Times have been tough lately. Struggling to make ends meet has been a reality for a great many of us. We’re all faced with the same issues when it comes to meeting our financial obligations we have bills coming out of our posteriors — these bills seem to monopolize the majority of our paycheck. Finding better-paying jobs may be an option that some of us have considered, or perhaps some of us have even thought about changing our lifestyle to better accommodate our respective financial realities.
As our resources become more scarce, we’ll find that their cost to us will follow suit. Resources like electricity are in high demand world-wide, but many of the power stations that produce electricity (primarily within North America) rely on the combustion of fossil fuel (largely coal) to produce the electrical power that is delivered to our homes and businesses. As we all know, fossil fuel is not a renewable resource and hence we must all realize that the day will come when there is absolutely none left. Another detriment to consider is the irreversible negative effect that burning fossil fuels has on our fragile environment. When looking at this picture, it’s easy to see how the cost of producing electricity in all respects is increasing at an alarmingly unfavourable rate.
The fact is, the more electricity we use, the more money we have to pay out for its consumption. When we think about what we’re really paying for (power to our homes, pollution to our world), it would also do us well to consider the fact that there are other ways to pay for the power that we need at a fraction of the gross (financial + environmental) cost.
How much attention do you pay to the electricity usage in your home or business What do you think about in terms of what you should be using minimally in your home to keep the cost of your electricity bill down Do you know where to even begin when assessing how you can contribute to a reduction in the use of electricity
One of the simplest and most effective ways of cutting electrical costs is by eliminating the use of your lights. Did you guess that I know, lights seem to be of little consequence when considering electricity costs… but lights, alarmingly, account for a very large percentage of our power use. Ask yourself, how important is it to have the lights on around your home If you feel that keeping lights on is absolutely required, then clearly you feel you can afford to pay for them. Having the kind of money you’d require just to pay for having your lights turned on is a good indication that you have the kind of money you’d require to light your home (or business) using a solar lighting system.
Solar home lighting systems are pretty much exactly what the name suggests. Solar powered lights are introduced into your home, and as implied, make use of solar power rather than fossil-fuel-produced electricity. As we’ve ascertained, using conventional electricity comes at an expense far beyond what most of us consider; however, the use of solar power will hit ONLY our wallets, and will do so only a hand-full of times over the course of our lives (if we decide to use it), yet it will have no negative impact on our planet.
The initial installation of in-home solar lights poses an obvious financial cost. Beyond that cost, one may have to invest marginal amounts of money over the course of decades for the maintenance of the system. Overall, the money spent (which will unquestionably inflate over the years) on electricity used to power your lights over the course of many decades out-weighs the cost of implementing better, and ultimately more cost-effective ways to achieve the same goal. Solar energy is our planet’s most plentiful energy resource… why are we paying for what shines down on us for free
It’s clear that solar lights our way to the future, while on the other hand, burning fossil fuel obscures the path to a future of great uncertainly. For most, this idea is a tough sell… primarily due to ignorance (pardon the misunderstood term) promoted by economic, capitalist endeavours. Our planet is still, unfortunately, run by money and not by good sense (interestingly, good sense can still generate money). As single individuals, there’s little we feel we can do, though collective efforts will definitely make a difference – if we all start using solar lights (in any capacity, really) in replacement of what we currently use, we’ll at least start heading in the right direction.
Tags: burning fossil fuels, electricity bill, electricity usage, financial obligations, financial realities, fossil fuel, fragile environment, home lighting, lighting system, renewable resource