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Convince This Man To Go Green |
21 Comments |
| By Steve Balogh in Conservation, Green Living | November 21, 2006 | ||
It doesn’t matter exactly who he is. He just happens to be someone important in my life, who is a skeptic. In your life it could be your Uncle Bob, your neighbor Cindy, or your buddy from college. Most of us know someone that is less than convinced that we can truly make a difference in the world.
I don’t want you to judge him for being skeptical, we all come to the environmental table with different histories and internal agendas.
What I would like you to do is think of one small change that he can make in his life to get the ball rolling, and leave it for him in the comments. I’ll make sure he sees it (he’s the one that asked me to be on groovygreen).
Pass the word around, and get others to do the same.
My suggestion has been for him to stop using 4-5 Styrofoam cups a day for beverages and switch to a reusable mug/cup. To date he hasn’t budged. I am hoping with this gentle nudging he’ll at least use the mug once a week.
What other suggestions do you have? Remember to “think small”, something to ease him into being green. Then after you’ve made your comment, start thinking how you can encourage the people you know to do the same.
[as an aside, something positive about this person, is that he doesn't have cable, and keeps the kids away from vegging out in front of the TV. Given the stories that we been posting, maybe he is a little "greener" than he thinks. Before he knows it he'll be composting with worms and driving home in a hybrid.]
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Rebecca Carter said,
The easiest solution for the lazy (or unconvinced) environmentalist: Switch over to CFLs. A compact fluorescent light bulb uses 1/4 the energy of a regular light bulb and puts out the same amount of light. Put it in a spot that has a light on for a long period of time. They don’t work well in closets and places that the light is just on for a few seconds. They ARE great however for hard to reach places, since they last for around 5 years.
On the same note, try to remind your family to shut off lights when they leave a room.
aaron newton said,
How about lowering the temperature on the thermostat in his house? I’m not talking about anything dramatic- maybe start with one degree. By the way, each one degree reduction saves on the cost of heating a home by about 3%. He’ll be saving money with his change. Next the worm composting…
Jiltedcitizen said,
To expand on the above, get a programmable thermostat. It will save money. Try to think of things to it the pocket book where he will notice it. Maybe a low-flow showerhead. I got some for Christmas presents from Home Depot for $3 a piece. Turn the dish washer from heat drying to cool dry. Buy him a reuseable mug…
Sarah said,
Buy some reusable bags to carry groceries in. Millions of plastic bags are used to take groceries from the store to the house and then are thrown away after one use. Canvas/hamp/nylon/cotton/organic reusable bags can be purchased from reusablebags.com and they can be used over and over. It’s easy, just do it dude….
JiltedCitizen said,
It may be easy but not very convenient. That would not convert me. Buy something that i get free anyway…hmmm. How about keeping the car tires inflated.
lee said,
wow! those showerheads are a great secret santa idea …you could also give them a free home energy audit! you can go through his house taking notes then put it in a (if you check out the full audit you will know what you need to note down) and then let him see how much $$$$ he\’ll save for his kids education if he \’does the green thing.\’ Later on you could get fancy with him and show stuff like how getting a fixed rate with a wind provider is way more prudent than getting it from the utilities which will obviously rise in price…
lee said,
sory– first day with the xhtl– something got cut out there. i meant to say:
….go through his house, take notes then feed the info into a free efficiency audit calculator, then let him see how much $ he’ll save…
Steve Balogh said,
Thanks for the comments, everyone. He’s got the reusable mug, maybe “Santa” will bring him a cloth bag to use for trips to the grocery.
How about a weekly trip to the farmers market? Once a month even – for some locally grown fruits and veggies, and delicious local beef and chicken.
Joel Birchler said,
1. Make him watch “An Inconvenient Truth”. Watch it with him.
2. Ride a bike.
3. Buy him a reusable metal mug with lid– something cool looking that he’ll want to use whether or not he’s saving the planet or not.
4. Get him to eat less meat (veg diets save CO2 and water).
5. Get him to start recycling. Maybe one thing at a time– paper first.
Cheyenne Black said,
It’s often easier to make positive changes for those you love rather than yourself. Some organic food choices for the kids, or organic clothes, explaining how they will be healthier (lower medical costs) and are apt to live longer. Also a discussion about household chemicals and how changing to easy remedies (vinegar and water) will not only save money but is much better for the entire family. Start him to thinking about how toxic his current choices are.
Chris said,
Buy some bikes and take the kids out for a cycle every weekend. He looks like he needs the fresh air and exercise and you never know he might enjoy it end up cycling to work.
Allyson said,
Get rid of “Ghost Loads” by plugging phone chargers, coffee makers(or anything with digital clocks), etc. into strips and then turning off the strip with a simple push of a button when these things aren’t needed!
Or, you can buy outlet converters from a hardware store, but most people already own the strips.
Daily Clerks said,
[...] It doesn?t matter exactly who he is. He just happens to be someone important in my life, who is a skeptic. In your life it could be your Uncle Bob, your neighbor Cindy, or your buddy from college. Most of us know someone that is less than convinced that we can truly make a difference in the world. I don?t want you to judge him for being skeptical, we all come to the environmental table with different histories and internal agendas. What I would like you to do is think of one small change that he can make in his life to get the ball rolling, and leave it for him in the comments. I?ll make sure he sees it. » original news [...]
Doug said,
All great ideas! I saw it in some of them, but you really want to start him on something that will save both the environment and money for him. Some people may not “go green” for the environment, but when you tell them it will save them money, they are more apt to listen. The low-flow shower head, the CFL bulbs, a programmable thermostat or just turning the temperature up/down 1 or 2 degrees, changing your air filter for your heat/cooling pump, keeping your tires properly inflated, slowing down a bit while driving, turn the temperature on the water heater down to 120, etc. etc. etc. These are all very simple, small changes, yet can have a significant impact on the environment. Good luck!
Al Tepper said,
I love it when people ask me this. The best way is to be gentle. Here is my reply.
“I know what you mean about being too small to make a difference but then I heard the quote about ‘if you think small is insignificant try sleeping in the same room as a mosquito’ which Gandhi said I believe.
Tell ya what. Let me prove to you how much this all means to me. I am going to buy you a gift. All I want from you is a promise that every time you use my gift you will think of me and this discussion.”
Then depending on the person and your wallet go buy something awesome and thoughtful that they will use all the time because it is practical, saves money and is cool looking. Whether he promises or not if you buy the right thing then every time he uses it he will think of you. Thoughts?
Namaste
Al
Jeff at sustainablog said,
Not sure how I could possibly do better than Al’s comment… great idea. I agree with people above saying focus on cost savings and pointing out what he can do for family members, loved ones, etc. And be gentle definitely — it’s too easy to get into heated arguments about this. Figure out what’s important to him, and show him how greener options can meet those needs/desires (without costing him an arm/leg).
ianqui said,
Yeah, everyone’s given great suggestions. The easiest things, things which make you feel good about yourself too, are CFLs, reusable bags, a mug in the office, plugging things into power strips which are then turned off at night.
A few tips about these things: for a reusable bag, buy a small, foldable cloth bag that you can put in your purse or computer bag or briefcase or in the car and have with you all the time. That way, if you just want to stop off at the grocery store for milk, you don’t have to take a plastic bag. If you can carry your wallet or leave an umbrella in the car, you can keep a cloth bag with you.
Also, most modern TVs, VCRs, DVDs don’t reset themselves if you turn the power off. I’ve heard people say that they don’t want to do it because they’ll have to reprogram their electronics every time. But it’s often not true. Give yours a test.
Testament: since we put a computer and speakers on one power strip and the TV & DVD on another, our electricity bills have been almost 20% lower than the comparable time last year. Of course, we live in an apartment so there’s not a lot of rooms to waste electricity in, but even there it’ll still help.
gnomic said,
My recommendation – quit telling him what to do and pony up for your convictions. Buy him a nice personalized cup as a gift. Show your commitment to your cause and quit telling others how to live.
Me? I give my friends and neghbors compact flourescent lights, typically with a story showing how much it can save them. I don’t preach, nag, or pester. I just spent $100 to replace all my outdoor lights with CF that use 1/6 the energy. Once I do that, I’ll write an article for the neighborhood newsletter and try and get lowes or home depot to give us a special discount coupon.
Lead by example.
jewishfarmer said,
Do you want to make it easy for him to go green, or do you want to convince him of the urgency of doing so? Because those are two different projects. The CFLs, the cloth bag, the reusable mug may make a difference, of course, but if it is easier not to use them, he won’t.
So how do you convince him? If he’s a reader, some good books might help. If not, invite him over for a movie night – Crude Impact (shortly to be released to video), An Inconvenient Truth, perhaps The End of Suburbia. But the message you want to get through is that his actions right now, today, impact the future that his children will have.
Sharon
Bets said,
What about making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of packaging that comes into his house? Like buying the cereal that comes in just a plastic bag rather that bagged and in a box? Usually those bagged cereals are cheaper.
I got my boyfriend to go this purely on the less expensive aspect.
Aerogarden Hydroponics System said,
I have been growing with the Aerogarden since I first saw it on a late night TV commercial. All of my friends that have seen my hydroponic Aerogarden have asked where I got it, and I even gave several as gifts! It has really gotten my feet wet using hydroponics, and I think they are amazing. However, one trend that I see across many people I know that use them is there is just not enough grow space. The plants using this aeroponic technology grow so fast that you quickly run out of space. Then you have to keep trimming your plants, or transplant them outside, or to a large system. Because of our cold winters, I usually transplant our hydroponically grown tomatoes and strawberries to our Flowering Chamber, which also useshydroponics, but it is much larger, and has a much more powerful lighting systems. Our fruits really flourish under the intense high pressure sodium lighting system, and all functions are computer controlled like the Aerogarden. This system is far superior in that it allows for all stages of plant growth, in a self contained system. I use my Aerogarden to start my seedlings, then move them to my grow box for eventual harvest!