Thursday, December 4, 2008

Sexy Conservation

Sexy Conservation

I have read literally hundreds of articles about solar manufacturing,
new windmill technology, algae biodiesel and the like; the supposed
cutting edge of the new energy economy. And while I am an unabashed
technophile, I keep coming back to the wisdom of "conservation
first". Reduction before production.

There are brilliant engineers developing excellent technology all the
time, but the major energy issues we face are often better solved by
inexpensive (read: free) changes in behavior, not changes in solar
panel coatings. It can take years before we see good reliable electric
cars or install one of these new helical wind turbines on our own
roof. We can, however, immediately save money and the planet through
conservation. Efficient lightbulbs aside, just paying attention to our
energy habits alone can lower our own utility bills 40% or more.

The trouble seems to be the fact that for most, conservation is not
half as sexy as a new solar panel or a new Tesla electric roadster.

How can we make conservation sexier, more fun, and more rewarding?

Seriously, I don't know how we do this or even if this is the right
question. But I know for a fact that we can't wait 5 years for cheap
solar in order to make changes.

We voted for Obama's promise of change, but are we going to wait until
2012 to walk our environmental talk? Are we hoping that the new $35
billion bailout of The Big Three car manufacturers will magically put
a Chevy Volt in our driveway this Christmas?

I submit to you that we cannot wait, and that hoping for an
engineering miracle is not as good a use of our time as insulating our
homes and sealing our leaky ducts. How we can see that behavior as
cool and rewarding is the trick. Help us all out with some
suggestions. The clock is indeed ticking.

Aaron
Campbell
Energy

Www.Campbell-Energy.Com

Aaron
Campbell
Energy

206.898.8337

2 comments:

  1. Can you do this in a way that people will be able to brag about it? When I drive my electric car, it's an obvious statement. If I replace the bulbs in my house, it's not. But, I think you're on the right track---by this, I mean professionally. Why not offer some kind of certification---which entails that people bring their homes and habits up to this standard? For example, you could offer a class and define a living and housing standard---like organic certification where someone comes in and inspects the place and your practices---that says, hey, I'm X certified (come up with some catchy name). In return, people get initials after their name, a certificate, a shirt... whatever---something that sets them apart, makes them special for doing this. That's something to crow about! You're certainly in a position to do that. All you have to do is make that certification---then market it, make it valuable, popular, well known and coveted! Get someone to do a news story about the certification, start buzz about it on the internet...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful site, by the way (I speak of http://campbell-energy.com). I'm glad to see you finally got something up there. It looks very professional.

    ReplyDelete