the cost of change

Why is it so difficult to start saving energy? It turns out there are several reasons, ranging from laziness, poor habits to infrastructure. For example, when you live in suburbia, you almost certainly have to drive most places. You can buy a fuel efficient car, and try to limit trips by doubling up chores or carpooling with others, but there are clearly limits to what you can achieve. If you have a big house and only one heater/airconditioner you may be stuck having to heat or cool the entire house, regardless of whether you actually "use" the whole house.

There are remedies to these situations but all are expensive and unlikely to have a big return on investment. And if things don't save you money, you probably won't be motivated to do something about it. Furthermore, it isn't just about saving money, what counts is how much money you save relative to what you have or are willing to spend. Unless the items "register" you are unlikely to take action. Case in point is gasoline. It registers because you are faced with it on a regular basis. You may spend thousands of dollars on gas and that may cause you to abandon your beloved SUV. However, when you bought the monster, you probably did not worry too much about the extra $5,000 in useless options that the car dealer talked you into.

The same is true for gimmicks like $2.99 gas. If people offered you a $2,000 rebate you may not act, but buying gas cheaply certainly rings a bell. Even though the rebate has much more value. And that brings us to psychology. Psychology and habits. Habits are perhaps the most difficult of all to change. Once a person is used to doing things a certain way, they put up enormous barriers to change. Change may become frightening to the point of being unimaginable. Yet we all have energy wasting habits. Unless you spent the last 10 years of your life in a cave, chances are you picked up a great many energy wasting and pollution producing habits. If you watched TV on a regular basis and were thus subjected to thousands of ads, chances are most of your habits are insanely wasteful. Because ads are there to make you consume. And the more you consume the more you waste. Consumption is waste.

How about cutting back on your spending? Spending money for the sake of spending is not smart and it isn't patriotic either, no matter what the President thinks. It also isn't fun. People just talked you into believing it is fun. How can it be fun to throw away your money and make others rich? It is probably fun for them to watch you be so foolish. Remember that over 90% of the items that American buy end up in the trash within 6 months. Clearly these items were not all that exciting or valuable to begin with.

How about getting rid of your lawn and plant vegetables? Every time food prices rise and recession looms, more people plant vegetables. But when the tide turns, they quickly remove the "ugly" plants and replace them with a lush green lawn. They also ditch their fuel efficient cars and replace them with a "fun" gas-guzzler. What is so beautiful about a lawn or so fun about a truck with leather seats? Are you just trying to impress your friends and neighbors? Guess what, rather than be impressed they quickly set out to outdo you. And then you can counter and so on, until you are both broke.

How about ditching bottled water and sodas? Your tap water is better quality and the sodas do nothing more than make you fat. How about turning off your lights? There is a suburban myth that keeping your lights on deters crime. Give me a break. Most break-ins happen in the morning when people are out at work and when the presence of another van or truck in the neighborhood is expected.

There is so much you can do that will make a very significant difference to humanity. This is true democracy in action. You need not follow the lead of the advertisers. Chart your own path. A path that is in harmony with the environment you live in.