4 ms·

I couldn't agree more. That type of sentiment is pervasive, and it's absolutely baffling, because we as a society can keep all our excesses and comforts while

I couldn't agree more. That type of sentiment is pervasive, and it's absolutely baffling, because we as a society can keep all our excesses and comforts while making the consequential energy expenditures completely green. It seems like people are just incapable of conceiving of solutions that don't involve morally shaming others into being less happy. Or a more cynical take: It seems like a lot of people enjoy "solutions" that stick-it to some other part of the population. "That shower you enjoy uses too much water, you should take shorter and weaker showers." "Shame on you for flying to see your distant relatives, you should take fewer flights." "How dare you use a comfortable car to get around? Unless you're unhappy in a bus with at least 10 other people, you're a bad person." Without even considering other sources of green energy, there is more than enough solar energy reaching the Earth to allow all 8 billion of us to enjoy consumption levels typical of Western nations.

intelVISA 4y ago
I won't be needlessly wasteful but I'm not going to inconvenience myself over a corporation's marketing dept. trying to avail its company's tremendous carbon footprint.
hedora 4y ago
I totally agree. However, if you have the means to spend a bit more on appliances (with payoffs 5-10 years out), then you can easily reduce energy / water (ignoring grass/crops) usage by about 75% vs 10-20 years ago with zero lifestyle impact. Not doing that is needlessly wasteful. In the particular case of showers, get a High Sierra shower head. They have more apparent flow / pressure than a full flow one, but use a small fraction of the water. They cost under $50 and are extremely reliable. (Never had one clog, and never did any maintenance on one, even with extremely hard water.) The article estimates scavenging the bath water heat would reduce total energy consumption by 1.2%. This is much better achieved by lowering the thermostat, or showering less often in the winter. (Or buying a low flow showerhead -- see above!) Note: No affiliation with High Sierra. Happy customer for a decade, across multiple homes. We currently have a 1.5 GPM, but I throttle it down with the trickle valve. The 1.25 GPM is totally fine; the trickle valve might make sense for it too. Note that you can customize colors, etc: https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/shop/classic/ https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/shop/classic/
socialismisok 4y ago
Many of these things are holdovers from an earlier era. Have you ever used a shower from the 30s? It's like a wall of water. Using something like that compared to a generic showerhead today is wasteful. But now we're at diminishing returns territory, eking out every fractional water savings. I think the answer is actually neither "you are bad for doing x" nor "doing x is fine", but rather that intentionality is important. Taking time to think of your impact on others and saying, "I'll sacrifice here and put a burden on others there" with intention is fine. I'm flying to my grandmother's funeral. I recognize this pumps tons of carbon into the air. I'm intentionally conscious of this and acting in a way I think others should be allowed to (funerals are important!)
- socialismisok 4y ago
  That said, driving a car by yourself is pretty bad for many, many reasons (safety, efficiency, pollution, road damage, parking needed, noise, tire and brake dust, and about a million other things.) It's ok to make bad and inefficient decisions, imo, if you are doing so intentionally rather than just because that's the default. It's about thoughtfulness, awareness, and intentionality.

intelVISA 4y ago

I won't be needlessly wasteful but I'm not going to inconvenience myself over a corporation's marketing dept. trying to avail its company's tremendous carbon footprint.

hedora 4y ago

I totally agree. However, if you have the means to spend a bit more on appliances (with payoffs 5-10 years out), then you can easily reduce energy / water (ignoring grass/crops) usage by about 75% vs 10-20 years ago with zero lifestyle impact. Not doing that is needlessly wasteful. In the particular case of showers, get a High Sierra shower head. They have more apparent flow / pressure than a full flow one, but use a small fraction of the water. They cost under $50 and are extremely reliable. (Never had one clog, and never did any maintenance on one, even with extremely hard water.) The article estimates scavenging the bath water heat would reduce total energy consumption by 1.2%. This is much better achieved by lowering the thermostat, or showering less often in the winter. (Or buying a low flow showerhead -- see above!) Note: No affiliation with High Sierra. Happy customer for a decade, across multiple homes. We currently have a 1.5 GPM, but I throttle it down with the trickle valve. The 1.25 GPM is totally fine; the trickle valve might make sense for it too. Note that you can customize colors, etc: https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/shop/classic/ https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/shop/classic/

socialismisok 4y ago

Many of these things are holdovers from an earlier era. Have you ever used a shower from the 30s? It's like a wall of water. Using something like that compared to a generic showerhead today is wasteful. But now we're at diminishing returns territory, eking out every fractional water savings. I think the answer is actually neither "you are bad for doing x" nor "doing x is fine", but rather that intentionality is important. Taking time to think of your impact on others and saying, "I'll sacrifice here and put a burden on others there" with intention is fine. I'm flying to my grandmother's funeral. I recognize this pumps tons of carbon into the air. I'm intentionally conscious of this and acting in a way I think others should be allowed to (funerals are important!)

socialismisok 4y ago
That said, driving a car by yourself is pretty bad for many, many reasons (safety, efficiency, pollution, road damage, parking needed, noise, tire and brake dust, and about a million other things.) It's ok to make bad and inefficient decisions, imo, if you are doing so intentionally rather than just because that's the default. It's about thoughtfulness, awareness, and intentionality.