A Guaranteed Investment Opportunity
If you were offered an investment that could absolutely guarantee a return of between 100 and 400 percent per annum, and it was completely ethical, would you take it? Course you would, save you money and protect the environment. This is what you get when you install energy efficient light bulbs in your home, to replace the tungsten bulbs. They use about a quarter of the energy of conventional bulbs. They cost a little more up front, but the return is more certain than any stock market investment, and the bulbs last a lot longer. So why don’t you go out tomorrow and start making money for free?
Susan worked in a place where there was a technical manager in charge of the work-space. He was educated, degree and all that. The room was surrounded on three sides with massive windows which let the day light stream in. The standard procedure during work was to pull the blinds down, and light the room with strip lights. Doing her bit, if she knew she would be working alone, Susan would switch off about 12 lights, open a couple of blinds, and windows, and work in the natural light without any problems. One day, she was caught out. She looked up to see him walk down the corridor past the door to the work room. Then he turned back, came in, put all the lights on and walked off again! The reason he acted so irrationally boiled down to him taking offence that someone would want to do things differently to him, and actually more sensibly. His ego was dented, so he rejected the common sense, and fought against it. He gained nothing, the workplace paid higher electricity bills, and greenhouse gas emissions went up. Nil sense, but he did it anyway. With strip lights, one sometimes hears the argument that to switch them off actually wastes electricity! In fact, it is during the few seconds of when the strip lights are starting that they use about half as much power again as they do in normal running. After about eight seconds of being switched off, electricity and money are saved. If you stood over the switch flicking it on and off for hours, then yes more electricity would be consumed. But people don’t do that. Take the notion that switching off lights wastes electricity to its logical conclusion: if we were to fill a warehouse with strip lights, switch them all on, then with the energy they save, we could close down a power station! Mad as hatters. The insane argument that switching off lights wastes electricity is a mind game designed to deflect intelligent and truthful criticism. There is no rational truth to the response, it is purely dealt out to preserve the ego of the person who feels criticised. So they can try to stay up the ladder of social esteem. So that the opposite sex will want their genes. But not changing causes problems.
It’s the easiest thing in the world. Lift a finger and save the planet. Switch off a light. And in any case, you’ll save money, and maybe have to work less hard, get more holidays, live a bit.
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