I have come across so many people time and now who have absolutely no idea what they are doing when they leave the water tap running or when they leave the lights and fans switched on when there is no necessity. I once came across a certain person who was doing his Master’s degree in Engineering from a premier institute. As a part of his specialization, he was studying methods of reducing friction, which is the culprit that causes unnecessary or rather undesirable power dissipation or power loss. He would leave the lights and fans on whenever he left a room. One day he sent the clothes to the laundry and explained that he would not wash them himself because he wanted to conserve his energy! Imagine the nerve of the guy! He wants to conserve that form of energy that can be replenished and waste the form of energy that is not.
Now here was a person who had spent much time of his professional studies in understanding how to reduce power consumption and this was his attitude. Then what should I expect from people who do not specialize in this knowledge? My view is that there are no excuses. One cannot say that I did not study this and that, etc. As long as you have done your basic schooling you should understand that the electricity that one is consuming is a limited resource and so is the water that is being supplied to our homes. People have such pathetic views towards these resources. My God! I sometimes close my eyes praying to myself not to beat the living hell out of such people.
Once when I was in the college, my friends and I were having a discussion after all the lectures had been finished. Post this discussion we walked out of the classrooms. Being the last person to come out I reached out for the switchboard behind the door and started to switch off the fans and the tube lights. And then one of my friends asked, “Damn! Why do you bother so much to save electricity and money for the college? You are paying fees, aren’t you?” And I looked at him and said, “My dear friend, why don’t you understand that this is a natural resource that has its own limits? It is not the question of money. Of course you need to pay money to buy electricity but this electricity is limited. What is the use of all the money in the world when there is not the commodity left over to buy?”
Another incident that reflects the attitude of the people is as follows. I had gone to the restroom during a break time. One of the students there was telling the other with full frustration, “Hey! You just leave the damn tap open and let the water flow. This college authorities think themselves too high…blah blah blah..” Apparently this man was frustrated and the method in which he took out the frustration was to let the water flow! In the place where I live people do a similar thing time and now. Because of scarcity of water there is a huge bill incurred for water tankers. Some of the flats with lesser number people in it then think that since I am paying the same amount as the other flat where the people being more they use more water, I shall let the water flow to even things up. How much lower could one get? Letting water flow because you are paying for it!
It is high time that we realize by recapitulating our school studies that these resources are limited. And hence we must make it a point to preserve them. Many people look at various programs run for the conservation of natural resources and lift their hands and say, “I’d love to save Mother Nature but family first. I have to save money for the family and if at all I think I have more, I shall think about it!” My point is that one need not spend money on charity to save nature. Start out by saving electricity and water and you will make a certain contribution. Maybe like a drop in the ocean yet important. Switch off the ignitions when you stop at traffic lights. Statistics say that in an average city a thousand people practicing this would save significant amount of fuel.
I have had the chance to see a modern facility where all the taps have sensors fit to them, which detect when water needs to flow out. Also there are sensors in the room, which in the absence of motion and noise in the rooms automatically switch off the lights. Some people call it a wasteful expenditure but in my opinion it is a good step towards resource conservation. You may argue that these sensors themselves consume energy. Fine! But how much do they consume and how much do they save in return? In fact, I’d like to say that these are among the most sensible use of technologies. And let me just end this blog quoting Michael Jackson, “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change.”