Summary of ideas submitted in the Green business category…

• Every university and IT should have a forum where unemployed graduates can participate in a think-tank on green energy solutions.
• Farmers need to be more innovative e.g. sheep farmers need to link up with attic insulation providers etc.
• Fast- track grants given under the HES scheme. Businesses providing this service have to wait until the grants come through until they can start work.
• Fit buses with bike carriers placed on the front of the bus. People could cycle part of the way to work and hop on a bus if it starts to rain. I saw them in San Diego where it was free to throw a bike on the front of the bus. This idea wouldn’t get the economy moving but might help our figures.
• Fit green buttons on Irish school toilets to reduce the amount that schools will have to pay in water charges from 2010 onwards.
• Follow the example in Canberra in Australia where all recyclable waste from a region comes to a locally based facility and all recycling industries are based on site.
• Follow the German model and develop geothermal energy to heat individual residences and companies. This technology could be further developed in Ireland, leading to a better supply.
• Follow the Italy method of electricity billing, where if people don’t pay in time they are only allowed a basic daily allowance until the bill is paid.
• Follow the US example and change daylight savings time so that we use less electricity in the evenings.
• For every kwh produced by a private household using an Irish made green generator under 100kw capacity, the user would get 50c. This would reduce by 5% per year after this.
• Further invest in wind turbine construction with an aim to making Ireland a net exporter of energy.
• Get a better buy-in to rain water harvesting, to use it as grey water and not for food preparation or drinking water.
• Get people who are currently unemployed to help build the national marine conservation centre in Balbriggan at cost.
• Get the Government to invest in a way that would encourage wind turbine construction in Ireland. The Government could guarantee to buy a certain amount of the turbines and set up massive wind farms in the west. This may enable Ireland to export energy and sell carbon credits.
• Give a 10-year government loan to a company to enable them to mass produce domestically viable wind turbines. This would be paid for in cash by the customer and can be reclaimed in full through tax rebates over a five to 10-year period.
• Give farmers tax incentives to grow energy crops such as beet and rapeseed.
• Give grants to members of the Irish public to install wind generators to power, or partially power their homes. These wind generators could be built in Ireland if the technology was made available
• Give people new on the dole the option to be a local litter warden and pay them with credits to use at the FAS centre to do the course of their choice. This will lead to cleaner towns and may increase tourism.
• Give tax credits to people who install green energy products in their homes.
• Green business should operate in a free market unhindered from government regulation.
• Green cones and composting bins should be widely used around the community and at schools. These take all food materials, cooked or uncooked, and turn them into compost and reduce the amount of material that goes to landfill.
• Harness and utilise wave power.
• Harness the energy generated by motorway traffic. This would offset partially the carbon footprint generated by the car on the motorway.
• Harness the energy generated by running water by installing hydro turbines in rivers. A number of these turbines can be installed in a single river and can be made to look aesthetically pleasing.
• Have 100% disposable bins that are made of the same material of egg cartons. This could greatly reduce our dependence on plastic bags.
• Have a 5 cent charge (environmental tax) on all mini-statements and receipts issued by ATMs or Statement Printers.
• Have a green tag on your gate as evidence that you don’t want to receive junk mail.
• Have the “World Green Awards” broadcast in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day to portray Ireland as a leader in the green business.
• Have windmills at people’s homes, farms and businesses in order to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
• Help organisations to focus on their levels of waste and manage this waste effectively. This is an area where organisations can save money which will prevent them from needing to lay off staff.
• I would like to see more marketing of Irish products like Lilly’s washing up liquid and cleaning products. They are made in West Cork. Refills should be available in mainstream shops like Tesco.
• If property tax is to be introduced then it could be based on the BER rating of the home. The more efficient the home the less tax you will pay. A timeline of a year should be established to get your home surveyed and in this period the cost of the survey could be deducted from the amount of tax to be paid. After this period no deduction would be given.
• Implement a grant scheme for solar panels to be installed in homes. Another idea is to start using rainfall collection to help the water supply.
• Implement a pilot programme targeting greenhouse gas emissions, energy security and the development of the green economy in Cork city and county.
• In much the same way as coal was delivered in the old days, or home heating oil today, ‘log men’ could go around houses selling firewood - a green product vitally needed in winter time.