We're in a great position to help people do something for the environment, because we communicate directly with one in three homes across the UK. We've got a lot of ideas that we'd like to tell you about. And we hope that some of them will inspire you to do just that little bit more to make our planet a better and safer place for future generations.
Carbon calculator
In November 2006 we launched our online Carbon Calculator. This calculator gives customers a guide to their household carbon emissions, as well as tips on how to reduce these ... and their bills.
Over 20,500 people have used the calculator. Try it for yourself.
On screen
We’re increasing the number of TV programmes on environmental topics.
Sky News has a dedicated environment correspondent, Catherine Jacobs.
In January 2007 Sky News broadcast a week of special reports called Green Britain - The Big Picture. There was also an interactive climate change map on the Sky News website. These gave a snapshot of climate change in the UK, with practical advice on how to make a difference. The broadcasts reached almost 3.3 million people.
One year on, Sky News returned to a school and family in Lutterworth to track the results, and reported significant savings in energy and money and a reduction of over 14 tonnes CO2e.
We have also developed the first carbon positive TV production. Sky One and Tiger Aspect Productions produced Final Chance to Save and offset twice the amount of emissions used to produce the programme via the World Land Trust.
Lighting the way forward
In 2006 a group of Sky field engineers gave customers energy efficient light bulbs and tips on how to reduce energy at home. Of these customers, 90% said that they were using, or planned to use, the light bulbs and 71% said they’d like to hear more about saving energy.
Together
In April 2007 Sky and other businesses joined Tony Blair to unveil ‘Together'. This campaign unites business, communities, government and the media to offer lower carbon products and services to customers.
Sky's commitment focuses on the efficiency of the Sky box and encouraging consumers to switch their set top boxes to standby. Read More.
'Together' is headed by The Climate Group and is endorsed by the Energy Saving Trust and other environmental groups. Visit the Together website for more information.
Inspiring consumers through events
Sky, the British Council of Shopping Centres, and Business in the Community developed a shopping centre exhibition to inspire customers to take positive steps to reduce their environmental impact. The exhibition was launched in March 2007 by HRH The Prince of Wales and had a national tour, reaching approximately 12 million people.
In January 2007 we held an event at the Violin Factory in London, hosted by environmental lifestyle experts and attended by over 70 consumer journalists. The event gave them information on how to communicate climate change to their readers.
At The Hay Festival in 2007, Sky, Arts & Business Cymru and Hay worked together to provide inspiration through lectures, debates and exhibitions. We also provided a ‘Lower Carbon Lifestyle Home’, which had well over 6,650 visitors during the festival. In 2008, to enable visitors to leave their cars behind, we provided The Hay Festival with a Sky Shuttle Bus. Our environment partner Global Action Plan also went along with their carbon gym, and we sent The Bigger Picture Pod for visitors to measure their carbon footprint.
Rough guide to saving energy
A Rough Guide to Saving Energy and Reducing Your Carbon Footprint was produced in association with Sky. 100,000 free copies of the book were given away as part of a promotion with The Times. The guide is a useful handbook, showing how to make a difference to the environment and save money at the same time.
Download a copy of the Rough Guide to Saving Energy.
National advertising
In 2007, we’ve run a series of advertisements on air and in print to encourage our customers to do something for the environment. In these ads we’ve asked customers to put their set top box on standby when it’s not in use, and we covered a series of topics including recycling, travel and energy use at home.
Knowledge sharing
We’ve taken a leadership role in the debate on climate change with key speeches from prominent Sky people, and we’re sharing the experience of trying to be greener with other companies.
On 1 May 2007 Sky supported the May Day Business Summit on climate change held at St James’s Palace and regional events within the UK. This event, hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales, brought together over a thousand of the country’s top businesses to create a single action plan on climate change. Sky also supported the 2008 May Day Business Summit on climate change and was the broadcast partner for the event.
Sky is also a member of the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change. They’re working with the government to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and are actively encouraging others to join in. The group is made up of national and international businesses, and their overall aim is to put pressure on the government to develop long-term policies for tackling climate change.
On the 27 October 2008, our CEO, Jeremy Darroch, spoke and took part in a Q&A with Ed Milliband at KPMG’s ‘Taking the lead’ event on climate change. Jeremy had been invited to the event to share Sky’s experience so far of taking action on the environment with others who are at the beginning of the journey.
Recognition
Our national advertising in 2007 won us the 2007 Green Award for Best Integrated Communications Campaign. The award recognised our efforts to encourage consumers, employees and others, to adopt greener lifestyles.
In 2007 we were recognised for our work in trying to reduce our carbon footprint and in talking to our customers about tackling climate change. HRH The Prince of Wales, and former US Vice President Al Gore, presented us with the Business in The Community (BITC) Man Group International Climate Change Award.
Sky’s use of hybrid and low carbon transport within the business won us the Energy Saving Trust Fleet Heroes award in November 2007. We were awarded first place for leading the way within the fleet industry and runners up for the award for large fleet size over 500 vehicles - with 108 vans running on bio-diesel, an electric van being trialled, and a number of hybrid vehicles in use.
In December 2007 Sky won a "Highly Commended" for Energy Efficient Services in the National Energy Efficiency Awards for the roll out of Auto Standby on Sky set top boxes. Auto Standby ensures that set top boxes go into standby mode when they are not being used overnight, thus reducing their energy consumption.