"If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.”
-Sir George Porter-
It is undeniable the emphasis today's society has put on energy conservation. Websites, books, rallies, billboards, promotions. All of these have been used as mediums to communcate the need for energy conservation. But how effective is the message that is being sent? It would be one thing for me to want others to conserve energy. It is another thing altogether to conserve energy myself. I pose this question.
How much energy is being used each day to promote the conservation of energy?
It seems to me that if there is a problem with energy consumption that the solution would be to use less energy. Adding rallies and billboards and books and websites, all of which consume energy, seem to me would add to the amount of energy consumed. By definition it takes less trees to print one book about war than it does to print one book about war and one about conserving energy because the former is contained within the later. It begs the question. Do you want to use less energy or do you want others to use less energy?
You may be wondering what has brought this about. The past few weeks I have had a workload of an unusual size for myself. I have been going and going without stop. It makes me uneasy to see the amount of work I am accomplishing not because of the accomplishment itself but because of the energy consumption that accomplishment represents. For the past week or two I have been trying to slow down. I have been telling myself I need to relax, I need to take a break and I have been unable to take one. I have tried and tried to stop spending energy without success. This has caused my nervousness to increase and with it my efforts to stop working so hard. And then it hit me. The reason I am feeling this way is because I am spending so much energy trying to force myself to conserve energy. Why am I wasting energy fighting against myself? I literally have been walking around using my energy to complain about the fact that I am using so much energy. I trust you see the flaw in this logic.
Do not get me wrong, I am not trying to say that energy should be wasted. Energy is meant to be used but it is meant to be used wisely to maximize efficiency. Truth be told I am tired, I have been using too much energy. I do need to maximize my effectiveness and efficiency. Right now in my life trying to get myself to stop wasting energy has become the biggest energy consumer and so it is the first I will cut off. No longer will I waste energy trying to stop wasting energy. Instead I will conserve it by not using it to fight against itself. Should the rest of the world follow suit? You tell me.
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2 comments:
Good points there Ryan. I also spend an insane amount of energy working all day, thinking about things that worry me, etc. and even though it would be ideal to stop wasting that energy on those thoughts, I find it impossible. It's just how we are as humans!
Also--I can see your point about all the energy wasted on websites, rallies and all that business to help conserve energy but we've got to think about the big picture. If all of THAT energy reaches enough people who all work to conserve, then maybe it's worth it. And I think it might be.
-Jillian
It's hard for me to determine if energy spent on promoting conservation is energy wasted. Is energy spent on promoting awareness of child soldiers in Africa energy wasted? I suppose it depends on how the promoting is being done. I understand that if I truly believe in a cause, I must become a part of it and let my personal actions speak for my convictions. That being said, I feel that part of my duty is to be an advocate for that cause.
I would definitely agree with the argument that we do not spend our energy wisely however. Will a billboard or "God is Green" bumper sticker really motivate me to go green myself. Doubtful. Likewise, I don't think simply telling someone about the war in Uganda or lamenting about the ramifications will spur on any productive action from others.
I guess the question that comes to my mind is what does the expenditure of our energy lead to? If ground is gained by the expenditure of our energy, it's hard to argue that it is energy wasted, in my mind.
On that note, I really enjoy reading your postings.
Michael G.
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