Ben & Jerry’s 'Join Our Core' Finalists

The Ben & Jerry’s 'Join Our Core' Irish finalists have been announced. Hand-picked from over 430 entries to compete in the final stage of 'Join Our Core 2013', Ben & Jerry’s Europe-wide search for the most socially conscious and sustainably minded entrepreneur, the Irish finalists will have the chance to pitch their business idea to ten of Europe’s top ethical business gurus. The eventual winner will scoop a whopping €10,000 and on-going specialist business mentoring from Ashoka, the leading global network of social entrepreneurs.

The first finalist, CoderDojo, is an Irish led global movement teaching young people how to code, develop websites, apps, games and more, in a social, collaborative learning environment. MyMind, the second finalist, is a self-referral model of mental health that provides psychological and psychotherapy services to people seeking mental health support.

Europe’s finest social entrepreneurs will gather in London next month for the final stage of Join Our Core 2013, hoping to impress an expert panel that includes Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Jerry Greenfield and Director of Ashoka Ireland, Paul O’Hara.

The 18 lucky finalists, which include Irish enterprises CoderDojo and MyMind, will have the chance to pitch their business idea to ten of Europe’s top ethical business gurus. The eventual winners each scoop a whopping €10,000 and on-going specialist business mentoring from Ashoka, the leading global network of social entrepreneurs.

CoderDojo, is an Irish led global movement teaching young people how to code, develop websites, apps, games and more, in a social, collaborative learning environment and MyMind, is a self-referral model of mental health that provides psychological and psychotherapy services to people seeking mental health support.

And there’s more! The winners will also be in the enviable position of having their business logo featured on an exclusive Ben & Jerry’s tub to be launched in 2014, as well as bagging a trip to Ben & Jerry’s home turf of Vermont, USA to celebrate its 35th anniversary this year!

Returning bigger and chunkier for its second year, Join Our Core is inspired by Ben & Jerry’s dream to find young business moo-vers that share its philosophy of people being as important as profit, which has seen the 2013 competition expanded from five to nine European countries – the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria and Switzerland.

When Ben and I set-up the company in 1978, we believed giving back to the community was as important as making great tasting ice-cream,” commented Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. We’re humbled by the number and standard of entries we’ve seen this year, and can’t wait to meet and hear more from this year’s finalists.”

Ashoka Ireland Director Paul O’Hara commented, "We are truly excited about the incredibly strong applications coming in from all nine European countries. It is clear that technology is being utilised more than ever as a driving force for social good. We're seeing a rise in the demand for sustainability and resource sharing activated by technology."

For further information about the Join Our Core 2013 competition, the prizes on offer and all the 18 finalists, please visit www.joinourcore.com.

New Guinness Fermentation and Maturation Vessels

If you've been out in Dun Laoghaire in the last week or two, you'll probably have noticed the huge cylinders sitting on the ship docked right in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

These giant cylinders are part of the shipment of 27 new fermentation and maturation vessels being installed at St James’s Gate as part of its €153 million expansion and redevelopment.

The new vessels will produce Guinness and other beers which will be shipped to the worldwide market on a daily basis. The Guinness vessels will be able to brew 300,000 pints every two hours using 26 tonnes of malt and barley.

The largest of these vessels, standing almost 10 stories high at almost 85.5 feet tall, is capable of holding just under 1,000,000 pints of Guinness. The largest vessel weighs 28 tonnes while empty and over 500 tonnes when filled with Guinness.

The new brew house will secure the long term future of Guinness brewing for the next generation in Ireland. Malt and barley are sourced locally. Once completed, the St. James’s Gate brewery will consume c.125,000 tonnes of barley per annum, which equates to almost 10% of the national crop. Construction of the project started in early summer 2012 and the new brew house will start producing beer in June 2013.

Famed Privateer Captain Henry Morgan's Lost Fleet Found

Many people don't realise that Captain Henry Morgan was a real person. Not only that but before he became associated with the famous rum baring his name, he was a Privateer working throughout the Caribbean. One of the great mysteries around Captain Morgan is the location of his sunken fleet of five ships that disappeared off the Coast of Panama in 1671. However, for the third year in a row, with the help of the Captain Morgan brand, a team of leading U.S. archaeologists have been scouring the mouth of the Chagres River in Panama in search of this lost fleet.

“Morgan was one of the most infamous privateers of all time, so for me, this is a chance to use archaeological research to bridge the gap between science and pop culture. Most people associate Morgan with the image on a bottle, but in reality, he was an iconic historical figure who accomplished incredible feats throughout the Caribbean,” said Frederick “Fritz” H. Hanselmann, underwater archaeologist and Research Faculty with the River Systems Institute and the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University who has been leading the team in an effort to locate, excavate and preserve the remains of Morgan’s lost ships.

Hanselmann continued, “Locating his lost ships and being able to properly preserve and share it with the public is our ultimate goal with this project. We’re really close – and at the end of the day, his ships are down there and we’re going to find them.”

The story of the search for the lost fleet began back in September 2010 when the archeological team discovered six iron cannons off the coast of Panama belonging to Captain Morgan. The next breakthrough then came last summer with the discovery of a 17th century wooden shipwreck, which is believed to be one of the five ships Morgan lost in 1671 on the shallow Lajas Reef. The fleet included his flagship Satisfaction.

Returning to Panama this summer, the team excavated a host of historic artifacts from the shipwreck in hopes of confirming its origin. During this work, the team recovered a sword, chests, wooden barrels and multiple cargo seals. The artifacts, which are currently housed at Patronato Panamá Viejo (Old Panama Trust) in Panama City, will undergo the preservation process before being studied further and verified by London-based experts in English artillery.

“For us, there’s no better way to communicate the values and unwavering spirit of our brand than by unearthing the real-life history of its inspiration,” said Tom Herbst, Brand Director, Captain Morgan USA. “This adventure that we’ve embarked on truly embodies the character of Morgan himself and the free-spirited nature of rum. In our case, we don’t have to make up a brand story – ours is real and it’s waiting to be discovered at the bottom of the ocean floor.”

Captain Henry Morgan was one of the few men to survive the treacherous life on the high seas long enough to enjoy his successes. From 1664 to 1671, Morgan led daring raids throughout the Spanish Main, resulting in riches for him and his men far beyond what they ever expected.

In 1670, Morgan amassed the largest fleet in the history of the Caribbean and set his sights on Panama City, the richest city in the western hemisphere. While en route, his flagship and four additional ships ran aground on the Lajas Reef at the base of Fort San Lorenzo, the military base that guarded the mouth of the Chagres River – the only water passageway leading toward Panama City. Despite the setback, Morgan and his men prevailed, securing Fort San Lorenzo, sailing up the Chagres and ultimately making their way by foot through the dense rainforest to take Panama City.

All artifacts excavated through the project will remain the property of the Panamanian government and will be preserved and displayed by the Patronato Panamá Viejo in Panama City.

Electric Ireland ‘Office Energy Expert’

Electric Ireland helps businesses make savings of up to 20%

Yesterday Electric Ireland launched an innovative first to market tool designed to help business customers save money. The tool allows businesses to implement a managed approach to eliminating electricity waste. In a few simple steps, the Office Energy Expert, can reduce electricity costs and consumption. The SEAI commented that by using the tool, a company could reasonably achieve a 20% reduction in their energy bills by 'good housekeeping measures' alone.

The Office Energy Expert tool will take a detailed look at office energy use and make energy efficiency accessible, simple and affordable. From there the tool highlights the opportunities available to easily and simply include energy efficiency and sustainability in the day-to-day routine of both managers and employees. The tool is perfect for all business types both large and small, and works across industries. To try the Office Energy Expert click here.

Liam Molloy, General Manager, Electric Ireland said; “Electric Ireland is working hard to empower our customers to make choices to suit their energy consumption and energy efficiency needs in these challenging times. A tool like the Office Energy Expert is free and easy to use. Companies do not need to incur large costs to make a real difference to their energy costs, with savings of up to 20% wholly achievable by using this tool.”

Patricia Callan, Director, the Small Firms Association (SFA) welcomes the new application which will assist small businesses to improve efficiency: “The Office Energy Expert is a welcome tool for Irish businesses as being mindful of the need to monitor and use energy more efficiently can only be good news and I suspect it will gain plenty of support among small to medium sized business when they see what it can mean for them in terms of savings.”

If you would like to know more about Electric Ireland or their range of products visit www.electricireland.ie.

Velvet - Can Music Grow Trees?

Following on from my posts on ESB Electric Ireland and their Electric Picnic activities I thought you might find Velvet Toilet Tissue's announcement interesting. The luxury toilet tissue brand has announced that their Velvet Luxury Toilets will be making a return to Electric Picnic and they will be joined by a campaign to answer the question, "Can music grow trees?"

Velvet Toilet Tissue have taken three Leylandii conifers and equipped them with their own headphones and MP3 players. The three trees have been planted in the Velvet Greenhouse at Newlands Garden Centre and are currently being played three genres of music (rock, folk, dance) in an effort to see how well the trees respond to music. The trees can be viewed and monitored through an application on the Triple Velvet Facebook page. Fans are also asked to vote for their favourite music type to be in with a chance of winning tickets to Electric Picnic. All three trees will also be on display at the Velvet Luxury Toilets this year for guests to see and the winning tree will be announced.

ESB Electric Ireland Electric Picnic Tweet Hunt

Last Wednesday I wrote about The ESB Electric Ireland Park at Electric Picnic. Beyond being the Official Energy Partner to Electric Picnic, ESB Electric Ireland are also running an energy generating adult playground full of over-sized playground favourites. The twist is that each of the playground items contributes to generating power to help charge participants' phones while they have fun. The playground will also be supported by a host of Ireland's top comedians who will be charged with generating as big a crowd of participants as possible.

This weekend I found out about ESB Electric Ireland's upcoming competition to promote its Electric Picnic partnership.

From Monday, ESB Electric Ireland will be giving away 25 tickets in Europe's first real time treasure hunt using Google Maps and Social Media. The #ShareTheEnergy Tweet Hunt, which is being run through Electric Ireland Facebook Page, gives would be festival-goers the chance to win tickets to Electric Picnic using a Facebook App with a Live Google Map that combines a live Twitter feed to reveal five secret locations around Ireland where tickets are hidden. The Tweet Hunt begins on Monday 22nd August at 9am and ends on Friday 26th August, with one lucky person having the chance to win five tickets to Electric Picnic each day.

To find the secret locations, participants need to tweet #Sharetheenergy. The more the hashtag is tweeted, the closer the map zooms in to where the tickets are hidden. Then, a special code word is revealed along with the exact details of the secret location where the Electric Ireland Sparkheads are waiting with the tickets. After that the first person to find the Sparkhead, and tell them the daily code word will receive five tickets to Electric Picnic.

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager, ESB Electric Ireland commented, “The ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Hunt is a new addition to our Electric Picnic sponsorship this year. Tickets are like gold dust and we hope would be festival-goers will enjoy this innovative competition using social media channels in a fun and unique way to try to win tickets to this fantastic festival.”

For more info on the campaign or any other details of ESB Electric Ireland's Electric Picnic activities, pop over to the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook Page.

Additional information about the ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Hunt:

• The innovative Facebook App and social media mash-up was developed by Tequila Ireland and Agency.com.
• The App features a live Twitter feed so users can check the tweets to the hashtag and see the 13 zoom levels as each is revealed.
• The Facebook page will show pictures of the winner each day and announce the race for that day is over with the next day’s Twitter Hunt commencing at 9am.
• The Twitter Hunt is open to residents of the Republic of Ireland aged over 18.

The ESB Electric Ireland Park at Electric Picnic

This week ESB Electric Ireland announced what they have in store as the official energy partner of Electric Picnic. Teaming up with comedian Karl Spain, ESB have revealed their energy-efficient playground for grown-ups where festival goers can play and use the energy they generate to charge their phones. The playground will feature an adult sized merry-go-round, a giant hamster wheel and see-saws, all of which generate energy that people can share and use. For those that prefer something a little less childish, there will also be fifteen bikes in the Park to help generate power.

To help get everyone into full power-generating swing the ESB will have a number of Irish and international celebrity MCs on hand, including Karl Spain, Andrew Stanley, Damian Clark and Gearoid Farrelly. These guys will be tasked with recruiting festival goers to make use of the playground and also to find volunteers to get on their bikes! On top of this, the MCs will also host a number of small challenges throughout the weekend and may even take part in some of these challenges themselves.

Speaking at the launch, Karl Spain said, “Yes, ESB Electric Ireland has brought an even crazier element of fun to the EP line up this year and I’m looking forward to trying the playground out for size! It will really show people how much energy it takes to power even small things like a mobile phone. From see-sawing to merry-go-rounding and peddling there’ll be even more ways to generate energy at this year’s Picnic. It’s a great initiative and I can’t wait to share my energy with fellow festival goers in September.”

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager ESB Electric Ireland commented “As the Official Energy Partner to the festival, ESB Electric Ireland is delighted to show festival goers how much fun sustainability can be. We are well aware how important having a facility to recharge phones is to festival goers so it’s great that we can provide this in an entertaining way! We are delighted to have the comedians back this year to MC and between the comedians, the bikes and the playground it will be a fully sustainable festival of fun.”

Outside of their energy-generating playground, ESB Electric Ireland's position as official energy partner of Electric Picnic sees them providing 6 km of energy efficient festoon lighting around the camp sites and walk ways to the main arena, and providing e-cars to transport artists around the festival site. All of this will see the festival’s lighting emissions reduced by 80%.

To stay up to date on all of the campaigns details and upcoming competitions, just head over to the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook Page.

Arthur Guinness Fund: Camara And Jamie Heaslip

Last week Camara made their 50th container shipment of computers to disadvantaged communities through the on-going support of The Arthur Guinness Fund.

Irish Rugby player Jamie Heaslip, who is an ambassador of the Arthur Guinness Fund, took time out of his busy schedule to lead a team of 8 people to help pack the 40ft container containing over 500 computers, including one of his own, for travel to Ethiopia.

Camara, one of the beneficiaries of the Arthur Guinness Fund, is dedicated to using technology to deliver education more effectively to disadvantaged communities in Ireland and Africa. The organisation takes in used computers from Irish companies and individuals and has a team of dedicated volunteers who prepare the computers to ensure they are in optimal condition for re-use. This rigorous process involves wiping each hard drive of data (in line with US Department of Defence standards), refurbishing and loading each computer with educational software, and finally setting them up as Learning Centres in Ireland and African communities.

Speaking about his involvement, Jamie Heaslip said “I am really proud to be an Ambassador for the Arthur Guinness Fund and to be able to support organisations such as Camara. I have donated an old computer of mine to include in this container and I am looking forward to tracking its journey and seeing the difference it will make when it is reused for education in a disadvantaged community. It has taken us over 2 hours and a lot of manpower to pack these computers today, but I had a strong team behind me and we had great fun doing it! Our container will leave in the morning and begin a 6 week journey to Ethiopia, where the computers will play a huge part in making a difference to the lives and education of local people. I look forward to sharing its progress on the Guinness Ireland Facebook page.”

Also speaking today John Fitzsimons, General Manager, Camara said “We are delighted to have the support of the Arthur Guinness Fund and their ambassador Jamie Heaslip. As a result of thousands of people just like Jamie, who have donated their computers to us, we are now in a position where we can begin to see the positive impact in disadvantages communities by providing working computers, software and training for educational purposes to thousands of people”.

Since receiving funding from the Arthur Guinness Fund, Camara has opened computer recycling centres in Belfast and Galway. Camara has to date received a total of 30,000 computers from Irish individuals and companies, including a donation of computers to the value of €70,000 from Diageo.

To follow the journey of Jamie’s computer as it travels from Ireland to Ethiopia and for other good news from the Arthur Guinness Fund log onto the Guinness Ireland Facebook Page.

FUSE@GN1 - Pop-up Shop

Two weeks ago I was asked to pop along to the launch of something really cool. A friend of mine, Danielle Mac Innes, who runs the Dublin-based furniture and design company FUSE Interiors has partnered up with Gallery Number One to transform the space into a mid-century, vintage and recycled furniture exhibition and shop. The shop launched on October 29th and will be open for 4 weeks.

If you have any sort of interest in vintage furniture or design this will be a treasure trove of wonder that you need to visit. The pop-up shop has a wide selection of seating, tables, lighting, storage and cool accessories from a variety of sources and ages.


In case you're not familiar with Gallery Number One, it's located just beside Dublin Castle at 1 Castle Street, Dublin 2. The shop is open Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm (late Thursday) and Saturday & Sunday 11am - 6pm. And don't fear while the shop was due for a 4 week run, things have been going so well that it's now going to stay open until Christmas.

About Fuse Interiors
Fuse Interiors carefully source and select a mix of mid century investment pieces, flea market finds and restored vintage pieces. Through pre-owned vintage and re-cycled pieces, as well as seeking suppliers who use sustainable methods and materials, Fuse aim to bring responsible yet exciting design to their customers.

They work on large and small projects with both individual and business clients.
They offer a full range of design services which include floor plans, 3D drawings, sourcing and specification of furniture and finishes, colour consultancy and project management.

Blue Moon Partial Eclipse

Every New Year's Eve I like to get out of Dublin, or at least out of the city centre. Usually it's just nice to be able to see the stars and the sky and be outside when you're ringing in the New Year. This year, however, there's an especially good reason to be outside looking up at the stars.

On December 31st 2009 there are a number of really cool things happening. Not only is it the end of the decade, not only is it New Year's Eve, but it will also be the night of a Blue Moon Partial Eclipse.

As the Lunar Calendar is shorter then the Gregorian Calendar (the standard calendar that we use), every 2.7 years there is an 'extra' full moon. There are 13 full moons during the year instead of 12. The exact timing of this changes and there is much debate as to which full moon during a year should be classed as the Blue Moon.

In this regard there may be those who would say that next week's full moon is not a Blue Moon but the romantic in me has made up his mind. Considering that it's such a rarity to get see a Blue Moon and a Partial Eclipse (it's happened just 4 times in 20th century), I will happily defend my position based on nothing other then my own ideas.

The Eclipse shadow will peak 7:22pm (Greenwich Mean Time) and will be visible in most of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia, as per the following rough guide:

• North and South America: Blue moon, but no visible eclipse.
• Europe, Africa and Middle East: Blue moon, visible eclipse
• Asia and Australasia: Full moon (not blue), visible eclipse

On one final point, if this rare lunar event wasn't special enough as it is, you may find it a little weird to that December 31st will be the final day of the International Year of Astronomy.

Check out this video of the 2007 Blue Moon Eclipse...

Dublin Zoo Announces The Names Of Its Two Sumatran Tiger Cubs

Every now and then I see something that I think is worth sharing, and while it may not be anything to do with Digital Marketing or Marketing at all, I figure why not! Last May two Sumatran Tiger cubs were born at Dublin Zoo. Finally, following a nationwide competition that drew hundreds of entries, the cubs again find themselves in the spotlight with the announcement of their names. “Emas”, which is Indonesian for “Gold”, is the name that has been chosen for the male cub and “Wanita”, meaning “Woman”, for the female.

Gerry Creighton from Dublin Zoo said, ”Emas is a typical male. He’s boisterous and playful and loves to explore. We’ve got to know his manner now and we all agreed that “Gold” is perfect for him. He has a beautiful, vibrant rich gold coat with dark stripes contrasting it and he really is a winner in our eyes.”

Gerry continued; “We love the name Wanita and think it suits her down to the ground While Emas is a very strong male character, Wanita displays truly typical female traits. She has a really sweet nature, and is far more relaxed then her brother. She is really close to her mother and has shown classic feminine characteristics.”

Interestingly the cubs father, Kepala, has taken an active role in the cub’s upbringing which is quite unusual as male Sumatran Tigers are traditionally solitary creatures. In another unusual twist, the family enjoy sleeping together at night alongside each other.

Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered species with fewer than 400 alive in the wild. Dublin Zoo plays a significant role in the international breeding programme which is designed to ensure the survival of tigers in their natural habitat. As well as contributing to this breeding programme visitors to Dublin Zoo have the opportunity to support these critically endangered species by purchasing a Tiger adoption pack at Dublin Zoo gift shop.

The following video is an interview done by Darragh Doyle back in July with one of Dublin Zoo's keepers, Anita, about the cubs.

Now Look What You Did

I've been doing a bit of research on production companies and going through show reels etc. Some of the work out there at the moment is simply amazing - cgi and animation that would put Hollywood to shame. One company MAKE, a Minneapolis design studio that specialises in motion graphics and animation, are doing some really cool work. Unfortunately it was a pair of public service announcement videos of theirs that caught my eye. The two videos, "Cigarette" and "Trash", are both fully animated and were pushed through a dedicated microsite. Their message is all about your actions having an unexpected affect on the environment.

Is it just me or would you agree that they're a little bit too much? I mean, whatever about "Cigarette" which is possibly just funny, "Trash" on the other hand is just depressing.

The Black (Pixel) Truth

Here is a great article from Nick Burcher, discussing the reality of black screens vs. white screens when it comes to energy consumption.

Monster Waves

I absolutely love nature - I love the outdoors and everything about being outside. Living in Ringsend I spent quite a bit of time down around Sandymount. Sometimes just walking or maybe taking photographs. I have always dreamed about living beside the sea - there's something about the ocean that draws me in, and completely inspires me.

I just stumbledupon this article on BBC about Bali Strickland (seriously renowned cameraman) and Huw Cordey (top producer and director), and their mission to film big waves. Definitely worth a read, but also check out the video too...

Spam Could Power 2.4 Million Homes

Following on from my earlier post (in a general environmental theme) I wanted to share this article that I spotted on [Geeks Are Sexy].

A report by McAfee has outlined that the total energy wasted by spam emails could power 2.4 million homes a year. The report, which was produced with environmental consultants ICF International, indicates that spam emails are responsible for 33 billion kilowatt hours of energy used each year. Surprisingly (to me at least) the report shows that the actual development and mailing of the emails only accounts for 7% of that energy, the vast majority of the energy is used to filter the unwanted messages.

The report also shows that the total energy usage produces 17 million tons of CO2, the same amount as 3 million cars.

Your Light Switch is your Vote

This December the Global Climate Change Conference is taking place in Copenhagen. The forum has been choosen as the place to present to the leaders of the world our feeling on glogal warming. So this Saturday, March 28th at 8.30pm Earth Hour is calling on all citizens of the world to switch off their lights. Switching off your lights will be your vote, and your call for our leaders to do something to combat global warming.

Earth Hour wants 1 billion people to vote. 1 billion people of all ages, nationalities, race and background. These 1 billion votes will be presented to the conference in Copenhagen and used as a sign that the world wants change.

The Earth Hour site is packed full of information about what different people are doing and how you can help spread the message. Their download section is packed full of resources; from posters to blog banners, social network badges and media widgets. In fact pretty much anything you could want.

Earth Hour started off in 2007 in Sydney when 2 million homes and businesses decided to switch off their lights for 1 hour. Following this huge success, the 2008 Earth Hour went global and 50 million people switched off their lights. The event was not limited to homes and small business however. In a landmark event, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all turned off their lights.

This is a call to action. This is a real grass roots movement that needs your help. Don't be confused, no one thinks that we can go without power or that it is inately bad, this is about how we generate that power. There are ways and means currently at our disposal to generate clean safe energy. We just need to do it. Pay the price, make the changes and safe our planet.

All you have to do is switch off your lights for 1 hour.

Do it!


There is a wealth of information also available over on the Google Blog.

Greenest Mobile Phone Ever!

Mobile phones just got a whole lot greener. Samsung's new Blue Earth may just be the greenest phone ever thought up. Made from PCM, recycled plastic, the phone also has an "eco" mode that adjusts screen brightness, backlight and Bluetooth to conserve power. On top of that a built in "eco walk" application (pedometer) will tell you how much CO2 emissions you've saved by walking. And finally, on top of all that....... I told you it may be the greenest phone ever...... it has a solar panel across the entire back of the phone that will charge it enough to make a phone call any time the sun is out. Nice.

Change the way we think

Before I was a marketer, I studied Environmental Biology. What can I say, I'm a geek. Part of being a geek is that I like science, and in my particular geekiness, I'm particularly interested in the Natural Sciences and the environment.

With all that in mind, check out this great WWF presentation. And think about it!

Buildings in Dublin that waste energy

Living in Ringsend I often walk into town along the Quays and it annoys me greatly to see all the office blocks with their lights on all night and no one in them. It's even worse when you see empty office blocks with the lights on. This said I was extremely happy to discover that John Callaghan (Cal-TV) is currently working on a short film project that will highlight the issue. John is putting together a list of buildings in Dublin city centre that waste energy by leaving their lights on overnight, which will be feature in the film.

I'm happy to say I was able to lend a (small) helping hand by taking some photos of buildings along the Quays. So, perhaps a little shamelessly, I think it would be worth everyone's time to stop by the project site and have a look around. With so much attention being paid to water wastage and recycling, unnecessary lighting is a huge environmental drain that seems to be overlooked by most.

Also, if you have noticed any such buildings, I'm sure John would love to hear from you (especially if you send a photo!). You can email him at turnitoffproject@gmail.com