Every day the activities we engage in release harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Although we might not clearly see the consequences, doing so has a negative impact on our health and reduces our quality of life. By saving energy, we can lower our emissions and create a healthier environment for us and for future generations.
Nowadays, more and more people talk about going green and being more sustainable. And rightly so because there are a number of reasons why everyone should try to cut their energy consumption.
Firstly, carbon emissions are amongst the main causes of climate change, which has been causing many natural disasters and making certain parts of the world inhabitable. Cutting back on our emissions can help slow down climate change before it’s too late.
Then, conserving energy improves air quality and helps preserve the Earth’s resources.
Finally, by saving energy one can save a lot of money. If we consume less energy, our energy bills are lower. By paying attention to energy-efficiency one can quickly notice that they spend significantly less on their supply.
Even if you think you do not consume or waste a lot of energy, there is always room for improvement.
‘ENERGY SAVING’
‘ENERGY SAVING’ is a short film done by Ogilvy & Mather Milan and released in October 2011. Although produced more than 10 years ago, the message it conveys is still accurate, maybe even more than before.
The film tells the story of a little boy for whom saving energy is very important. Every day he pays attention to how much energy he consumes and tries to reduce his usage by promoting habits such as turning the lights off when leaving the room or not letting water run from taps for too long. He also takes short showers to avoid waste.
What the film shows is that if such a young boy can save energy, anyone can do it. Changing our behaviour and thinking about how we can be more energy-efficient is easy and, if we do it, we can quickly reduce the impact we have on the planet.
The main message of the film is also that we have to save energy today to make sure we can use it tomorrow.
Energy Efficiency Paradox
The energy efficiency paradox explains that even though many have the resources to invest in conservation, saving energy is not the idea that is on top of their minds. Instead, they prefer to allocate money to work, family, or education. And, even if looking for home improvements, products that can help them improve energy-efficiency are usually not the first thing they will buy.
‘Despite the best efforts of the government to encourage conservation, Americans leave an estimated $130 billion on the table every year in energy-saving opportunities. That’s more than the operating budget of every federal department except for defense,’ Ideas 42 reports. Ideas 42 also adds that ‘energy is a big industry—more than $1.16 trillion annually. That much money means pursuing energy efficiency is a low-cost strategy for real savings.’
Behavioural change is needed for people to use less energy. People need to change the way they think about and approach saving energy. They also need to understand the wider implications of energy efficiency for, for example, economics.
Nudges and energy conservation
Nudges are being used to encourage people to be more energy-efficient. Nudges are a strategy that aims to make people aware of the actions of others in the same field. The nudge theory says that soft and indirect suggestions can influence behaviour of those who are being subjected to nudging.
Electricity is an area of spending that many households do not think about enough. That is why they can easily miss opportunities for savings. Studies have shown that nudging can improve electricity saving among households.
As explained by Enni Euokamo, ‘The aim of nudging is to alter behavior without prohibiting alternatives or significantly changing economic incentives. As a consumption decision, electricity consumption is challenging because household uses electricity indirectly when utilizing various devices (e.g., television, lighting) and services (e.g., heating). The electricity itself is invisible to the end user and it is hard to estimate the consumption of different devices and similarly the costs. This study employs informational nudges that aim to make the effects of electricity consumption choices more visible to households and make the energy conservation easier. In addition, a social norm nudge is utilized to inform households of others’ electricity consumption with respect to their own.’
By showing people that other households are conserving energy, others might follow their lead. Through nudges households can find out how they perform with respect to their neighbours. If they see that others are doing better than them and are more energy-efficient, they might want to step up and improve their performance.
Thanks to nudges, energy saving has implications for entire societies. As observed by Conserve Energy Future, ‘when your neighbour realises your low monthly utility bills, they will be curious to know the steps you are taking. They will want to reduce their overall utility bills as well, so that they will follow your example. When this chain continues, more people in the community will be involved in energy conservation, which is good for the future of the community.’
Social responsibility
Climate change affects all of us so saving energy and reducing emissions should be everyone’s priority. If we do not act now, soon it might be too late to prevent climate change. Moreover, energy efficiency is crucial to protecting our health. If we do not move away from fossil fuels and we keep releasing harmful emissions, we will soon see our health deteriorating.
It is important that more attention is paid to energy-efficiency so that being sustainable and conserving energy is a natural and automatic thing for everyone. And, just like households, companies and businesses should make sure that energy efficiency is an important part of their strategy.
Reducing energy consumption requires collaborative efforts of all members of the society.