Pleasing My Bank Manager by being Green

When I was a vegetarian, a diet that I had for twenty-five years, when people discovered this the inevitable question was what do you eat came next. Initially I would always try to enlighten people that a vegetarian diet was very varied and interesting. However, I quickly realised that what they were really trying to discover was if I was some sort of hypocrite. Did I wear leather? Did I eat fish? And all that. Those that were genuinely interested, I found it far easier to cook them a meal and share good food with them to show that vegetarian food was far from boring or bland.

I expected others to be that honest with me when I planed on opening an Organic food shop. While I needed to make a living from it, I also wanted to show that Organic produce need not be that expensive. In fact I matched the prices of non organic produce in the supermarkets most of the time. However, I soon discovered that most of the people who were saying they would buy Organic if they could get it cheaper, were full of hot air. It was never the price that stops them its the effort they need to put into washing the mud of a few carrots that really was the issue.

Further, most of these avowed environmentalists would happily drive several miles to a store where the seller was flogging cheap imported, short dated chemically enhanced food. I know as I went there and saw twenty of my customers there stocking up on the very produce the said they wanted to avoid.

That experience allows me to understand why it is that here I get criticised for advocating saving energy, yet embracing technology. While it is true that all the electronic gadgets I use do rely on energy, electricity, I have also chosen well.

My Computer is reasonably energy efficient, also I turn it off when its not in use. That includes turning off the plugs at the mains. Also, my digital cameras rely on batteries. I use rechargeable batteries, that greatly reduces waste and means that using them has a lower carbon footprint than would the case if I were using disposable batteries.

Equally the equipment I have bought is predominantly second hand, thus reducing the environmental impact of its manufacture and helping reduce the amount of waste going off to landfill.

So while I am used to being criticised by the ignorant, this week I had proof that my efforts were working. I received my energy bill for the winter quarter. I will point out that I had paid more than I needed on the previous bill, but even I was pleased to see that it was only Forty pounds and thirty pence.

While I am careful about what energy I do use, I don't skimp on my creature comforts either. I keep my home warm, I don't scrabble around in the dark, well not in the house. One of the things that I always find surprising is just how hot people have their houses in winter. Often their homes are hotter than outdoor summer temperatures. Now I know that because I am often out in the cold, my personal tolerance for the cold is higher than most people, but I am sure that most people could halve their energy bills by simple conservation measures.

Well I at least know that I have done my best to reduce my environmental impact, and it has made my bank manager happy too.