Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Who is conserving energy?

There was an interesting article on CleanSkies.org that I read today.  Denise Bode, the CEO of The American CleanSkies Foundation wrote about a friend of hers that when he picked her up, had his car running with a/c blasting.

Obviously wasting energy.  When she mentioned it, he said that his work paid for it.  

See, that's what I'm talking about!

Who are the people that are conserving energy and really going out of their way to make a difference?  In my mind, and this is real loose, it's two kind of people.

1. Those who can't afford the rising costs of gas, electricity...

These people can't afford to even buy CFL's.  They just end up turning off their lights, line drying their clothes, getting used to keeping the thermostat set higher in the summer and piling on blankets in the winter.  They may not recycle in the same sense others do, but they certainly re-use so they don't have to buy again.

They don't care about solar panels and wind turbines to power their house but they are certainly doing their part in conservation.  But they are doing it out of necessity.  Money is short and they are just doing what they have to do to be able to keep their kids fed and clothed.


2. Those who are very well off.

These types of people are the triple figure salary people.  They can afford to buy the latest hybrid or even natural gas or hydrogen cars right now.  They are putting solar panels on their roof and install turbines in their yard.

They are renovating their house to become more "green."  And they recycle their paper, plastic, they bring their shopping bags back to the supermarket, they wear "eco friendly" clothes exclusively... you get the idea.

They have the money to save the Earth and they use their money to do it because hybrids are cool, and shoes* made out of natural materials and recycled car tires are cool. 

* Simple makes some shoes with the bottom of a shoe being a tire.  I love it!  I think the tread is awesome!

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Some of you may argue that there is a third and maybe 4th type, but these are the ones that I see the most.  You know what, you let me know who you think the other types are and if you see someone different.  Or, maybe you see or are even one of the types that I mentioned above!

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