How are going to get the general population to become more energy efficient and to think 'Green'?

Question

I've always thought that one of the biggest challenges to energy conservation is going to get most of the population to think 'green'. It seems to me that a lot of people don't want to be bothered to recycle anything, let alone stop driving gas guzzlers to go from one point to another. Or sacrifice a little comfort by keeping the heat levels low during the winter time, or the cooling on the high side during the summertime.

Is the state ever going to start policing people regarding this? I don't think anyone wants that, but who's going to look after what's good for the planet and the future generations of people to come.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has a better outlook for our environment than I do.

Answer 1

There's some great posts here! As a green path finder and gate keeper I can only suggest you do what you can for yourself, family and friends. Lead by example and don't waste time on converting people. Actions speak louder than words, and when people begin to see the difference, the new picture then speaks a thousand words in one breath.

A sense of well being is a perception that holds only as long as nothing better is seen to be available.

When people visit my zero energy load bearing straw bale home built mostly from materials on site or within 50 miles from the site they are blown away... they had no idea a home like mine could be built so cheap ($75.00 per square foot), so energy efficiently (I have a $500.00 credit on my electricity account from active and passive solar) and so beautifully. Seeing is believing. Just last week a lady started crying because she just bought a new home and had no idea there was an alternative to stick house energy dogs. She felt betrayed and ripped off. Her new house is back on the market, and will build a straw bale home this summer (if I can get to it as I have contracts to build 3 for this summer already!!!).

A lot of people look at my old yellow 1976 VW Campmobile (It's my garage piece in truth) and think I'm just a stupid old hippy. But at camp sites and other stops there are always people that want to look inside and talk because it brings back great memories of the 60s and 70s and it's in perfect condition. Wow man, that's a cool bus! When I tell them it  has a bio desiel engine that gets 32 miles to the gallon and a solar panel that can run my computer and sat dish anywhere the sun shines, sleeps four in comfort and has traveled over 300,000 miles, I can see in their eyes true amazement!  I've had on the spot offers to sell it for $20,000.00 or trade even for a new SUV gas hog.

I helped edit the first Susutainable Design Resource Guide for the AIA almost twenty years ago now, and helped  with the creation of Built Green in Denver, CO with the home builders association about the same time. Many of those ideas are now standards world wide in the construction industry. It took a long time to get from there to here with the help of many many people from opposing positions.

If you want to know how to eat an elephant, take one bite at a time!

Don't get frustrated, depressed or discouraged. Be confident if it feels good for the right reasons, just do it! People will come up to you and ask why your so happy and how they can get there too! Guilt is a horrible thing to live with, and many people feel guilty these days, but don't know why... we owe it to them to be green path finders and hold gateways open to cross over and be part of an alternative vission of the future.

Answer 2

Hi.  Infact i think your question must be the first one addressed if the earth is to ever have a chance.  I believe that until people feel a personal attachement to the earth, they'll continue to behave as they do now, opportunistic and detached.  Not untill we except, respect, and appreciate the earth as truly the root of our existence, can we change our course.  The earth breaths, she sleeps, she concieved, sustains and develops life.  she has a skeltal structure in the form of  rock formations, flesh and muscle in the soil and dirt composition, the grass is her hair, the heart is her ocean, the waters are her blood supply, the streams and rivers her veins and arteries, her forests are lungs, swamps and wetlands are her liver and kidneys, etc, etc...    we just need to revist and truly understand where we came from, if we are to ever understand (and get to) where we're going as a human race.  good question

Answer 3

As the cost goes up, more of us will be green, I see it as being the status symbol.

Answer 4

I do.  See this question and its reference question. Specific answers will be forthcoming soon.

Your approach appears to be one of conservation. This WILL NOT WORK in the long run. Why? Because EVERY drop of oils saved due to MY conservation will be used up eventually by some one coming up behind me.

Secondly, our way of life (the AMERICAN way of life) is NOT to go slow, but balls to the wall. If you stop THAT idea then you effectively STOP the American dream.

We CAN and we WILL find the answer to this delimma and it won't be in the realm of conservation but rather in the realm of innovation.

I would like to invite to to stay with me on this issue. I can give you GOOD reason to have a much better outlook on this matter as I proceed to show you and all on this forum how it can be done. IT IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE to do it, but it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that we do it. And guess what? There ain't a country or people on the face of this good earth that can do it but us, the United States of America.

The program I am talking about will take NO new developement of technology (we will use stuff we figured out 200 years ago) and NO crude oil from ANY source. It will be done for LESS money then the Manhatten Project (in todays dollars) and will be FAR MORE grandious in its impact on the human race then the Manhatten project. It will COST us NOT to do this project. By that I mean if we DO NOT do this project and now, we will be PAYING out over 20 Trillion dollars in the next 20 years to do what we are doing (and have been doing) for the past 95 years. Or, we can DO this project and SAVE ourselves some 18 Trillion dollars in the next 20 years. It all starts with a decision...to stay the course or to hunker down and do what is right, sane, and and compliant with the laws of nature.

The Native Indians of this country had it right to not want to go against Mother Nature, but rather live in harmony with her. It is THIS idea, and none other that will lead us to cleaner air, better health, clean water, and a complete INDEPENDANCE of our relying on the world to supply our infastructure with the fuel needed to propell it. Finally, we can put OUR smarts and our CAN DO, or Yankee ingenuity to work to solve this problem. We have done it before, and we WILL do it again.

Stick around, the BEST is yet to come.  

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 5

I've found the opposite to be true.  Going "green" has become very popular these days.  Everywhere you look and every magazine you pick up has articles of being more earth friendly.  Far more so than it ever was before.  I think in general people don't like change.  You have to start small and build on that.  Any little bit helps!  Turning the faucet off when you brush your teeth, taking timed showers rather than baths, watering your lawn during off peak hours and limiting the time and amount each week, using energy efficient light bulbs, reusing plastic bags, recycling cans and plastic bottles, etc., etc.  I could go on and on.  No, the environment is no where near as good as it can be but you've got to start somewhere and now is a great time.  The more people are educated on the benefits (not only for the environment but for their pocket books) the more they will be able to breathe easier (literally).  I happen to work in the field of protecting our environment and I have made it my job to help inform people.  One person taking one step forward to inform another person is where it begins.  Rather than focusing on the negative, try to find the good in what is already becoming a better future, one day at a time.

Answer 6

It will happen naturally as oil gets more expensive due to the limited supply running short while massive new demand from China bids up the price.

Answer 7

I'm afraid I don 't have a lot of sympathy for your views--they are degrading and insulting. to people.  No one needs to "police" individuals--the great majority of people will do the right  thing--if they have an opportunity to do so.

Here's a few examples of what I mean:

You want to "police" people's drivig?  Why don't you concrate on the real problem--an auto industrythat has refused for 25 years to make more effecient cars?

Recycling is another example.  Take a look at the average American city--there's practically no facilities--and what are there are usually inconvenient.

As for things like heating--get ths straight--we DO NOT need to be forcing people to not use energy--we need to focus on producing clean energy.  Go take a lookat how much solar or wind power is needed to supply theenergy people use.

The last thing we need is a bunch of self-appointed do-gooders--or the state--running people's lives--whileat the same time not addressing the real problems. As things stand,most people do waste energy--because the system is set up so they don't have a choice. So what do you do? Why, blame the victim, of course. Pathetic.

Answer 8

Or just maybe controlling what the individual does in his or her life isn't the answer after all. Maybe its public policy towards subsidized imported oil and other goods.  Or simplifying of the nuclear plant licensing procedure.

Answer 9

I am confused about what people are calling "green" these days..Every single thing that we have, make or use comes from the earth.(GREEN?) The metals, minerals, plants, animals etc, all come from the earth. The Chemicals that we use to make our modern day THINGS come from the earth(GREEN?)...we use them up and then discard them by  burying  them back into the earth where they came from (GREEN?).Mother nature recycles ALL of them.(GREEN?) the organic things first, the mineral  and chemical things much slower.Oil leaks up from the ocean bottom but is disipated by mother nature.(GREEN?) we drink the water that at one time may have had oil in it.(GREEN?) The food we eat was able to grow because other plants died and nurished the soil and gave new life,(GREEN?),,, The rocks and stones that we crush to make our highways and build parts of our homes came from the earth (GREEN?)and will return to earth.(GREEN?) Volcanos have put more toxins(not green) into the air than man has ever been able to create (using things that came from the earth)(GREEN?) I think the term"living green" has its "roots" in those those people who want us to recycle our cash to support their political agendas...We humans for all the money we give to this or that worthy cause to "save" the planet earth can not change the weather, have control over earthquakes,stop volcanos..prevent floods,tornadoes, or hurricanes!  but maybe we CAN use our GREEN to help one another , family friends and neighbors when mother nature has her tantrums

Answer 10

Hopefully no.  The state has no business policing people with regard to personal choices, at least not in a free society.

Answer 11

Sadly, I believe the only answer is to legislate so people don't have any other options.  Leave people to their own devices and they will largely make selfish, lazy, blinkered or short-term choices.  

The problem seems aggravated by the obsession we have with offering unlimited "choice" in everything we do - and frankly, most of us aren't qualified to make those choices.  Personally, too much choice makes me stressed - I don't have time or energy to hold on to every detail of every issue, hence to make good decisions about everything - there's too much of it. I want someone else that I can trust (ie. State/Legislation) to have already done the groundwork and narrowed down my options so I know that everything I choose meets at least a basic environmental standard or ethical code.  

Take food, for example. I don't want to walk into a supermarket and have to choose from 20 different kinds of chicken.  That's why I only ever look for the Soil Association label - which reassures me (without my having to anguish over a further series of choices) about several of the things that matter to me (eg. the animals have been humanely reared in small groups with adequate space, daylight, etc.; their diet has been organic; they have not been given unnecessary medications/antibiotics; the farmer is being paid a fair sum for his product; etc.).

However, if you go along the organic route, make sure you understand the different standards out there because they aren't all they are cracked up to be. The Soil Association sets the highest standard, which is why I look for their endorsement - whereas the likes of "UK Farmers and Growers" is a feeble attempt to bend organic standards to fit what can be achieved by the big farms (eg. this standard allows less space for the animals; bigger flocks/herds; can feed up to 20% non-organic feed; routinely need more antibiotics because of these conditions; and yet can still claim to be "organic" because they wrote the standard that says so).

Some people laugh at me because I buy organic food for my cats. It isn't just about taking care of the cats.  Non-organic agriculture is the second biggest world pollutant next to the internal combustion engine.  Improve our agricultural standards and you will change the world.

Answer 12

We live in Michigan and the city did push recycleing on us. we have to wash out cans and plastic containers with the number 2 on it and put them in a seperate bit.

We got new trucks that had about 6 bins in them one for paper, plastic,glass,cans. Seperate containers for grass and trash.... The guys came around for the first year and kept everything seperate..... suddenly the job force was cut back and the trucks are no where to be found . brand new trucks hmmm....  Now they bring a truck with one worker and toss it all in togeather... I guess we attempted to do things properly but it did not last too long. They will have to tell us the rules again and see if the city can follow them this time...