As the lights stay off and natural light fills the room, I argue with my roommates about flipping the switch and wasting the electricity we don’t need. I sit on the futon, doing work, watching some television and think about what lies ahead. Over the past few weeks I have certainly lowered my carbon footprint by reducing the amount of electricity I use, being conscientious of when and how much energy I use in my room. Unplugging the electrical outlets was a hassle so a couple weeks ago we went out and bought surge strips, so with one flick of the finger, we can halt all electrical currents in our room when there is no need. We purchased three of them and it makes the process of being more eco-conscious a lot more feasible but there are other barriers that I have endured in Watson Hall. Daily, as I switch off the lights when I leave the bedroom for class, or whatever the occasion is, I make sure that anything that is not being utilized is not wasting energy. Though upon returning, more often than not, the lights, which are not aesthetically pleasing fixtures in the slightest somehow find a way to be switched on. Humans are our own worst enemy, and my roommates are doing a fine job of unintentionally undermining my efforts to reduce electricity use in my room. As I said in the last post, I unplug the fridge when it is not in use and/or switch it into an energy saving mode which is helpful but never do I find it plugged back in or switched off that mode unless I do so myself. So my issue lies in the fact that to be sustainable and efficient, I cannot just change my actions to be effective. Rather, I must convince and illustrate to my roommates how and why I am doing this in order for them to understand and then reciprocate the actions. I have told them before and continue to do so that we do not need to waste electricity. So how can I incentivize and alter their attitudes and actions? It is difficult to do because there are no tangible benefits that they will receive because we do not pay for utilities in a dorm room. Instead of incentivizing the practice I think implementing a sense of punishment could be effective. On Mondays and Fridays I go buy breakfast for my roommates and bring it back to the dorm before they are awake. Maybe, if we keep a tally about how many times one of us unnecessarily wastes electricity, three tallies will denote that I am not buying egg sandwiches for ANYONE (besides myself). Another option is I put a jar in the foyer, and once again after one of us witnesses a waste, you have to put a dollar in the jar (we have implemented this). Quickly, I think they will begin to understand that leaving the lights on does cost you. Additionally my roommate Sonny is quite a character and artist, so I posed a question to him to make a few little signs for the doors and next to the light switches that are light in mood but get the point across. He did so and so far my other two roommates have each put a dollar in the jar. Big things have the smallest beginnings so lets see where this goes!
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