What is a black balloon?
A black balloon is a simple way to measure and visually represent our greenhouse gas emissions.
The black balloons feature in the You have the power. Save Energy campaign, as seen in newspapers and on television. The campaign is encouraging all Victorians to save energy at home. Using less energy will mean less greenhouse gas emissions, and will help to reduce the impact of climate change.
How much is in a black balloon?
In the advertisements and on this website, you will often see a black balloon as a unit of measurement. A balloon can hold about 50 grams of greenhouse gas.
Every Victorian household produces over 12 tonnes (240,000 balloons) of greenhouse gas emissions each year. The tips and tools on this website will help you to measure how many black balloons your home energy use contributes, and how to start making changes.
Watch the advertisements
Flash (version 8 or greater) and Javascript must be enabled to view this movie.
A balloon can hold about 50 grams of greenhouse gas.
Download the original Black Balloons advertisement
To view the Energy Saving Campaign ad you need the following system configuration:
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
Browsers
Internet Explorer 5 or better.
Mozilla 1.0 or better
Firefox 1.0 or better
Opera 7.0 or better
(May work in other browsers, however these are untested)
Browser Extensions
An Active X enabled browser or Sun Java 1.3.0 is required. If the ad isn't loading, you will need to download the latest version of Sun Java.
Quick Action: Keeping Clean
Washing your clothes in cold water not only cuts your energy costs, it also protects your clothes.
