Are we getting greener or just cheaper?
No one ever wonders why Larry David drives around in a Prius on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Yeah, he gets praised as an “image-conscious” celeb for doing so, and indeed helping the environment is likely part of his motivation here.
But the guy is also stinking rich. Like, Seinfeld--royalty rich. He could run errands in one of those gold-plated stagecoaches the Count of Monte Cristo used and no one would think twice.
So it stands to wonder that, if you’re familiar with David’s George Costanza-esque neuroticism and frugality, he might just be zipping around in a Toyota because he’s too cheap to pay anything more than $30,000 for a car.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, Consumer Reports has just released survey results showing Americans have become more “green” with their behaviours than ever.
The site concluded, among other things, those in the U.S. have taken to “drinking tap water instead of bottled,” “using a programmable thermostat,” “buying fresh food from a farmer’s market,” and “line-drying clothes.”
For example, 83 per cent of Yankees say they always – especially now – run the dishwasher full in a bid to conserve the energy used to heat water load-after-load.
Now, isn’t the timing of these results a little … fishy, insomuch as to give all the credit to some kind of newfound environmental conscious?
Shouldn’t we stand to believe that, while these are all commendable acts, we’re probably more likely to be cutting back on environment-sapping costs because there’s an awful recession going on and a ton of us are reeling from the wake-up call that it sucks to be broke?
The Consumerist is sure sceptical, at least. But the most important question here - one we’ve posed in this space before - comes from Consumerist reader gStein:
“The real test will be after teh [sic] economy improves – will people go back to their wasteful ways, or will they keep these new habits?”
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Dan | Oct 6, 2021 12:54:42 PM
They'll definitely go right back to their wasteful ways. What was one of the first things that happened when gas prices went down? SUV sailes in the US went back up again. Hmm...
People typidically spend as much as they can and are as lazy as they can be. If the recession was worse, people would be using the sink to wash dishes and air drying clothes, but it's not bad enough to FORCE people to do it.
One day the US will get to that point, and due to our close ties to our southern neighbors, we just might end up getting to that point too where we're forced to cut back with some of the "necessities" of today.
Posted by: Simon | Oct 6, 2021 1:52:23 PM
@ Dan - It is actually more efficient to run a full dishwasher than it is to wash your dishes in the sink (in terms of direct water useage/dish and energy usage unless you wash all of your dishes in cold water.)
But other than that I generally agree with you, even people with an environmental conscience are still primarily motivated by their wallet. Until taxes are imposed to simulate the actual cost of using fossil fuels (or even just laws forcing oil companies to be environmentally responsible, and thereby driving up the cost of gas) the real move towards conservation won't begin. Similar things can be said about electricity and even water.
Posted by: vds | Oct 6, 2021 8:48:49 PM
there are massive taxes for oil, fossil fuels and many
other wasteful resources. the will to be lazy is to strong.
im a hypocrite anyway, i waste withput care.
Posted by: tumnas | Oct 9, 2021 6:03:32 AM
degenerate north americans with your "culture" of consumerism - choke on your own garbage