Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Really, I swear, sometimes it is cloying how SO eco-understanding euros, especially the Germans, are.
Almost all germans have special toilets that only allow a small amount of water to flush.....and a special "eco-flush" button in public washrooms that I am sure most opt for.....they turn the water off while brushing their teeth, sudsing their hair, etc. Separate and recycle everything under the sun.
And the rest of the Euros right behind the mega-super-eco-conscious Germans......
Yet, we USA'ans have not evidentally got with that program.
We leave the water and lights and appliances on...keep all the TV's on in the house for background noise/comfort/sheer laziness, throw usable grocery bags in the garbage rather than under the sink, wash our cars weekly, waste gas taking a trip two blocks to the grocery store, and so on ad infinitum...
Are we simply BAD people? Are we STUPID? Uncaring?
Why can't we be more like the Germans? Or, possibly, maybe WE are on the right track after all.....are not things here for us to be used? Isn't that why God made plastics? And don't we employ more garbagemen than any country per capita(keep on pumping that GDP)?......
Personally, I am sick of the eco everything stuff.......yes, it is wonderful that we have those new, slightly weird looking halogen/LED bulbs, but please, I think we USA'ans are just being honest.
To be human is TO consume, just like to think is to exist(thanks Decartes).......Humans tend to use things, dispose of things, and poop a lot. That's just us. We, in the USA, are simply not ashamed to be human, no carbon footprint nonsense. Humans use stuff, and they throw stuff out...
Dig up some old native american turf sometimes...they threw stuff out as well.......and they had no shame either....
Americans......we have no shame, and are just being real and human.....we throw stuff out, and we poop a lot.....
I, for one, am damn proud of this......and so should you be!
Me, my parents and brother aren't like that. We almost always turn off the TV's and lights when we don't use them, turn off the water when brushing our teeth, use recycled grocery bags, etc.
We leave the water and lights and appliances on...keep all the TV's on in the house for background noise/comfort/sheer laziness, throw usable grocery bags in the garbage rather than under the sink, wash our cars weekly, waste gas taking a trip two blocks to the grocery store, and so on ad infinitum...
You do not speak for all Americans. I was taught to turn the light off when I leave a room, and my TV is unplugged more then it is plugged in.
Not sure what appliances you keep on... like your stove? You just keep it on when not in use?
I use reusable tote bags when grocery shopping, and if I need extra bags, I get paper bags that I reuse to put recyclables in (and yeah, I recylce everything that I can). I actually cant remember the last time I washed my car. I stop by the grocery store on my way from somewhere else, instead of making a special trip just to the grocery store. Or there are plenty of times where we do walk the two block to the grocery store.
I am not going to finish the rest of my life shivering in my room, live in a 500 sq. ft. apt. and bike to work. I am sorry, the next generation needs to solve their own problems. Every generation does.
Last edited by HappyRider; 10-31-2014 at 07:57 PM..
The power plant does not 'store' electricity, so when you turn something off, it does not really matter. A power plant
kicks out whatever it kicks out at any time. What it does not store just goes to waste anyway, regards energy.
There is always a one-way flow(for the most part, 'cept for the few people who sell energy back via solar). In the summer,
the plants make far more power for the A/C. In the winter hardly so much, as people heat with natural gas.
Here is where we can change things.......
Ever hear of hybrid cars? Well, we can have hybrid homes. We can use SOME electric power, and SOME solar power.
We can use electric hybrid cars, and sell the energy we don't use from the cars and solar back to the grid. In this case, shutting off lights makes a huge difference, as we are largely generating our own energy.
Central power stations are a waste. They have to always be "on" and running. This is not going to last much longer.
Soon, the internet of things, smart thermostats, smart home meters, and the two way feedbacks will completely rehaul
home and car energy usage(once we all drive electric hybrids or 100% electrics, of course).
I made fun of the Euro-green eco folks(which covers essentially all of the Germans, they are really like that out there),
but we ALL will be de facto "Germans" once these new personalized energy grids kick in, as eco will be baked into the system by default.
At that point, indeed, we will all be "Germans", and that is not a bad thing.
Now, if only I could find some decent Apple Strudel!
This complex of "why can't we be more like Europeans?" seems to afflict mostly Americans. Europeans that I have known love America. They feel like being let out of a cage once they move here. Sadly, the rich liberal class who will never be subjected to the restrictions they want to impose on the rest of us insist that we become more European while they criss cross the sky in their private jets.
This complex of "why can't we be more like Europeans?" seems to afflict mostly Americans.
More like liberal Americans.
Quote:
Sadly, the rich liberal class who will never be subjected to the restrictions they want to impose on the rest of us insist that we become more European while they criss cross the sky in their private jets.
Exactly. And if memory serves me right, Al Gore bought himself an $8 million dollar 6,500 sq ft. home in Montecito. Yeah - that's gotta be really environmentally friendly.
Remember, our country (USA) never went through a period in it's modern history where there was virtually nothing, including food available. Sure, we had an economic depression but that was nothing compared to what many European countries have experienced.
Take something as simple as going for a load of bread. "There" is was common and still is to see someone with a loaf, out in the open carried home by whatever means of transport including a bicycle, street car or something else.
Here, no one would eat the bread because they'd be too concerned about washing it. First it has to be wrapped in either a paper or plastic bag, then put into another bag to get home.
There was a time though, when as a kid you'd drink water from an outside faucet or water hose. Now? What, no "smart water" in a plastic bottle?
You need a new cell phone? You mean you are actually walking around with one that is a year old? In public? Better line up because a new iPhone came out and what would you say if someone saw you with last year's model?
We've become a buy it cheap, use it for a while and get a new one consumer country. Every other country knows it too and that is why they are lined up to sell us our own raw materials made into whatever plasticky flavor of the month toy.
A week before any championship sports game go into a Costco or Best Buy. People scrambling to buy the next 1" larger TV than they already have.
We throw everything away and then boast about driving a Tesla.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
