Retailers told to close the door this Christmas

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While it may seem like an obvious way to save energy, a group of Cambridge residents is encouraging Christmas shoppers to close the doors of retailers this Christmas in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.

The Close the Door campaign originated in Cambridge in the United Kingdom and has since then spread across the country, but its message - shut the door and save energy - is one that is universally applicable.

The campaigners are simply urging both retailers and shoppers to close the doors of the shops, thereby saving energy and reducing the shops' carbon footprint. The campaign has been covered in the British media and has attracted the attention of several members of Parliament.

A study associated with the campaign and conducted by the University of Cambridge found that the average daily energy consumption of a shop with its doors open was 125kWh, whereas if the same shop closed its doors its daily energy consumption would be reduced to 82 KwH. The study can be read in full here.

The campaign is one of a several recently launched that urge consumers to consider the environmental impact of their actions this Christmas: Buy Nothing Day, held around the world on November 27, encouraged consumers to "buy nothing" in a bid to raise awareness of the waste and carbon emissions produced by everyday consumer products.

Christmas is known as a time of excess; however, a number of organizations such as Energy Saving Secrets and the US Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) offer tips on how to save energy this Christmas, including switching to LED lights, turning off Christmas lights when in bed and turning the thermostat down by one degree. Video tutorials on how to reduce energy usage this Christmas are also available to watch on tutorial site eHow.

More information about the campaign can be found at: http://www.closethedoor.org.uk

Advice on saving energy this Christmas can be found at: Energy Saving Secrets

                                                                                          EDF

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