Broadcast Dates – Tuesday 12th, Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th November at 7pm on RTÉ One
Over three nights, three families tackle the real challenges faced in our homes in the areas of water, waste, energy and food. Their consumption and refuse is monitored 24/7 by four experts and presenter Maia Dunphy. Three shows – one outcome, a better world for us all. What Planet Are You On?
To coincide with Science Week, What Planet Are You On? is a factual reality series funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Over the course of 3 one-hour shows, the series will follow three households tackling real challenges in the areas of water, waste, energy and food in their homes.Three households welcomed cameras into their homes: the Gannons in Tuam, County Galway, the Mc Kevitts in Mullingar, County Westmeath and the Cullens in Finglas, Dublin. Each house was retro fitted with water flow meters to measure every drop of H2O used, smart plugs and a new electricity monitoring device called a Smappee recorded every Watt consumed by the households and their bins were taken away each week to be assessed.
A team of Data Collectors monitored the three households, day and night. Each crumb of food was noted. Every calorie counted and the carbon foot print of each plate of food is revealed in each show. Every kilometre travelled was recorded, by foot, bicycle, car, train or bus. These three households had nowhere to hide.
Crunching the numbers, four Experts in their fields; Professor JJ Leahy for energy use inside and outside the home, Professor Fiona Regan for water use, Dr. Marco Springmann on diet and Dr. Brian Kelleher on waste.
Each show features a week of household monitoring, followed by a meeting with the Experts. This meeting was filmed on the Tipping Floor of the Dublin Waste To Energy Plant, which takes black bin or refuse waste and turns it into energy to power 100,000 homes. The Tipping Floor is set against a backdrop of black bin waste and the stark reality, that as a nation, if we make small changes and think beyond our bin lids, we can as a nation reduce black bin waste by up to 20%.
Three shows – one outcome, a better world for us all. What Planet Are You On?
Production Company – Vision Independent Production
Show 1 – Tuesday the 12th of November
Presenter Maia Dunphy introduces us to the three families and finds out how each of the households consumes water, energy, food and how much waste they create and what happens to it.
Show 2 – Wednesday the 13th of November
Challenge Week. The families are set targets to reduce their impact on our planet; across diet, energy and water usage and minimising waste produced.
Show 3 – Thursday the 14th of November
Overall results. Have the households improved? Can they carry forward some of the learnings into their everyday life when the cameras leave.
The three families:
The Gannons: Sharon Gannon, Ciara Gannon, Faye Gannon, Tuam, Co Galway
Busy Mum Sharon lives in Tuam, with her two daughters Ciara (15) & Faye (11). She works in a department store in Galway City. Signing up for the series the Gannons would like to better their understanding of their impact on our planet. Ciara wants to become more aware of what she could be doing better, she says: “we need someone other than our mother telling us what to do”. Youngest daughter Faye is very concerned about climate change and says a prayer at night for climate change to stop.
The Mc Kevitts : Jason Mc Kevitt, Rachel Mc Kevitt and Áine Ní Dháibhéid, Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Jason Mc Kevitt lives in Mullingar with his wife Rachel and Jason’s daughter Áine. Jason works for the Longford/Westmeath Education Training Board. He works with children from marginalised backgrounds. Rachel is a public health nurse with the HSE.
Jason sometimes has a fondness for using recyclable materials as ‘kindling’ in the family fire, something Rachel strongly disagrees with along with family pet, Charlie the Terrier, who runs out of the sitting room whenever Jason strikes a match for the fire.
Áine, Jason’s teenage daughter, scolds him over his bad behaviour and is pushing for her father to become more environmentally aware.
The Cullens: Louise Cullen, Alan Cullen, Nicole Cullen, Nathan Cullen and Gemma Cullen, Finglas, Dublin 11
Louise and Alan live in Finglas, Dublin with their three children Nicole (17), Nathan (13) & Gemma (10). Louise works in the Student Fees office at Dublin City University whilst Alan is a Dublin Bus Driver. Being a busy family Louise admits it is “often hard to find the time to do the right thing”, and “doing the right thing costs money”. The Cullens applied for the show as they think it will be good to make a change to help the environment.