Lowering bills, cutting carbon
If you’ve been watching the BBC’s latest Sir David Attenborough docu-series, A Perfect Planet, you may have been struck by episode five’s stark warning about the importance of green energy.
The series, available on iPlayer, unpicks the conditions that have made earth so well-suited to supporting life in all its forms. Covering the whole globe, every episode highlights the breath-taking interdependency that allows life on our planet not just to survive, but to thrive. It soars from polar ice caps to lush tropical forests; from volcanoes to the depths of the ocean, illuminating the complex relationships that make our air, our soil and our climate able to support life.
But the backdrop to the series is a sombre one. In Sir David’s own words:
“Our planet is one in a billion, a world teeming with life. But now, a new dominant force is changing the face of Earth: humans. To preserve our perfect planet we must ensure we become a force for good.”
Sir David Attenborough
Having painted a picture of the colourful diversity of life on earth, the final episode in the series places the focus on the existential threat to life posed by humans – at least if we continue to behave as we have over the past 150 years. The programme highlights how our use of fossil fuels, our generation of waste and our poisoning of oceans and rivers is having a catastrophic impact on the natural world, and it ends with a sobering reminder: We are as much a part of that natural world as any other species. If the planet fails, we all fail.
If we are to avoid catastrophe, Attenborough argues, we cannot just reply on businesses and governments to change. We have to change, too. In his words:
“We all have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprints, harness the forces of nature for our energy and protect the natural world. The survival of humanity and our fellow creatures on earth depends upon it”
Sir David Attenborough, Episode 5 (‘Humans’), A Perfect Planet
This, in a nutshell, is why we created Big Clean Switch. There are few things any of us can do in such a short space of time that are more impactful than ensuring our electricity is matched by power from renewable sources. We’ve made it easy – and affordable – to go green. We know that life is full of challenges, and switching supplier can often slip down our to do list. A Perfect Planet is a powerful reminder that for the future of life on earth itself, none of us should delay a moment longer.
