Thursday, January 27, 2011
Consumption
I have to admit that during the past few week I have thought about my consumption from many different angles. I have always viewed my consumption as being on the conservative side. A lot of my consumption has probably been based according to my financial resources. For example, recently I had to purchase a new vehicle. I probably would prefer the high priced, flashy, gas guzzling sports car. This would be the car that says "Hey, look at me, look at what I have..". But, due to my financial resources, I am forced to be conservative. I selected a car based on gas mileage, low insurance costs, and low maintenance costs instead of comfort and appearance. One of the first things I do each morning is brush my teeth, shave, and take a shower. Probably one of the largest necessity items that we should be aware of conserving is our water. I once asked a friend, who is a student visiting from China, what he thought about our American culture. He was astonished about our lack of water conservation and he used the example of letting the water run while we brush our teeth and shave. One of reasons this country experiences great wealth is due to our abundant water supply. We don't have to worry about running out of water. A few years ago National Graphic magazine published an article on China and one of the problems they deal with on a daily basis is the lack of drinking water. Here again I am forced to conserve based on my financial situation. Because I do not have access to an abundant supply of city water I must turn off the water when I brush my teeth and shave. I also have to be aware how long my shower takes and how many loads of laundry are washed, because the well my run dry. I am forced to conserve not because there is a lack of water in the area but because a new well would cost thousands of dollars. The other day in class it was mentioned that Germany was the leader in solar power. I do not think that Germany is an extremely wealthy country. They may be leading in solar power because they can not afford to purchase oil from another country. They may have been forced to focus their attention towards ways of conserving based on their financial situation.
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The point you make early on about basing your consumption on your financial situation is one that I made as well. I think if more Americans were put in a situation where they had to carefully spend each penny, we could cut emissions down quite a bit. But that is just a moot point.
ReplyDeleteThe part about water conservation caught my attention. I try each day to limit my mark on the earth, but I have never been put in a situation where anything so basic as water was limited. Maybe if resources were controlled better in this country we would learn to live a little bit lighter. I believe it would definitely make a difference, kind of how it did with you and your water availability...but how could we go about that?
College students often have to change their purchasing habits due to limited incomes, but after they graduate and get steady jobs, do you think these trends stay, or increase? I tend to think that most people will return to buying whatever they, whenever they want, if they have the funds to do so. So as much as college students have a better environmental impact (less of one, rather), I don't think this will last. As a society, we are trained to 'want' things too much...
ReplyDeleteYour post and Brianna's and Robert's comments made me think about how everybody's incentives to conserve are so different. As you mentioned in your post, people in China actively think about conserving water because clean water has become somewhat scarce over there. But over here, if and when we think about conserving water it's usually just because of the financial cost. If the financial incentive isn't there then for some reason Americans in general just don't think about it because clean water's a resource that seems to have an infinite supply. There isn't really an infinite amount, but there's enough clean water in the U.S. to make it seem that way.
ReplyDeleteOur primary motive for conserving is generally financial, whether it be water or fuel or something else. Brianna sort of mentioned this, but I think that if and when we get to a point where we're financially stable enough to live conveniently and comfortably without worrying too much about the cost, we'll choose convenience and comfort over conservation every time, even when the cost goes up. That's not true for every single one of us obviously, but I think it applies generally to our culture.
You bring up an interesting point in terms of how wasteful Americans are with water. I try to remember to turn the faucet off while brushing my teeth, but sometimes I slip up. Now, after reading your excerpt about how people in China struggle to have sufficient drinking water, I am ashamed of myself. I really should try harder.
ReplyDeleteit is amazing to hear that about the conserving of water in china. it makes sense but ironic to think about because their mass increase of bad things for the environment like their coal planets. but you make a point cost makes people conserve but then it sometimes it also means people buy things that are worst, like non local food in some seasons may be cheaper. another interesting fact you bring up is about germany, now i know nothing about germany and their reasons for using solar (other than i think that is awesome) but it is amazing because a lot of europe countries are more aware of what they consumer whether it be fore money reasons or because they are doing for the environment. this summer i lived in scotland and everything you bought was labels with a carbon footprint of what it took to make it and get it there and also where is was from. Plus food went bad with in 2 to 3 days and they sold things like 6 eggs or a half a loaf of bread was very popular because they dont use preservatives. i just find it interesting how other countries are already doing things and america may not have to be the leading in it.
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