So Nathan, one of the guys that lives in the same block of appartments to me, left two lights on all day today. This irritates me, because I know he's on a pretty reasonable salary, so he just doesn't care.

Over the past week I've been a whole lot more aware of the effect I have on the planet. Things like high-power-consumption lights... heating the oven up for ten minutes so I can put half a pizza in there for five minutes to heat it up without making it soggy from the microwave... having a longer shower than I should, especially considering how bad Brisbane's water supply levels are right now... leaving the computer on most of the day during the weekend... using hot water in my washing machine when I really don't need it. As a result, I've fitted mini-fluoro lights to the two bedrooms (the only two that weren't already fluorescent) and bought myself a toaster oven that uses only a fraction of the power the oven does. Combine that with taking shorter showers and using the standby function of my computer... costed me a grand total of $40, not to mention savings in power. I already ride to work which cuts out the majority of my car usage, although I'm working on ways to use my bike when I go shopping as well.

I know I'm being hypocritical - I've been just as guilty as anyone else - but is it so damn hard to switch off lights? It's not like it was at night or anything either - these had been on since before midday.

I was thinking... I don't think it's that people don't think they can be part of the solution... it's that people don't realize they're part of the problem. Sure, we hear about global warming and how we're killing our planet... but I wonder how many people really take notice. It's easy to say, "I'm not that bad, it's not like I'm like ______ who does ______..." but that's exactly the attitude that allows for the path of thought that it's not our problem, it's someone else's, when in fact it's everyone's problem.

Eventually reality will force people's eyes open... it's just a matter of how deep we've dug our grave before it happens.

Tags: environment, global warming, public post