I have these periodic fits of mild outrage about how my parents were unjust to me when I was a kid. I'm not actually mad at them for it anymore, but (for example) virtually every time I wash my hair I feel the need to make a speech about the oppression I experienced when my mother told me I was using too much shampoo. Hello, Mom, your hair is thin, fine, and short. Do those adjectives describe my hair? Rarely. Case closed. And Dad, telling me I was going to end up in the gutter because of Guns N' Roses was just silly. YOU OWNED APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, for cryin' out loud!
Anyway.
Much more recently than the abovementioned traumas, my mother told me that turning off the lights when you leave the room isn't necessary because light bulbs use very little energy. Marshalling all my intellectual forces, I asked "then why did Saturday morning cartoons tell us to turn them off?" Her response: "Because that's something kids can do."
I was suspicious.
My vindication, which I located via the Natural Resources Defense Council's article "Everlasting Light" (which I found on some blog, because what else do I read these days?):
Every American is encouraged to change out their 5 most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them to ENERGY STAR qualified lighting. If every American home made this "5 light change" not only would each family save more than $60 every year in energy costs, but together we'd also keep more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of our air. That's a $6 billion energy savings for Americans equivalent to the annual output of more than 21 power plants.
If we can equal 21 power plants by downshifting, I think it's just possible that turning off lights when we're not using them could do some good.
p.s. I love you, Mom!!!!
