Green = Doing the Same With Less, Not Without

NBC has launched a green awareness campaign. As the 'kick off' to this campaign just before the start of the Sunday Night Football game they turned off all the lights on the set for the pre-game commentators, and vowed to keep them off for the duration of the game. Apparently such an action would save enough energy to power a large number of homes for a considerable time [I really did not pay much attention]

While the intention might be honourable, the result probably did more damage then good. The commentators immediately began whimpering about how difficult it would be do to their job without the lights. Flashlights were clicked on and by the half time show they had illuminated the set with candles, which just looked silly and further emphasised a the negative message.

I fear that for the average viewer the message received would have been that conserving energy is very difficult and full of hassles.

However, if rather then turning off all the lights, they had turned off a half or two thirds of the lights, not only would they be able to show "NBC going green", but more importantly they would have been able to demonstrate that living green and energy conservation does not necessarily require going without, just using less to achieve the same result.

With this approach in mind, when looking at how to live a greener lifestyle, try to avoid the concept of sacrifice or doing without. Instead try to find ways to live smarter, achieving the same quality of life, just using less energy, as this is a more realistic way of living a greener life.