Stopping the war in Iraq by turning off your lights

[Th1onein]

I've been listening to Scott Ritter, the retired Marine. He talks about the war in Iraq in terms of our addiction to our way of life, namely, our use of energy sources.

A while back someone here talked about not buying gas for a day. This, of course, is difficult and simply not feasible for most.

So, how else can we cut our energy consumption and be less dependent on foreign oil? How can we send a message to the corporations that now control our government, and move them to seeking alternative sources for fuel, and ending their and our dependence on foreign oil? The best thing is to hit them where their heart is: their pocketbooks.

We have to go to work, right? But, after living for two days without electricity recently, I have come up with what I think is a pretty good idea: a national "turn your lights off" day. This is feasible. This is doable.

We can simply get up one morning and turn everything in our house off (sorry, but this does include the computer, guys). Poof! No consumption and less money in the pockets of the electricity companies, which extrapolates to less money in the pockets of the oil companies.

What do you think? And what if we had one of these days every week? Or a couple of weekends a month?

[Warpy]

1. Invest in saving every day

I'm a power miser. Every light in my house is now fluorescent. My computer screen is LCD. My light bill averages 20 a month in winter, 30 a month in summer when I'm using my evaporative cooler.

These guys are taking so little of my money that they wouldn't notice if I were gone.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. Way to go, Warpy!

I'm glad to see someone post who isn't just making excuses for why they can't give up things. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[JM]

2. Better yet...

...how about we do away with Corporate Penis Envy (my building is bigger) and move to a distributed business model where possible. With the technologies available today, there is no reason productivity should suffer with people working from home a few days a week. This would remove hundreds of millions of car-hours per year, reducing consumption, road repair (another sinkhole in the economy nobody talks about) and pollution.

People are too addicted to the need to physically see someone's face to pass or receive an instruction. I work from home for a company, and have done so for years. We all talk at least once a day, and meet once a month. Granted, not everyone can do this, nor can all businesses. For those who can, though...

JM

[seabeyond]

3. i havent fixed my airconditioner yet this summer

so i have yet to turn it on. i am doing my part

[slor]

5. Great Idea...

but I will miss you all.

[Arianrhod]

6. A year ago, I finally got fed up with the corporate greed machine

and decided that I would give up ONE mass-produced, consumer culture product. It would be something I didn't really need, and wouldn't really miss, but which I habitually used anyway. I figured if I gave up something like that, it would be easier to do, and I wouldn't be very inclined to go back to it again. So potato chips went. I told a friend what I'd done, and he liked the idea, so he dropped Pepsi. So now we both eat a little healthier. :) This year I needed some new furniture, so instead of buying the mass-produced stuff at the big mart, I bought some handmade tables from a local mom-and-pop store. Cost a little more, but they are unique and look really cool. :)

I don't miss the chips at all. Now I'm always looking for other things I can give up like that--or replace with locally produced goods. I realize there are people who have done this with far more things than I have, but if everyone quit buying even just one item, it might make a difference in a corporate coffer or two.

[Tansy_Gold]

8. Thank you, Arianrhod

Hubby and I are handcrafters, and it's always rewarding to find someone who appreciates the VALUE of quality-made products as opposed to it's-cheap-so-we-can-buy-a-bunch-now-and-by-the-time-it-wears-out-we'll-be-tired-of-it-anyway.



Tansy Gold

[Arianrhod]

9. I've acquired a real taste

for handworked items. I think of them as objects of art. I admire people who can work with their hands, as I have no talent whatsoever in any field whatsoever.

I wish you and your husband a booming business!

[lectrobyte]

7. Great idea, but I suspect that other things might be more

efficient in terms of saving electricity. I.e., compact fluorescents, programmable thermostats, etc. The whole question, though, ignores transportation, which I think is where a lot of the average person's energy usage goes.

A one-time power shutdown savings thing might work, but am I going to do it every weekend? Probably not. The message it sends, too, is probably not that effective. After all, unless you go off the grid, you are pretty much locked into an electricity supplier, and depending on heating sources, probably a gas or oil company, too. So, if you use 3% less power one month by turning it off for a day (ignoring recovery energy needed to get your fridge cold again, etc.), I don't know that power companies would mind too much. Much better to trade in that SUV for something fuel efficient, and conserve "strategically" if possible -- mass transit, energy efficient appliance choices etc.

[seabeyond]

10. kick

:)