All posts in the topic Fwd: NYTimes.com: The Energy Diet (Short link)
Summary
- There are 4 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Mary Schreiber at 2006 Oct 12 14:45 UTC
FY I - This both an entertaining and thoughtful piece from the NY Times that was sent to me by John Bos another PV Forum participant. Enjoy Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
I see that the attachment was stripped, but go to "The
Energy Diet - NY Times" to read the article. The author makes his point in a
non-threatening way that gets the message out.
Hi Mary,
That is a good article. I have copied it to the Files section of this caucus.
It does a good job of illustrating that as consumers a large part of our
contribution involves behavior change and possibly values adjustment. The
article shows that we can start making an impact with relatively small effort
and minimal inconvenience. Because we consumers are so numerous (encompassing
essentially everyone), our actions have enormous leverage and the smallest
action when repeated by millions can have significant impact, both constructive
or detrimental.
While the steps described in the article won't stop global warming, they are
significant, and demonstrate that we are empowered to help on a very personal
level.
I have relatives who think that the only way to live green and stop global
warming is to move back into caves and return to subsistence hunter-gatherer
living. Not real popular with the average U.S. citizen. We need to get the
message out that living sustainable does not equal impoverished. We need a
clearer picture of what a sustainable lifestyle can be.
As consumers we need to find and demand of producers more sustainable products
and services. We need to identify and encourage behavior, values, and lifestyle
changes that move us toward sustainability.
As a consumer, I would like to see manufacturers required to take back their
products at the end of their useful life, as they must in some European
countries. This encourages manufacturers to design and build products with
recycling, remanufacturing, and reuse in mind.
As a consumer, I would like to see the cradle to grave cost of a good or
service included in its purchase price. As accurately as possible the costs
that the world society incurs in increased healthcare costs, degraded
environmental services and resources, cleanup, should be included in the price
of each product or service. How much would an SUV cost if its retail price
included the environmental degradation implicit in its manufacter, use, and
disposal? This would go a long way to regrading the playing field and making
sustainable products, services, and practices that are now more expensive cost
competitive.
In the end, as consumers, we vote individually with our wallets. However,
should we act in concert, we can greatly leverage our impact. So, if through
this process, we can agree on some concrete actions to influence the local,
regional, national, or global marketplace, we might be able to include those in
the plan.
For what it is worth, I have a personal story about a conversation I had last
night with an elderly friend.
My friend celebrated her 82 birthday on Monday, and we went out to dinner last
night. She is a very fine and caring person, and in her working years was a
quite successful owner-operator of a fuel oil business. So, out of respect for
our nice friendship, I have avoided any in-depth discussions about conservation
of energy. But last night she initiated the conversation with the usual sense
of "How can I do anything about climate changes? I am only one small person."
What an opening ... and because she is genuinely a good soul, she didn't just
listen, she acknowledged that fuel oil is a dirty fuel. And when I was
finished with my spiel, she encouraged me to find ways to reach out to the
likes of people like herself ... people who have no idea that there are things
they can do to make a difference.
Many people like my friend will never read an article in the NY Times, or may
not stop to pick up and read 102 suggestions for reducing residential
consumption of energy, but maybe they would respond well to proactive community
educational events.