Efficiency Nova Scotia, the agency responsible helping Nova Scotians reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency, is running a spring pledge program rewarding commitments to energy-saving behaviours with air miles.
“It’s mostly an outreach and education program,” explains Efficiency spokesperson Kevin Harrison. While air travel is the second most climate altering form of long-distance travel (after cruise ships), Harrison feels that air miles are the best possible reminder to do our part to reduce energy waste. That’s because 96 percent of Nova Scotians have an Air Miles card, and are going to use them regardless of incentive programs.
Typical pledges include unplugging electronic devices that aren’t in use, purchasing CFL light bulbs and not idling your car. Harrison says the focus is on things we do everyday, whereas most people fly no more than a couple of times a year.
Efficiency is tracking how many pledges it receives. Each participants gets 25 free air miles, and can get another 15 by sharing information with friends via Facebook. “Air Miles approached us with the idea,” Harrison says. “There is an impact in all we do, but the more we reduce that the more we do for the environment.”
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2012.
How many people actually use their Air Miles to purchase flights? I don’t think I know anyone who ever has.
For the most part, people I know either bank them forever with no end in sight, or buy trinkets from the Air Miles site.
You guys are reaching with this one. Actually your editor is since he/she clearly didn’t read the article before giving it a headline. As pointed out in the comment above, Air Miles can be used for more than just flying. You can use them to purchase goods or donate them to charity for instance.
On top of that this article is not timely at all. This pledge campaign ended on June 21st and you’re just catching onto it now?
I use my miles to buy groceries. People can also use money to buy plane tickets. Does this editor dislike mony too?
This is pretty pathetic. Coast you can do better
I think we should be questioning a few things about this program if this is true. Efficiency Nova Scotia gets a bulk of their funding from the taxpayer in form of percentage of the power bills and if that was to be why would we pay to have airmiles?
Also to have 96 percent of nova scotians to have a air mile card would mean that everybody from 8 years and up would have one this is either a typo or Mr Harrison is lying!
Sorry to see this program by Efficiency NS as it simply replaces one problem with another. Substituting environmentally unsustainable practices with, say, environmentally unsustainable travel/chotskies is akin to rewarding smoking cessation with free booze. Replacing one vice with another hardly makes us, or our planet, healthier. Nice try, Efficiency NS, but you missed on this one.
hubtoo: 96 percent is indeed the figure Harrison gave me.
Mr. Benjamin. As the writer for this article maybe you should question him on this percentage. Remember in gov’t a lie left unanswered for 24 hours becomes truth!
Come on folks, obviously he was referring to adults. That seems pretty obvious to reasonable people.