<html> <body> <div align="center">Green On. The Online Newsletter of the Conservation Council of Ontario see <a href="http://www.greenontario.org/" eudora="autourl"> www.greenontario.org</a> for the online version and to subscribe or unsubscribe Editor:  Chris Winter, Executive Director Note:  The Green On. listserve is currently being used to promote our We Conserve Initiative Please see <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/" eudora="autourl">www.weconserve.ca</a> for details. <img src="cid:6.2.1.2.0.20051011144801.03288f70@pop.web.ca.1" width=322 height=41 alt="[]"> </div> <h2>“Doors Closed” proves the power of conservation!</h2>We now declare the Doors Closed Ontario! campaign over for 2005… … and the planning for 2006 is now open! Doors Closed was a tremendous success on so many levels. The most important result was that, in the space of a few short weeks, we demonstrated what a conservation movement can accomplish. Over 5,000 posters were distributed by 27 organizations in 15 communities. Five municipalities signed up, as did two chambers of commerce. The poster was translated into French, Mandarin and Cantonese, and Portuguese. Based on the reports from local canvassers, we estimate that… <ul> <li>49% of businesses approached displayed a poster <li>12% of businesses visited had their doors open <li>64% of businesses with their doors open closed their doors when asked </ul> Clearly, the true success of the campaign was in raising public awareness and commitment to conservation. That said, we estimate that the campaign did result in a savings of up to 7 megawatts of peak power demand through store and restaurant owners responding to our request to keep their doors closed. Not bad for $3,000 worth of posters. At a time when Ontario is considering its power supply options, Doors Closed demonstrated the power and cost-effectiveness of the conservation option. In this case, the conservation solution was an attitude change. It cost nothing to implement and would save Ontario up to 200 megawatts of peak demand (40% of the power from a nuclear reactor). We delivered those savings through a public campaign – our distribution system was people and organizations, not hydro wires. Our report concludes that Ontario needs to make an immediate commitment to the conservation option with a conservation investment fund equal to the investment in a new power plant, and an investment in community-based outreach and provincial campaigns equivalent to a new hydro distribution line. Everyone says conservation is the first option. Let’s make it so. Final Report Summary Here’s a summary of our report on the Doors Closed Ontario campaign for 2005 – the little campaign that grew! For the full report, see <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html"> www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html</a> <ul> <li>The pilot year of the Doors Closed Ontario campaign: <li>achieved Ontario wide media support for energy conservation, <li>brought together conservation groups across Ontario to work together on a specific initiative, <li>forged new links between non-environmental organizations, businesses and ENGOs across the province, <li>provided a successful example of “procotting”: rewarding those businesses that are already supporting conservation initiatives <dl> <dd>“The campaign was a great idea to spread awareness to Ontario about energy conservation and a great learning tool for businesses to realize how much energy they were leaking and how much they could be saving. Our members reacted positively with the campaign downloading the poster and were more than willingly to show it off and spread the message.” Ron Moniz Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals </dl> <dd>Media Coverage <dd>The media launch on Tuesday August 9th, 2005 was a great success. Doors Closed Ontario accumulated over 100 media hits. The audience numbers for the electronic media (radio and TV) alone (taken from the media monitoring notes) indicates 4.2 million listeners were exposed to the message. The campaign was featured in over 35 newspapers across the province from the Toronto Star to the North Bay Nugget, in Chinese papers, and in weekly community newspapers. <dd>Volunteers who distributed posters after the media blitz reported that stores and restaurants were often already familiar with the campaign. The media was a vital part of this campaign as stores are more likely to put up a poster and close their door if there is a possibility that a news camera will be coming by. One Toronto retailer suggested that this fear of exposure by the media was directly responsible for their compliance. <dd>Poster Distribution <dd>The campaign was most successful in urban centers like Toronto and Ottawa and in surrounding suburban centers like Oakville and Burlington with thriving downtowns. The larger stores located in urban shopping districts were the worst perpetrators since they can afford to waste money for the sake of gaining business. In contrast, some towns reported that none of their stores kept their doors open. <dd>Large chains posed a problem. Staff were all too willing to comply, but their hands were tied by corporate policy made in some far off city. <dd>A Toronto merchant reported having lost customers because their doors were open. She also suggested that peer pressure among stores in a neighbourhood would force stores to choose to close their doors. As we suspected, congratulating stores on their conservation minded actions with a poster will have an impact on those stores who have their doors open. <dd>Partnering NGOs responded positively to having their logo displayed on the posters as distribution partners. As partners in the campaign, their investment of time gave them valuable publicity, both in stores and in local media. <dd>The support of municipalities and chambers of commerce was a tremendous boost to the campaign. The town of Oakville posted the names of those stores that participated in the campaign on their website. Susan Austin for the Town of Oakville reports, “Stores were very happy to post the poster in their windows after I said that I would post their store name on our website as a participating store, to give them some free exposure. It worked very well.” You can check out their results at <a href="http://www.oakville.ca/3826.htm"> http://www.oakville.ca/3826.htm</a> (67 stores!). <dd>When we had a cultural association as a partner, we produced a bilingual version of the poster for them. Both the Canada-China Environmental Cooperation Council and the Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals received media local coverage of their efforts. <dd>Some Observations <dd>Support for conservation is strong, and from all sides. The public response to the campaign was strong and emotional. People hate to see stores and restaurants wasting electricity. <dd>A provincial campaign with community-based outreach is a potent combination. <dd>The involvement of business associations, chambers of commerce and municipalities made a significant impact <dd>Big chains need to step up to the plate, with head office committing to conservation. <dd>Small convenience stores, many owned by new Canadians, need friendly advice on energy conservation, such as is offered by Cool Shops </ul> Did we achieve a measurable reduction in electricity consumption? Yes, although the true impact of the campaign was in raising public awareness about conservation and beginning to sow the seed for a long-term cultural shift in consumption patterns. We are encouraged by the interest in continuing the campaign next year and we expect that Doors Closed will make a significant contribution to creating a culture of conservation in Ontario. Recommendations As this was the pilot year for this initiative the Conservation Council of Ontario was happy with the participation and feedback from both Ontario NGOs and volunteers. Here are some recommendations for Doors Closed year two: <ul> <li>Start the campaign earlier in the summer <li>Produce an easy to read energy tip sheet to accompany the distribution <li>Print removable stickers instead of posters <li>Provide more support for the volunteers and make sure they understand the facts behind the campaign <li>Target chain stores by contacting their head office <li>Connect with more community groups to help with distribution </ul> Another recommendation is to work with the retail sector to design an integrated We Conserve campaign that would allow stores to identify the conservation measure that make sense for them (i.e. not everyone has air-conditioning) and to promote their conservation products and services (organic cotton, recycled paper, energy efficient appliances, and organic food, for example). Finally, voluntary programs like Doors Closed need to be supported by peak pricing. Smart meters and peak power pricing for medium and larger stores and restaurants would help reinforce the message that air-conditioning the great outdoors is a waste of electricity and money. Thanks to all who helped Thank you to all the groups and volunteers who participated in the Doors Closed campaign. We look forward to working with you again on Doors Closed Ontario 2006! <ol> <li>Canada-China Environmental Cooperation Council <li>Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention <li>City of Stratford <li>Clean Air Champions <li>Cool Shops (Peterborough, London, Toronto, Markham, and Ottawa) <li>Don Valley West One Tonne Challenge <li>Earth Day Canada <li>East Toronto Climate Action Group <li>Ecoperth <li>Elora Centre for Environmental Excellence <li>Eneract <li>EnviroCentre <li>Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals <li>Halsall Associates Limited <li>North Toronto Green Community <li>One Tonne Toronto <li>Peterborough Green-Up <li>Pollution Probe <li>Reduce the Juice, Shelburne <li>Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce <li>The Beer Store <li>Timmins Chamber of Commerce <li>Town of Aurora <li>Town of Markham <li>Town of Oakville <li>Town of Uxbridge <li>Thames Region Ecological Association (TREA) </ol> A special thanks to the hundreds of stores and restaurants across the province who displayed the poster and kept their doors closed. Thanks to the Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer and the Conservation Bureau of the Ontario Power Authority for logistical support. Thanks to Scott Rouse (<a href="mailto:Energy@Work">Energy@Work</a>), NAIMA Canada, and the Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Institute of Canada for technical support Thanks to the organizations who helped us promote the campaign to their membership: <ul> <li>The Association of Municipalities of Ontario <li>The Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association <li>The Ontario Chamber of Commerce. </ul> And finally, our thanks to The Beer Store and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, whose financial support for We Conserve allowed us to organize the campaign and print the posters. Posted by… Allegra Newman, Campaign Coordinator Chris Winter, Executive Director, CCO Key Questions: What made Doors Closed a success? How should Ontario invest in conservation? Post your comments on the website, <a href="http://weconserve.ca/articles/…" eudora="autourl"> http://weconserve.ca/articles/…</a>. </ul></body> </html>