In my book and on this blog, I set out to help those of you who want to reduce your eco footprint and are looking for practical, do-able tips.
Even a beneficial change can be difficult to make. (A change that we want to make can still be difficult, I mean.) Because we’re changing a habitual routine practice. And furthermore, we are often swimming upstream against various things that are baked into our society.
So, one of the things I found helpful in changing my habits, and helping other people change theirs, was the incentive to save money. Who doesn’t want to save money, right?
Unfortunately, it turned out that most people were not sufficiently motivated by the prospect of saving $10 a month, or even $100 a month or more. There are various reasons for this, but for now I’m just saying this is what I noticed.
In recent times, I have noticed a further obstacle, even when people are sufficiently motivated by money savings. And that is that our capitalist economy oftentimes is structured such that people are not able to opt-out of certain purchases. That obstacle is exemplified by this recent news item from my local area. (Go here to see my Facebook post with the screenshots; and also see the quote & link to the article below.)
Florida Power and Light (FPL) is seeking a rate hike to recover costs of restoring power after the recent hurricane. Our bills will go up supposedly by an average of $12.
Big corporations that are deemed necessary public utilities can always rig it we don’t get to opt out of buying their stuff. Even when they increase the price.
In such times, it becomes all the more important to focus on yet another intrinsic motivation. I would sum up that intrinsic motivation as reducing our vulnerability. I can’t put a price tag on the fact that I am not fazed by a power outage, and can do without electricity indefinitely.
It’s not that I don’t find electricity convenient; it’s just that I can easily do without it (other than what’s needed to charge my phone, which is easy to get in a variety of ways including solar and hand-cranked), so the company isn’t dealing with someone who is desperate and fearful.
Of course, that still doesn’t mean I get to opt out of electricity. I still have to pay the base rate and all that stuff. But, reducing my vulnerability is an extremely strong motivation, I find.
And, I still do save money by not needing as much electricity. It’s just that my bill which used to be $12 is now $18 or $20 and probably going up to $35 or more. Still the savings compared with a typical bill is nothing to sneeze at!
A quote from the article:
“According to the company, ‘Electric bills in Florida do not include the cost of responding to hurricanes and tropical storms. Instead, a temporary surcharge is applied after storms.'”
Things may be structured to prohibit us from opting-out of purchasing certain goods & services from corporations. But the value of reducing our vulnerability is priceless.