The Tidy Street Project
During March and April 2011, participating households in Tidy Street, Brighton, UK, are recording their electricity consumption using this website. The daily average usage of the participants will be marked on a large street display which will initially show how Tidy Street compares to the average Brighton household's electricity usage.
This display will develop over the duration of the project: each day the participants' electricity usage over the previous 24 hours will be marked; and each week participants can choose to add another comparison line that will show how their electricity consumption compares to another region in the UK or even a different country. We hope that the residents, in collaboration with a local graffiti artist, will produce an engaging artwork that will stimulate the street and passersby to reflect on their electricity use. The street display is temporary as it is created by spraying chalk on to the road and will be removed at the end of the project. However, we will keep a record of how the artwork evolves on this website.
Participants have been given electricity meters so they can track how much electricity different devices in their home use and this website enables them to see how the electricity usage in their home and in the street changes over time. They also have diaries and digital cameras so they can record their experiences of the project.
Will publicly displaying the street's average electricity usage and showing how it compares to households in different places in the UK and other countries change the community's electricity consumption during the project?