Clean Energy Future

A Melbourne butcher has shown how simple it can be for businesses to reduce their electricity costs.

Sam Canning, who owns and runs Cannings Free Range Butchers, has taken a number of steps to improve the energy efficiency of his business .

Butcher shops, which rely heavily on refrigerators, air-conditioning and well-lit display cases, can be energy-hungry businesses to run.

But by transforming parts of his shop in suburban Hawthorn, Sam has chopped $350 from his monthly electricity bill.

He runs all his refrigerators from a central plant with a single motor to cut down on electricity costs. He has also installed energy-efficient LED lights and stopped using open display cases because of their drain on his power bills.

As a result, his monthly electricity bills have gone from $1500 to $1150 and that’s a saving of nearly 25 per cent by simply making a few straightforward changes.

Because he has adopted a carbon neutral business plan, Sam uses the savings to purchase carbon offsets. He buys the offsets from Carbon Neutral, which plants trees across the country.