How many people does it take to turn off a light bulb? Apparently just one. You see, my family is under the incorrect assumption that lights simply turn themselves off.
When I raise the issue of leaving the lights on, my family just shrugs.
My husband says,” but I was going back in that room next week.”
My oldest child says,” I thought we had robots that turned them off.”
My middle child says,” I can’t reach. (Hmm, then how did they get on in the first place, and why is there a pink plastic chair near the light switch on the wall?)
My youngest child is only seven months old, but if he thinks I’m not looking, I can catch him making light switch motions.
I have been fighting the noble fight all alone.
Last month I decided that I would not turn off any lights but the ones I myself turned on. Yes, I knew that this was going to cost us money, but I needed to make a point, and the rest of the family needed to take some responsibility. I’m not usually passive-aggressive, but I thought the result would be worth the effort.
The first day, I breezed in an out of brightly lit rooms that no one had been in for hours. I was smug. By the middle of the month, I couldn’t help reminding (nagging) my husband that the basement lights had been on for four hours with no one actually down in the basement. They stayed on for another two hours. I cringed, but let them be. At the end of the month I was clenching my teeth and telling myself that the cost would be worth it.
A few days ago, we were going over our electricity bill.
“Honey,” my husband says, “Do you know why our electric bill jumped up?”
“Hmm, How much higher is it?”
“About $18!”
“Wow, that is a lot,” I said smugly.
“Have you been doing more laundry lately, or running the dishwasher?”
“Nope.”
I let him ponder over the next few minutes about suddenly inefficient appliances, energy leaks, and bad wiring before I let him off the hook and told him what was going on. I deliberately stopped running up and down stairs to turn off lights he and the rest of the family left on all of the time. “Remember those basement lights that were on for more than six hours?” I waited for the proverbial light bulb to go off.
“Uh no.”
Sigh.
What are your strategies for getting your family to save resources? I need all of the suggestions I can get!
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