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Our overuse of energy, and of the fossil fuels that power it, are a legitimate problem. I see discussions all over the Internet about the need to use less power and limit ourselves for the sake of the planet. There are several ways we can reduce our energy consumption, from allowing wider temperature ranges in our thermostats to precooking food to reducing our screen time. However, there are several other ways we can conserve energy that I see many people ignore or even fail to think about.
The United States passed a bill called the "Americans with Disabilities Act" in 1990, which prescribes that various commercial and public spaces provide accommodations for handicapped people. These accommodations might include doors that open automatically, elevators and escalators, and other powered equipment. Of course providing such facilities is a kind thing to do, and I don't advocate for their removal.
The problem is that I see far too many people with no mobility issues opting to use them simply because they're there. When they walk in through the front door, they press the automatic button just because they don't want to have to push the door. They hop on an elevator instead of using the stairwell right next to it. They use sliding doors over revolving doors.
A common attitude in America is "If it's there, I might as well use it." This is especially true of structures and equipment that use power anyway, such as escalators. What this argument doesn't acknowledge is that such equipment will use more power if it gets used, and the more people use it, the more power it will consume.
I don't just see this behavior in physical spaces. My wife (unfortunately) uses Instragram, and some of the posts she sees are simply random thoughts formatted as text on top of a flashy video with loud music playing in the background. The result is a 5- to 10-megabyte video file whose message could have been condensed into a 100-byte text post on Twitter or BlueSky. Increasing the storage and bandwidth requirements of a message by several orders of magnitude is not a behavior we should condone if we truly want to save energy in the world.
I won't say I'm perfect about these things. I will often use an elevator over a stairwell, and sometimes I record thoughts and sentiments in an image macro instead of a text file. I shouldn't do that, and I should cut back on my digital and physical footprint if I want to keep helping the environment. But I see so many people who are far more vehement about the dire state of the planet, while simultaneously using so many more resources than they have to--often without even thinking about it. That level of hypocrisy annoys me.
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[Last updated: 2024-06-18]