Green Minded Wallet

One of the nice things about “relaxing” around people who know you well, and that you know well, is that you can often see things that you don’t see in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I tried to keep my eyes opened during my vacation on how I do things and how others do things. It was very illuminating; I saw patterns of behavior manifested in my family members (that I know I do as well) that I realized I’d like to adjust. I also saw that others did certain things well and I would like to try to adopt some of those habits. Here are a few of the habits that I want to work on in the future.

• Learning to be okay with not being poor/broke. This may seem weird to some people, but if you’ve ever struggled financially whether it be for lack of funds or proper management, it can be really hard to accept having enough funds and control. Sometimes I have a hard time excepting that it’s okay to buy nice things if I’ve budgeted the money for them, instead of hoarding it.

• Sometimes you have to let go. One of the big challenges that I have is that I let things get to a pretty poor state before replacing them. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try to fix things or just replace things once they start to show a little wear, I’m talking about when then lose their reliability. For example, my laptop lost it’s functionality as a portable computer some time ago; however I hadn’t done much before my vacation to really address the problem. (This situation however has been rectified.) Besides the computer, I can point to additional items in my possession that have long outlived their usefulness such as the can opener that can’t open cans on one rotation. I think part of the psychology here likely ties into the first challenge, but it also is part of a frugal person’s dilemma of determining exactly when you’ve gotten all the usefulness out of a product.

• Sometimes you have to keep your conservation inside. Here’s an example: at the end of my great-great grandmother’s 100th birthday party, some of my family members took to cleaning up and they just threw everything — disposable plates, cans, water bottles — into big garbage bags together. There had to be a least 100 cans and bottles. Now I could have made a big stink about recycling, but really it didn’t seem worth it to criticize the way that others were doing things. You know, I only have one great-great grandmother and she’s only going to have one 100th birthday, to me it was way more important for everyone to enjoy themselves together on such a momentous occasion, than for me to start a squabble about recycling.

• It’s worth the expense to be generous. I think that there are times to be frugal, but to me people who truly give selfishlessly, especially in all the day to day little things, really have been a much bigger impact on me than the most amazing frugal people. I think that part of being frugal is about determining your priorities and trying to maximize opportunities, I don’t think it’s about nickeling and dime-ing every decision until you become a person no one wants to be around.

Well I had a good time. Perhaps not every day went as I would have hoped, but I had a chance to connect with some people that I haven’t seen for years, rejuvenate myself, and reflect a little bit on life.

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I was reading the monthly newsletter from my local utility company (don’t laugh) and there was an article about phantom energy, which is generated from appliances when they are plugged in, but not being used. Anyway, they estimated that this extra energy cost about 13 additional dollars per year, and thus it was worth saving the energy (and money). For some reason I assumed, given how much it’s talked about, the cost to be a lot higher. I have to say, $13 doesn’t sound like a lot to me. Honestly, I can think of a lot of easier ways to save a mere dollar and change per month. From a conservationist standpoint reducing phantom energy is appealing; but for the average Joe who might be enticed from the money saving aspect, I think that there are a lot of easier ways to save a buck or two a month, that would be less inconvenient. While I think that all of that phantom energy multiplied by US households over a number of years would certainly make an impact, I don’t think that the trade-off would appeal to many people. I also think that there are so many other ways that people waste energy in the home (often for convenience or comfort) that would really make a bigger impact and for some might require the same amount of lifestyle adjustment as remembering to unplug or switch off all their electronic devices at night. It’s hard to say.

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I got the idea for this post as I was walking my dog, and then I came back and checked my email. There was an interesting “wanted list” posted to our freecycle group that really exemplified my thoughts. I won’t list all of the items but the poster was someone who was just starting out (again) and was looking for things as basic as beds and pots to more high-end items like a laptop and working digital camera. To me the post was a perfect illustration of misguided expectations; here was someone who needed to ask strangers for a bed to sleep on, and in the same email was making requests for expensive electronic equipment. While I know certain items might make life more interesting or convenient, to expect them to come to us easily is my concern. I think the problem goes beyond need versus want. Personally, I feel that it speaks to the fact that our concept of how to meet basic needs is so out of whack that even if we truly need something, our sense of what it takes to fulfill that need (i.e. our expectation) is quite inflated.

I think in order to save, whether it be financial or environmental resources, we often need to change our expectations. There are a number of different sources that shape our expectations: our society certainly shapes some of them, as well as our closer circle of friends and family. While some things that are expected are often requirements to participate in our modern society (ex. telephones), many are not and I feel that it is worth examining them in order to find areas where we can cut back. For example, your employer (generally) expects that you have a working home phone number; this is an expectation that you probably can’t do much to change. However, you can often get by with just a landline, instead of a cell phone (especially if there are multiple adults in the household). Having cable is perhaps an expectation of your smaller circle, and your friends might often call up and ask what you think of so-and-so’s character on such-and-such show. If you go against the tide and don’t have cable TV, you might not be meeting your friends’ expectations; however you have to ask yourself which is worth more to you, saving your resources or meeting the expectations of others.

Here are some common expectations with sample adjustments:

Instead of expecting to have a house that is 68 degrees in summer and 82 degrees in winter, I expect to keep my house at a level that is safe and tolerable for all occupants. While this might require some adjustments in dress, it certainly doesn’t cause undue hardship and saves both energy and money.

Instead of expecting to take a trip abroad every year, I expect to take vacation time, and do something that is enjoyable and relaxing. Even though I may not go an a lot of exotic trips, I still take the time to rejuvenate myself, and I spend money on other areas that will help me and others more in the long run.

Instead of expecting a new car every three years, you could expect to have a working car. Or better yet, reliable transportation. This would certainly save on monetary costs. If you went further and changed your expectation from being able to drive everywhere to having a safe method of transport, then you could walk or hop on a bike and do the planet a few favors as well.

As you can see, if we simply change some of our expectations, it is still possible to meet basic needs and save financial and environmental resources.

I thought I would list some expectations that my generation has now, that we didn’t have when we were growing up (10 - 15 years ago). I’m sure if I were older I could add even more items to the list.

• Cell phones - The rich kids got their own phone lines, and the rest of us dreamed of having a phone in our room
• iPods/MP3 Players - You were happy to have a CD “Discman” instead of a walkman (tape player)
• Your own computer - I have fond memories of playing Oregon Trail with my sister. Apple IIE anyone?
• High speed internet - I remember when you were happy to get free AOL CD’s in the mail
• Digital cameras - Can you say 110?
• Eating out multiple times during the week - We often ate out after church at the mall. Sit down meal in restaurant = graduation, and then it was an all you can eat buffet.

Can you think of any others?

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I few weeks back I posted on how we (my roommate and I) are going to try to go for the entire summer with just fans despite the fact that we have a window air conditioning unit. Well, my roommate was away for a while and it got really hot. So when she came back I asked her if she was interested in putting in the air conditioner: I didn’t want her to feel like she couldn’t use it if she wanted. Well she just gave me a funny look and explained that she was perfectly happy with the conditions in our apartment, so we’re planning on keeping things the way they are.

I actually managed to borrow two fans from my advisor (left over from her grad school days) and I also remembered that our living room has a ceiling fan so that has helped out a lot. If at any point it seems like it might be getting too warm for the dog, I will just go ahead and throw the ac unit in the window (of course I won’t actually throw it). However, seeing as the pooch is content to sleep on the carpet at night and doesn’t come close to running out of water during the day, I’m guessing that she’s not bothered by the air temperature. Plus we have two bathrooms that both stay quite cool throughout the day and she often retreats into one of these. I didn’t have air conditioning at my last two abodes either, so I think that she is probably quite used to it by now. I’ve noticed that quite a few of my neighbors have windows fans as well, so I guess we’re not the only ones. However, I have observed one of my neighbors sleeping on the porch, so maybe we’re all crazy together.

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In an earlier post, I talked about the concerns I have with ecofrugality and the outside world, from the perspective of how you feel others might view you. However, I was reading a post thing morning from a young woman (Eleanor) who appears to be a bit of an ecofrugalist (I have no idea if that’s a real word, but I’m going to use it anyway) and it got me thinking about how I view others. Specifically, do I have very conservation-tinted glasses?

I think that we should be careful to judge others who upon first glance don’t meet our conservation standards. The truth is that we don’t all conserve all the time. Sometimes it’s situations, sometimes it’s priorities. For example, I generally take a canvas bag with me when I go grocery shopping. However, my bag has gotten rather dirty and I don’t have laundry facilities in my apartment so I can’t wash it as frequently as I would like. Since I am unwilling to put food in a dirty bag, I’ve just been getting the plastic store bags (which I reuse for dog walking). I must say though, I feel so guilty. Even though I’m reusing the bags, part of my feels everyone in the co-op must think that I’m just some poser who doesn’t know the score. Perhaps it’s irrational of me to think this way, but honestly that’s just how I feel. Everyone treats me well, though it takes the store clerks a few minutes to realize that I don’t have my bag with me. It has however taught me a good lesson: just because a person doesn’t fit all my perceptions of a conservationist, doesn’t mean that they don’t care.

Another factor to take into consideration is that people don’t realize they’re wasting resources. I’m surprised at how many people just run the water when they are washing dishes or brushing their teeth, but are good about turning off lights when they leave a room or not leaving their computer running. Sometimes if you mention to a roommate or a friend how much they can save (not how much they’re wasting!) by turning off the water, or making sure the heat’s down when they leave, they will only be too happy to oblige.

In the case of dear Eleanor, I feel that a number of other issues emerge. Without discussing who’s right or wrong in the situation, the fact of the matter is that for some of us, being in close relations with someone who not only doesn’t conserve, but is flippant about the environment or finances is a real headache, because some of our most fundamental values don’t align. For me it’s one of the hardest issues to deal with mainly because I feel that their decisions have a directly impact on my life and environment. While I do feel that compromises must be made I think that line is different for everyone. Some of the issues involved include:

Visibility of the issues. I am much more likely to notice that a friend or roommate drives everywhere in a low mpg car, or always leaves the lights on, than to notice that they don’t wash full loads of laundry and never hang clothes up to dry, even in the summer.

How much of a direct impact the behavior has on you. For me, a lot of the problem isn’t a monetary amount as much as a frequency of exposure. I find that I am much like to be annoyed by coming home and finding the TV on with no one watching it every night, than an SUV that’s parked in front of house two weekends a month.

Perception of entitlement. If you find you have a neighbor who has a flashy gas-guzzling vehicle to show off versus using it for something (like loading up the dogs or canoe), it can bug you a lot more. I think that our perceptions of why someone is or is not doing something that we feel is important, determines a some of our feelings towards their actions.

For me, fiscal and environmental conservation are every important and impact my habitual habits. While I certainly don’t limit myself to only entertaining company whose views align with mine, I am also sure that is no coincidence that some of my closest friends share similar feelings on these topics.

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If you’ve stayed at a hotel recently, you may have discovered that they have started putting these little cards in your room about how much water and energy is spent on cleaning hotel room linens and they encourage you to reuse your bedding and towels. Well the hotel I stayed at last week had some of these cards. As much as I think that this is a good idea, seeing as I don’t personally feel the need to change my sheets or towels when I’m at home once a day (though I know people that do), there was a major flaw in their system. Here’s the problem: this (up-scale) hotel had absolutely no place to easily hang a towel to dry. There was a tiny rack above the sink that was holding a number of folded towels, which meant that there wasn’t enough space to spread them out to dry. There was no (real) hanging space on the back of the door, and the shower rod was inaccessible to shorter people (in fact the bathroom looked like it was designed for college basketball players). I can see how it could have worked if there was only one person in the room, but since there were two of us, it was impractical. So my suggestion would be, if you’re going to encourage people to conserve, make sure that there is a feasible way for them to do so. There are some of us who would like to help, but aren’t willing to go so far as reusing damp hotel towels.

Have you ever experienced this or other impractical conservation attempts?

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