! This is the view from the window of my flat and was taken this week (Sunday 9th August).

The building is an old house that has been converted into office space. The light in this room was left on for almost a week! There is a “For Sale/To Let” sign on the building, so I think the estate agent must have left the light on after showing someone around the property.

Cranmer Street Nottingham

We called the number on the board outside the building, but didn’t really get anywhere. The light has been switched off now though.

At last.. a new blog post!

Monday, June 29th, 2009

It has been a long time since I last updated the blog! I’ve been quite busy over the last few months, but I will hopefully get more chance to work on the site over the summer.

I have still been going out taking pictures of companies leaving their lights switched on. It is quite difficult taking pictures, but I have been reading a book called the Complete Guide to Digital Night and Low-Light Photographynight and low light photography which is full of really useful tips.

Primark in Nottingham

Creating and working on this website has been much more time consuming that I first imagined. It’s good practice though and I’m learning more wordpress, php, and photoshop skills. The SLR Cameraslr camera that I bought has also taken a bit of getting used to – I’ve got a hard disk full of blurry and out of focus pictures!

I have nearly finished building the homepage of the main site which I’m pleased with. Up next is writing some content for the main pages!

As ever, please email in or send me links to pictures you have of companies who have left their lights switched at night!

TOYL: Featured on the BBC

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

This week Turn Off Your Lights was featured on BBC Radio Nottingham. The station recently held the Energy Experiment, to promote energy saving across Nottinghamshire.

Andy Whittaker, the presenter of the breakfast show mentioned this site and encouraged listeners to get online have a look. The clip, which was recorded from the BBC iPlayer, is avialable here:

Turn Off Your Lights – Radio Nottingham

The full results of the Energy Experiment will be released in March, but early signs are that it was a big success. Central Networks who monitor the power consumption, estimate that in the between 9pm to 12pm on Wednesday 18th Feb, 1600kwh of electricity was saved.

I would like to thank the Andy Whittaker for mentioning the site, and also thank the BBC for the link on their website.

Please let me know if you have spotted businesses who are leaving their lights switched on and wasting energy! Take a photo and send them in to be featured on the site. All photos can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

Radio Nottingham Energy Experiment

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Radio Nottingham Energy Experiment

On Wednesday 18th February Radio Nottingham are conducting an energy experiment to see how much energy Nottingham can save – between 9pm Wednesday night and 6am on Thursday morning.

If you would like to take part it’s fairly simple – just avoid using as many electrical items as possible during the above times! The experiment isn’t designed to push people to extremes – just make an effort to turn things off that you don’t really need to be switched on.

The results of the experiment will be revealed in March!

I think that the experiment is a really good idea. Household and business energy consumption could be dramatically reduced across the UK if people used common sense and thought to switch appliances and lights off if they are not needed – if only people at Capital One cared!

Honda: The power of not saving electricity!

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

A couple of nights ago I went out with my camera. I felt a bit bad, I had praised the Honda garage in Nottingham for turning all of their lights off, but not featured them on the site.

I went back to take a picture of the garage, but it was a bit different compared to a few weeks ago! This time, lots of lights had been left on!

I’m still working out how to take good pictures at night using my new camera, but this picture clearly shows that the building was well lit!

The garage has an office/admin area in the top right hand corner of the building, these lights should definitely have been switched off!

Photo’s of London at Night

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

One of my friends shared a link on twitter this afternoon that I thought was amazing! The link was for a series of photos taken by Jason Hawkes.

The pictures, which were taken from a helicopter, feature many famous London attractions during the evening or night. The height at which the pictures are taken create great pictures, and the way in which some of the buildings are illuminated during the night look fascinating.

Some of the pictures can be viewed here on Jason’s site, or here on the Boston Globe website.

Please watch this clip from the BBC iPlayer for more information about the pictures:

I liked the section in the video where Jason mentions that all of the lights in the buildings are left switched on despite the fact that nobody is at work!

If you have pictures of companies who leave their lights swiched on during the night, wasting electricity, then please send them in to be featured on the site. Pictures and any comments about the website can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

More Travels Around Nottingham

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

A couple of funny pictures for the blog! These were taken a few weeks ago at the Castle Marina retail park in Nottingham.

I like these photos for several reasons:

  • There is a locked barrier to stop people driving into the car park
  • There is a security guard sitting in the car to stop people going into the car park
  • DFS and Furniture Village are at the opposite end of the (fairly large) car park
  • All of the other shops in the retail park had their lights switched off

DFS and Furniture Village: We’re in a credit crunch – turn your lights off!

Apologies for the blurry/noisy photos. I have recently bought a new camera so hopefully the quality of the pictures I take will start to improve! I am currently writing the content for the main website, which will feature a section on night photography – watch this space!

Please let me know if you have spotted businesses who are leaving their lights switched on and wasting energy! Take a photo and send them in to be featured on the site. All photos can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

Shopping for Cars in the Middle of the Night?

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Here are a few more pictures that I have taken around Nottingham. Have you ever noticed how many garages leave their showroom lights on through the night? I can kind of see the reasons behind it, they want people to look in, see the cars and then go back in the morning for a test drive..

Fair enough, but how many people are walking past garages at 1 o’clock on Sunday morning looking at cars?

These two garages are on Lenton Lane in Nottingham – Nobody dares to walk around there at night! The only people who drive past are doing 70mph on the A52 Ring Road.

Lenton Lane, Nottingham

This is a picture of the Ferrari garage:

Ferrari, Lenton Lane, Nottingham

Here is the Sytner BMW garage:

Sytner BMW, Lenton Lane, Nottingham

I wish that I had taken a photo of the Honda garage. They are located next to the Ferrari building and all of their lights were switched off.

Have you seen any businesses who are leaving their lights switched on and wasting energy? Please take a picture and send them in to be featured on the site. All photos can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

Turn Off Your Lights..

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Welcome to my new blog: Turn off your lights! I’m currently still working on the design for the main website, but as the blog is finished I decided to start using it.

The main website will give people the opportunity to name and shame businesses and organisations who waste energy by leaving their lights switched on through the night when  there is no-one there.

The idea to create the site came last year when I lived near the train station in Nottingham. I would often walk home from town on the weekend in the early hours of the morning past the Capital One offices. I was always surprised by how many lights they had on and no matter how much I looked through the windows I never saw anyone inside!

Nearly a year on, Capital One still leave their lights on! These pictures were taken on Saturday 3rd January, 2008. Admittedly, while I was taking the pictures I did see someone, who looked like a cleaner or security guard, walking around one floor – but even so, that’s a lot of lights switched on for just one person who can only be on one floor at a time!

capital one, nottingham

In kind of a double whammy, I noticed that lots of the computers inside the building were still switched on too! How much power is this (more or less) empty building using?!

capital one, nottingham

More information on Capital One’s attitudes towards Environmental Sustainability can be found on their website: “Every day, we strive to ensure that we operate our business in an environmentally sound and socially responsible manner and seek to raise awareness of sustainability best practices among our shareholders, consumers, associates and suppliers” Really?

If you see any other examples of businesses who are clearly wasting energy then please take a picture and send me photos! All photos can be emailed to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk. If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the site then please get in touch at the same address!