Starting Sunday, it is officially Ontario’s first Energy Conservation Week. The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is coordinating the efforts and encouraging people to “Take Part. Take Action.”
There is one corporate sponsor I’m aware of who’s trying to do their part to raise awareness by lowering lighting levels but the truth is, this is such a small drop in the bucket.
It is also amusing that I just had a conversation with someone at the gym about this. I was getting ready to teach my class and she asked me if I just came from another class. I laughed and said, no - I was coming from work and explained I have a full-time job. She asked if my job were fitness related and that’s when I began to tell her a little bit. Our chat turned to conservation and what I explained was that we, as consumers are generally unwilling to make changes and/or unwilling to pay a little bit more in order to be greener. We all have these great intentions about saving the environment, but when asked to put our money where our mouth is… well, it’s a bit lacking, shall we say? I concluded that if all we’re willing to do is change lightbulbs, then we’re in deep trouble.
Instead of electricity from lightbulbs, how about energy used for heating? Heating is where the big efficiencies are and whether that is heating our homes, or heating our water, if we can crack that nut, we’ll actually make an impact. We need to 1) use less, 2) prevent it from leaking/leaving (ie, heated air leaving house, heated water losing heat in tank), 3) be more efficient at heating, then we’d be laughing. Why’s everyone so focused on these damn lightbulbs?
I think the new lighbulbs have acquired a bit of sex-appeal - it is a cheap way to look like we care about the environment and it’s relatively easy to spot, yet being green is not always sexy. Sometimes, the way to really make an impact, is really non-sexy tactics like better insulation for the home, lowering the thermostat in the winter, and raising it in the summer, and replacing equipment with the most energy-efficient product that your budget allows. These types of things relate to 1-3 above and are the keys to success, far more than electricity used to light our homes.
If you really want to make a difference, get past the lightbulbs. Focus on the things that your hard earned dollars are really being spent on when it comes to energy - that is, heating and cooling and see how you can reduce, prevent heat loss, and get more efficient equipment.
Have an energy-efficient week.
- Daisy
