I’ve noticed that a lot of people often use the phrase “Don’t worry about it, heat’s included in my rent,” or “Don’t worry about it, hydro’s included in my rent,” when the question of turning off the air conditioning, or lowering the heat by a couple of degrees in the winter to save energy. To me, it’s missing the point entirely. However, I can understand the reaction. Naturally, people want to get the best value for their money, and if they can increase their comfort or convenience, even marginally, for no extra cost to them, they’ll do it.
What I propose is this: make it illegal to include heat and hydro in the rent. If there was a law to prevent landlords from including heat and hydro in the rent, people would cut down on their consumption. I’m not sure what real impact this would have on the country’s total energy usage–probably it wouldn’t be significant compared to industry and vehicles–but it sure would make people think more about their environmental impact and make them more aware.
I know there will be lots of people who will raise objections to this, claiming that it makes things more complicated for landlords, or it would be difficult to divide heating and electrical costs for buildings with central systems, but it’s not rocket science. This is why we have calculators with divide buttons on them: for splitting up bills amongst multiple people.
I think we should always be thinking of simple ways to chip away at big problems. Every little bit counts.
Yup, the main focus always seems to be the money. Hell, I will gladly pay more to use less, if a technology allows me to do so. Maybe not to an extreme, but say if a superfly efficient lightbulb costs more than a regular one, i’ll get the superfly one. And yes a superfly lightbulb would be blue with 2 red dots and it’d say “you da energy effficient man!” every time you turn it on.
And don’t forget that you don’t pay the water too !
Waste, waste, waste…
I totally agree about “every little bit helps” but this solution seems to be very superficial. People will cut down on their consumption not to help the environment but to help their wallets. I mean, they might feel “oh well now that i’m saving money on my energy bill I can afford to buy an SUV instead of a small car” which ends up being counterproductive…
People need to just finally GET it for themselves!
If the only way to get people to cut down is by speaking to their wallets, then let that be the solution. Asking people to just “get it” doesn’t work. That’s far more superficial because it is just another way to create inaction. In Europe and other places where they have to pay steep prices for energy, they try their hardest not to waste any. Is it because of their wallets or because they “get it?” Who cares, as long as the result is less consumption.
I pay for water and electricity on my electricity bill. Some people have it included in their rent though.
Totally agree. When things are free (or ridiculously cheap) we tend to use them without regard to waste or environmental impact. It’s sad, definitely.