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Make an Impact
The program that helps you reduce your household water and energy use and become part of the solution to climate change
Climate change is arguably the most critical sustainability issue of our time. Its effects are being felt around the corner and around the world. And to make a real difference, we all need to take action - on all fronts and at all levels, individually and together.
With households generating one-fifth of Australia's greenhouse gases through everyday activities - Alcoa decided to take action.
Back in 2006, in partnership with our long-time sustainability partner Greening Australia, we created Make an Impact. It’s a program that helps Alcoans and their families reduce their household water and energy use and become part of the solution to climate change. Make an Impact has become a way of life for many of our people. Currently more than 1000 Alcoans are involved -read some of their stories here.
Make an Impact includes our online calculator which generates an action report for each member. That action report gives Alcoans a series of suggested actions tailored specifically to them and their home. The actions are prioritised based on cost effectiveness and maximum emissions reduction – plus there are always some no-cost actions so our people can make improvements straight away without digging into their hip-pocket.
We run Make an Impact workshops across our Alcoa sites nationally, which our people find useful for picking up further water and energy saving tips.
This website is not just useful for Alcoans, but in fact anyone looking to make simple changes to their home or lifestyle so they too can reduce their greenhouse footprint. There’s also an abundance of information on this site useful for school projects including discussion around the impacts of climate change worldwide, and facts on Australia’s greenhouse footprint. Click here for more.
We do intend to roll Make an Impact out to the wider community in the near future, so everyone has access to the full program including our online calculator – so stay tuned for more on that.
As a business, Alcoa has taken a global leadership position on addressing climate change inside our operations, across our industry and within our communities. And it’s important to know that the product we make is playing a key role in being part of the solution to climate change – as a light, endlessly recyclable metal, aluminium is decreasing greenhouse gas emissions across the transport industry. Read more.
The environmental achievements we have made in our own business have been made possible through energy efficiency, productivity improvements, technological innovation and successful partnerships. But most importantly, they have been made possible by the commitment and skill of our dedicated people.
Have you heard of ‘Breathe Easy’?
Breathe Easy is a program which allows Alcoans and the wider community to offset their carbon emissions.
The secret to reducing your carbon footprint starts with reducing carbon emissions where you can, and then offsetting where you can’t – this is where Breathe Easy can help.
Breathe Easy was developed by Alcoa’s signature sustainability partner Greening Australia, with Alcoa as a founding partner. It was officially launched in Canberra in February 2009.
Through Breathe Easy, Greening Australia takes your financial offset contributions and invests them in mass plantings in some of Australia’s most degraded landscapes.
For Alcoans, the beauty of Breathe Easy is that, together with Make an Impact, you can measure, reduce and offset your greenhouse footprint. At the end of your Make an Impact calculation, you will be told how many trees need to be planted in order to offset the carbon emissions which you personally generate. There is a link straight through to Breathe Easy at the end of the Make an Impact calculator – making it nice and easy to offset.
In every aspect of our lives, we consume some form of energy and create an environmental footprint. Whether it’s travelling in the car, cooking, cleaning, working or even going to the movies, we are directly or indirectly emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere - the primary cause of global warming. Don’t forget, anyone can be involved in Breathe Easy.
Alcoans remember …
- There are some things you’ll need, like household bills, before you start calculating. Click here to make sure you’ve got everything.
- We recommend you use the online calculator at least once a year so you can accurately track your progress over time.
- If you’ve forgotten your login details to the calculator, insert your username (which is your email address) and then hit the ‘forgot password’ button - a new password will be sent to your email.
- Why not get the kids involved? Make an Impact is a great family activity which teaches kids about the importance of water and energy conservation, and living green. They’re probably learning about climate change at school, this gives them a way to really get involved.
- For upcoming workshops at your site, contact your Community Relations Officer. They’ll also be more than happy to assist if you need help using the online calculator.
