Vampire hunters wanted!

Little glowing eyes follow you in the dark as you leave the room at night and when you go to school ... they just carry on glowing. Can you guess what these energy-sucking vampires are?

Those little red or green eyes are the standby lights on many household appliances. How many can you find in your home? Can you count them? Were you surprised by the answer? Keep hunting, we expect you’ll come across more over the week. Your challenge this week is to see how many appliances and devices you can switch off at the wall when you go to bed, or before you go to school. Remember to ask your parent/carer before you touch any plugs – and of course, some appliances, like freezers and fridges, need to be left on all the time, so don’t switch those off!

How do you think we are helping our planet by switching off those ‘energy-sucking vampires’? By helping to reduce the amount of electricity you use, you are in turn reducing your carbon emissions. Banish those vampires and ‘little by little’, as a Young Climate Warrior, you are playing your part in helping to combat climate change – you’re not just ‘standing by’ letting others take action. Help let others know what you’re up to – send photos of your ‘vampire eyes’ to hello@youngclimatewarriors.org – and tell Kate how many vampires you have slain!  

Do you think it’s ‘convenient’ to have appliances on standby? Do you need to have them ready at a moment’s notice? Think of all those harmful carbon emissions that cause climate change: is it worth it for just a little bit of extra ease? TVs, computers, games consoles, microwave ovens, printers, electric toothbrushes, DVD players, TV set-top boxes, coffee makers, phone chargers, speakers, wireless phones, musical instruments, ovens, battery chargers ... the list goes on.

All it takes is making a start … deciding to make a difference, one little action at a time. Young Climate Warriors has been a charity for 6 years, and it started as a speck of an idea, the germ of a concept, an email to a friend. You might like to watch our film, showing our ambassadors in schools, and other children, like yourselves who are amazing Young Climate Warriors – here’s our Young Climate Warriors film for you to watch.  We’re also running an Young Climate Warriors Aviva crowdfunder … where every donation is match-funded by Aviva … so a £10 donation, actually becomes £20 to YCW … please share the link with others if you can.

Send us photos of your ‘vampire eyes’ to Kate at hello@youngclimatewarriors.org – and we’ll load them onto the YCW Gallery!