Turn off the light! Perhaps this was one of the most common phrases we heard in our homes when we were little, and it was the reason why our parents whipped us daily followed by the phrase, "… that the electric bill is very high."
Today it is something we do not hear very commonly or at all, simply because it is a forgotten "habit" or because we are the parents now and it is certainly irrelevant in our lives.
Over the years, technology has diversified and has become increasingly efficient in energy consumption and we have become addicted to it, which is why it is more common to see almost all the electrical outlets in our homes occupied. with chargers for cell phones, laptops, tablets and any other type of electronic device; reason why seeing a light or any other equipment on, does not represent, in our opinion, a significant additional cost.
Certainly, the developers and manufacturers of all equipment that requires electrical energy to function have, with enough success in my opinion, focused on optimizing consumption, increasingly managing to work with much less energy. No less true is that, along with the advances in energy consumption, an infinity of innovations have come from the point of view of functionalities and user experience that have undoubtedly improved our quality of life, but which in turn have created a dependency that borders on the vast majority of the time on addiction.
As an example I highlight the use of the television. If we remember a few years ago, at home there were 1 or 2 televisions at most and it was used as a family to watch our favorite programs, but it was not the center of our lives. Today, most homes, and those that are not very likely to be gathering a budget to do so, have a television in each of their rooms, living room and kitchen mainly. And I could expand on many other examples.
The reason behind all this lies in the fact that our budget is always going to adapt to suit our needs and of course, if it is to pay for a “necessity” such as the use of countless electrical appliances, of course it is that justified. In addition, governments have been concerned with giving a certain amount of subsidies that undoubtedly intend to guarantee access to energy to sectors of the population that are most in need but that the consumer does not perceive as an opportunity.
The reality is that we are not aware or care little about everything that energy consumption implies, much less its waste. Behind this there is an entire electricity generation industry, which for the most part maintains technologies that do not use renewable resources and that although they have really worked to be increasingly efficient, this does not remove the fact that they are still polluting and harmful For the enviroment. And we as individuals, parents, children, professionals and above all as human beings, are the main responsible for this activity, since energy production will always be directly proportional to our demand or "need".
For this and many other reasons, we must remember that phrase from our parents and give our children an understandable, meaningful and deep meaning to accompany it.
My humble proposal. Turn off the light! We are damaging the planet.
