It's about living more simply
by Melissa Chaffey
(Great Falls, Montana)
When something's cheap you don't value it, and that's what has happened with Americans and electricity. We don't pay enough to even notice the impact of turning off a light or turning up the air conditioning to a warmer setting. So we use much more than we really need to live comfortably.
I'm trying to live more simply - that means working less, which means earning less, so spending less is important too. But it also means using less. The less you work, the less you can afford to use, but the less you use, the less you need to work. Living simply gives me more time to enjoy simple things, like reading a (borrowed library) book, taking my cocker spaniel for a walk in the woods, weeding my vegetable garden, pruning the pear tree.
I'm also concerned about pollution and the fact that America burns so much coal. And the fact that the coal people are trying to dupe us into believing in 'clean coal', as if there's a way to mine it, refine it, and burn it without all the problems coal causes to landscapes, air quality, and greenhouse gases. So I'm trying to cut back my electricity use for that reason too, doing my part to pollute less. But it all comes back to simplicity. The more complicated we make our lives, the messier things become. Every action has implications and complications. By doing less we become more.
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