LifeSaving Energy is a campaign to get every surf club in the country set up with renewable energy. It was launched Tathra in the summer of 2007 with solar panels and a wind turbine installed on the roof of the Tathra surf club. CEFE managed to get good national media coverage, and we had calls from all round the country, but for some reason the idea just didn’t have the legs to turn itself into a national campaign. CEFE decided instead to focus on surf clubs in our region. SE NSW has 7 surf clubs, although the Bermagui surf club is yet to get a club house. As of August 2008 we have managed to get the Tathra, Jindabyne and Moruya surf clubs set up with renewable energy, with Narooma and Pambula surf clubs to follow in the near future. A wind turbine and solar panels will be launched on the Narooma surf club on 19/10/08.
The funding for the installations has come from the LifeSaving Energy Big Swim series, with strong support from local business and councils. I am hoping that CEFE can work in partnership with Surf Lifesaving Australia to set up a national LifeSaving Energy Big Swim series. The impact that this campaign has had at a regional level has been enormous, and it would be very exciting to roll this out as a national campaign. We are hoping to do just that at an EcoSurf human sign in Bronte on 12/10/08.