I filled up my little Civic the other day, and I think for the first time in it’s life, I paid more than $50. Sticker-shock hit for me for a millisecond as I realized what $1.27 per litre meant. Yikes. Now, for people who usually fill up big tanks, I’m sure $50 doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re used to paying in the 30’s and low 40’s, it’s a real shock.
It’s such a wonderful shock though, because it reminds me of what price increases like that will do to the average consumer - they begin to think twice about their habits. “Do I really need to drive to the corner, do I need to idle the car, do I really need an SUV?” It’s a good wake-up call for many as car manufacturers’ are finally seeing sales of the gas guzzlers decrease. It’s about time.
If only we could have this kind of an impact on other things, like water. If you own a home, I dare you to take a wild guess what your water bill is. Water bill? What’s that? My water bill is attached to my electricity bill, and the honest truth is, my water bill is a drop in the bucket of all my expenses. I happen to have low-flow showerheads, low-flush toilets, no dripping taps, and aerators on the taps. When the current washer dies, I will definately get an energy-efficient front-loader like the one at my old house. I encourage the family to turn off the water when we brush our teeth, and generally not have water flowing except when we need it. I don’t like to water the lawn though I allow my partner to do it once in a while. It’s something we agree to disagree about and not worth a fight over.
So, with my tactics, I reduce the water that is used, and reduce the water that goes out into the sewers. I should see a reduction in my water bill, no? I’ll tell you something, I’ve never looked at the bill to determine just how much I am saving. I’m afraid to. Really afraid to. I know at a dollar level, it’s likely so tiny, I’m not sure I would notice it. It’s probably not worth the time it would take me to compare them. That’s really sad. I am not water-efficient in order to save money. I am efficient because it is the right thing to do.
Water is so cheap. That’s why so many people waste it and don’t even think about it. If only we could get the true cost of water, then perhaps we would actually make some headway.
Imagine this - price of water includes the full cost including costs of infrastructure, pipes, maintenance. And while we’re at it, what about the costs to process, sanitize and pump. No wait, what if we paid the real price of electricity to process, sanitize and pump? (Do you hear the “S” word here? Subsidies?) If we started paying real prices, I think some people just might go into a bit of sticker-shock over the price of flushing a toilet. Even that annoying dripping tap is now like dripping gasoline.
Would you ever consider driving a car that was leaking gas all the time? At $1.27 a litre?
- Daisy
Someone told me high gas prices will cuase people to stop driving and cuase automakers to build better efficient cars. But that only means that less people will be able to afford new cars becuase better anything in the car business means more money [ cost].
I watched a guy walking down the road with his little boy, when i asked him if he needed a lift - he said “no, I’m almost at the corner store. I’m going to buy milk”….
When things are tight - it doesn’t matter how efficient new cars are….
I guess I’ll try to win the $500 Gas Card !
Hey Daisy!
Hmm…in an odd way, we sort of agree - though I think the main point of disagreement on this issue between us is that the whole gas price thing is not about shortage to me - it’s about supply and demand. It’s a basic principle of marketing that in order to sell a lot of something, at a high price you have to cause the public to think it is precious and the supply is limited. In my opinion that has been done successfully by the speculators and the oil companies (although, I am thinking that the speculators have done a better job of it).
In terms of alternative vehicles - they pose other problems - for instance the hybrids that are being offered now do use much less gasoline but they have batteries with a life span of about seven years, after which they are useless. They are also no recyclable and so will end up in land fills, with the battery acid seeping into the soil and after a few decades probably contaminating the water table. So, you see, there is always something wrong or some problem that will be generated regardless of what type of energy is being used. At least so far as the types I’m aware of - Personally, I am more for the water engine which just pipes water into the air - but who knows how long b efore that would be available by and large. Although, they could do it tomorrow if they wanted, couldn’t they?
On the other hand, if they did release cars with water engines, you would indeed see the cost of water skyrocketing - suddenly we would all be hearing about what a drought we’re in and how we must conserve on water. Because you see, that is how marketing works. It doesn’t matter what the commodity is, it only matters that the industry convince the public that there is a dire shortage and we must pay dearly for it.
In terms of water prices…I don’t know where you live but where I live water is expensive. Especially when they claim we are in a drought. So the guilt trips get laid on the public for wasting it and not using it properly and then we get penalized for it and somehow get talked into paying more for it. Ironic to me since the world is 2/3 covered with water and desalinization technology has been around for years and years - but that would be too easy a solution and wouldn’t enable the government to regulate tax and overprice things.
To me, the actual problem is that those in control want to remain in control and so manipulate things so that they will - including and especially the markets.
Maybe the real solution is a revolution?
BTW, I found this very interesting vid which I’m going to post on Thursday. It’s a real ‘must see’.
Annie