Look after nature and look after each other.
At the start of the first lockdown, I was quietly convinced that life, as we know it, would change beyond all expectations. I didn’t bulk buy toilet rolls or raid supermarket shelves instead I bought every solar gadget you could imagine just in case the national grid went down. I think maybe my love of post-apocalyptic fiction took hold and I went way beyond what was necessary.
I didn’t stop at just buying items for myself. I sent my mother who is in her late 60’s a solar charger for her phone, a backup solar battery pack, a solar radio, solar lanterns, and a camping stove. All accompanied by several voice messages on how she had to get ready and charge them all NOW. The reality is she struggles to operate the tv control at the best of times and maybe planning for the end of days courtesy of amazon prime was a step too far.
Thankfully it didn’t take me too long to realise that my prep was a slight overreaction. Despite restrictions, we plodded on with energy flowing to our homes as before.
Try not to panic
Reflecting on the first lockdown nature came out on top. We saw animals and birds simply flourishing as never before.
We are now back in our third national lockdown. Our three young children are all at home trying to get to grips with their online homework and I am starting to get that daja vu feeling that I need to prepare. (I just have that mindset where I need to plan for the future.) I know the national grid isn’t going to collapse. I know we have a vaccine on its way and that we just have to hang on but I have started to overthink.
My panic buying of solar chargers still makes my husband laugh. In retrospect they weren’t needed however, my friend had a wonderful camping weekend with my surplus supply of solar lanterns and camping stoves and my mum still hasn’t quite worked out
how to charge her phone in the car let alone via the sun. The issue I now have is that maybe my instinct to grab solar gadgets as a lifeline wasn’t far off the mark.
Nature and green energy
Nature blossomed in 2020. I recently read Back to Nature: How to Love Life – and Save it by Christ Packham and his daughter Megan McCubbin. Nature did very well thanks to people being locked away. Now locked away again for the third time and working at home I take comfort from the fact I can heat and power my home using green energy thanks to Octopus Energy. I haven’t YET got solar panels but they are on my list along with an electric car. It’s ambitious compared to my Amazon lockdown purchase of a solar radio but I do think it has to be the way to go.
As a family, we can do our bit. I don’t eat meat. We compost our food and I am planning some homegrown vegetables for the summer. I cycle when I can instead of using the car and do weekly beach cleans. We are signed to green energy with Octopus Energy and we trust them to make sure any energy we use is replaced with renewable energy into the national grid.
Octopus Energy fills me with hope for the future. A bold statement about a utility company I accept but if the first lockdown taught us anything it is that nature carries on regardless. The sun will keep shining, the wind will keep blowing and the world will keep spinning. We are hooked on tech. My kids are quietly getting on with schooling right now thanks to it. We have all adapted in order to protect ourselves and now we must do the same to protect the planet!!
Octopus Energy – Go Green.
Octopus Energy loves tech!! They encompass the term digital disrupters. They use technology to reimagine how we produce and consume energy. They want to enable customers to change their usage habits overtime to make the national grid greener and more efficient. As a customer, I feel like I am flying on their coattails. I hope in my own small way I am enabling them to move forward and invest in even more ideas and projects. We have shown we known how to adapt to try and protect each other now we need urgently to do the same for the planet.
Keep safe – Sarah x
How can I get a free cuddly Octopus from Octopus Energy?
Once you have signed up to Octopus Energy if you want to get your hands on a free cuddly Octopus they will send you one in the post, although it can take a few weeks depending on stock. Her name is Constantine. (I am not joking)
Borrow a free thermal imaging camera from Octopus Energy.
If you would like to borrow a thermal imaging camera Octopus Energy will send you one in the post. You can find out where the heat is escaping from your home or workplace. Request one here.
Spin to win.
Also, don’t forget you get a chance to win a cash prize when you enter your meter reading with “spin to win.”
Competitions.
The Green Friday prize draw to win a funky green electric VW Beatle has now ended but keep an eye on their social media for more competitions. (The big competitions usually appear in your Octopus Energy dashboard)
Refer a friend.
Once you have chosen to switch to Octopus Energy as a new customer using a referral link, you’ll be given £50 credit on your first bill and your own personal referral code to share with friends and families. For every person that switches with your code, you both get £50 credited towards your next bill. It takes just two minutes to switch and your code is effective immediately. (I would be delighted if you use mine to get you started, thank you!)
