Unfortunately, only a few residents attended what was arguably the most informative - and humourous - event during Jasper’s environment week.

Twenty people made their way to the Cabaret Room at the Marmot Lodge for a two-hour talk by the carbon-busting writer Godo Stoyke. Author of ‘The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook: Slowing Climate Change and Saving Money’, Stoyke is also an energy efficiency consultant and has saved his clients $24 million. 

Stoyke’s self-effacing talk was wide-ranging, covering topics as vast as climate change and as specific as cookware and computers. Presenting “incontrovertible evidence” of climate change - a powerpoint slide of the different stages of underwear development from the 18th century to present day - Stoyke, rather than rehashing all of the environmental histrionics that characterize many of these talks, took a decidedly practical and economic perspective - in fact a tangible perspective - to improving our natural surroundings. 

Stoyke drew on current examples of sustainable building technologies, such as those used for the ING headquarters in Amsterdam and the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado. Although the cost of both buildings was initially greater, given the eco-friendly designs, the payback for both buildings occurred within less than a year due to energy savings. 

As far as the individual homeowner is concerned, Stoyke offered many small pieces of advice, that if enacted would produce significant comulative results. Ridding your home of “power vampires,” which you can’t use garlic to defend against, joked Stoyke, is a good way to save energy. He explained that bad design - of lamps, cellphone chargers, VCRs and many other electronic devices - is the cause of “power vampires,” which use more energy when switched off than on over the course of a year. The best way to slay power vampires, he said, is to use a power bar, which can be switched off. 

Other household items that can waste energy are computers and cookware. Double-walled insulated cookware not only keeps food hot for longer and uses less energy, but it’s also harder to burn your food, said Stoyke. Environmental stewardship coordinator Lori Rissling-Wynn mused that she now has a great excuse for buying new pots and pans.   

Stoyke, who uses a Macintosh computer, also compared the energy use of a Mac versus a PC and showed that the Mac when both on and off used significantly less power than the PC. 

There are also a couple of communities in Sweden that are not only fossil fuel free, but also produce 98 per cent of their required energy from biomass and peat, said Stoyke. Additionally, Stoyke is working on what will be a zero carbon sustainable community just south of Edmonton.

Of the $24 million that Stoyke has saved his clients, the majority of these people are what he calls carbon misers. More simply, these people are motivated more by the economic benefits of going green than the environmental ones. According to Stoyke, a carbon miser will, if they invest $4,000 in their home, over a five year period, save about $15,000. On the other hand, a carbon buster - someone motivated by morals not simply economics - invests $11,000 into a home, will save $17,000 over five years. 

“Unfortunately, more people are carbon misers than carbon busters,” said Stoyke, but it’s also changing. “Part of the problem is that we’re too rich. We can afford to waste energy... there really isn’t a strong incentive to save.” You have to make saving energy “economically interesting,” he added. 

Stoyke sees a combination of incentives and punitive measures necessary to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free society, he said. “One of the ways is to have a carbon rebate,” Stoyke explained, “which we had in the federal government until 2008. Buy an efficient car, you get a rebate. Buy a gas-guzzler, you have to pay the government and that flows to the next person who buys a more efficient car,” he said.

The evening concluded with Lori Rissling-Wynn thanking Stoyke for offering some practical solutions for individuals and groups, as well as some possible investment tips, she joked.

Godo Stoyke’s new book, The Carbon Charter will be available in July.