How can we help people convert to more energy efficient devices?

Question

There is a lot of work to be done to help solve the environmental problems we face.

What NEW methods, motivations, incentives and organizational efforts can we develop and utilize to help people convert to more energy efficient devices ( including but not limited to manufacturers equipment, autos, and personal home devices)?

Answer 1

Make them cheaper.

Answer 2

Well after reading all 99 responses it looks like everything was covered. Of course we want it to be cheaper, and better than what's already out there but that's not going to happen at least not with the technology just hitting the market. As some of you have said the companies need to make a profit and make up for R&D so that preaty much kills the cheaper notion for the time being. Over time the price drops due to better products comeing out, competition, and paying off of debts. One thing thing that was mentioned that I and the majority of others have seemed to have forgotten is that they are businessmen and in the end they want to make money by any means possible. In stateing this the point I want to make is that the product should be what it's be advertised as. If it's suppose to use less energy I want to know how much less to descern if it's worth the buy. We are moving towards energy efficient products slowly but shurely. The thing that we the consumers have to watch out for is if we are getting the best there possibly is which most of the time we aren't. A technology is fabricated and then degraded to be more cost effective for the company in mass production. So in the end we get cheated. This is where the government comes in and can "encourage" businesses to put forth all they've got by means of rebates, subsidies, laws, lobbying, and a myriad of other methodes that I failed to mention. To take this thing to fifth gear the government has to be behind the technology.
For electric cars charging stations must be easily accessable and numerous. When converted toyotas new hybrid is able to do 100 miles to the gallon on the freeway. So the question isn't, "Is this energy effiecient stuff any good?" it's, "Where can I find out more about these products and where are they sold?" As for the consumers part we need to be aware of the product's existance and become educated in why they benefit us. We are on the verge of a huge technology boom not only in energy efficient products but in many areas especially nanotech of which can be connected to creating more energy efficient products if business, the government, and the people all get involved.

Answer 3

Rule number 1 in American business is it has to sell. Rule 1.1 is it has to make money for the people who sell it. There is currently one whole lotta money being made by energy companies and auto makers and petroleum producers by selling inefficient energy products. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed in these industries. This is not a conspiracy theory: oil companies will sell oil until there is none left. Many of the other large energy suppliers are already finding more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of producing electrical power, but they have to produce it and sell it at a profit. They need improvements in their technology. The auto makers are showing the willingness to produce vehicles that use less petroleum, but again, they have to make money and no newly-developed product is cheap. The sales have to pay for research and development in the first few years before the price can go down. If there was more consumer demand for energy-efficient products- along with lots of consumer dollars- companies would be happy to supply those products. It will take a shift in people's thinking about energy use. For at least the past thirty years, conserving energy has been a nice or right or good thing to do. It's been one option. But then there's the automobile. If some tech-head can get an electric car to do 120 on those long interstate drives- with a good cd player- then you'd have something to sell. The oil guys would get upset, but they should be able to easily re-tool to hydrogen production using seawater. It would take a push from both ends of the business food chain, both products to sell and people to buy products. Oh, and like everyone else says: make it inexpensive.

Answer 4

Education, dedication, and a bit of diplomacy. The American public needs to be aware of the devices that are already produced and on the market to increase energy efficiency. There has to be a real dedication to improving energy efficiency and fuel costs, not just in one ear and out the other, or, turning the other way when the subject comes up. Unfortunately we Americans are a procrastinating nation of people and can talk the talk with the best of them but we haven't got the walk the walk down yet.

Finally, diplomacy and lobbying. Yes, that's what I said. The government has so many devices available now to help the economy but refuses to put them on the market as of yet. The hybrid car for example. The car had been developed or years before it actually became available to purchase, there's also an experimental carburetor out that will increase gas mileage of the average car by 2 fold.

We the public need to find a way to diplomatically increase the awareness of what we already have or we're just going to kill ourselves economically in the long run.

Answer 5

I think that before targeting individuals by motivating them in any which way or form to take action in this (which should without a doubt be a global effort), the pressure must be on corporations. I am not only talking about industries that pollute and contaminate our environment at an excessive rate, but I am talking about starting from the inside in. By this, I mean that it is obvious that it won't be economically convenient for corporations to take up on these energy efficient devices to manufacture because if it were at all, there would be a wide variety of electronics and so forth all around us. The products that are out there already are not aggressively marketed, so as consumers, we are not given much information about this products unless we are already environmentally conscious enough to be interested in the first place.
Until its convenient for a huge money making company that has the resources and care to take action and set an example for others, things will not change enough to make a difference.

Answer 6

Making things affordable is one thing. Also, I think a lot of people are not very knowledgeable about new, environmentally friendly devices. I think people need to be more educated.
I seem to be a little skeptical when it comes to products being advertised as energy efficient because they never really say what makes it that way. How much energy are they saving? One example is the new hybrid cars. I know they are partly run on electricity, but does it really make a difference?
I'd like to see better explanations, more information and proof that these things make a difference in the environment and that they are cost effective rather than just bandying about the term "energy efficient" and expecting people to just take their word for it.

Answer 7

The one thing we can do to get people to convert to energy saving devices is to advertise them more, also to make let's say for example contractors, have salesmen come to them and show them the latest ideas and resources out there. Most don't know or ever seen new solar panels and Geo thermal units. If items like this was picked to be installed in model homes that's are being developed people will see them as they walk thorough the house. Same for electric cars they are shown here and there but never any true comparison on how the technology holds up after a few years.People want and need hands on and more exposure to these new things and piut a t price point people can afford offer rebates and tax breaks and it might be a winner.

Answer 8

I don't believe it HAS to be an issue of producing new social marketing ways to turn our society's head. I just read about this very topic a Social Marketing text book by Kotler. They gave two examples as ways to 'get things done' and one is this exact topic..."energy conservation." A radio DJ found a story from Israel and used it for his own experiment of energy conservation. Over his radio show he announced that at a specific time everyone listening needs to go through their house or office and turn off or unplug any lights and equipment not being used. Through that show and 5 minute experiment, he showed his whole listening audience they just saved $300,000 and enough power to power 40,000 homes. The use of media and statistics...people want to see facts.

But to address the use of energy efficient devices, the example of water conservation is more appropriate. A city handed out water conserving shower heads on the door steps of the community with instillation instructions, and to leave old shower head in bag to be picked up on a certain day (this would show how many people did it). 300,000 shower head at a 65% instillation rate. If our nation is real about being conscientious, the government should find such ways to make conservation a convenience instead of a stereotyped "upper class" way of life. Right now, most products (i.e. solar power or hybrid cars) are too expensive for mid-class.

Answer 9

Cost is the main motivator. With so many people earning minimum wage the most you can ask of them is to use plastic instead of paper and hope they don't litter. I make a little more then minimum wage but I still can't afford the environment friendly vehicles or to put solar panels on my roof.
Those who can afford it though, educating them of the pros and cons of different energy sources and devices, how they help the environment, are cost effective for businesses as well as personal use might be a motivator for them.
Getting the government involved, putting laws and agreements in place could help.
But no matter how much the person has, they have to feel the need or to want to change over to the more energy efficient devices, and; from my experience in life, there are a bung-hole full of people who just don't give a damn.

Answer 10

'Help people convert' would be to show the efficency and the cost effeciency. I understand it shouldn't be about the dollar, especially if it is going to help in the long run, but today people's minds are run by the dollar sign. We want things that don't cost a lot. Or if it does cost alot, how will it pay us back (efficency wise, reliability wise, global wise) in the next 10 years or so. And goodness for all...do not do this in an infomercial!

Start with the little everyday things that everyone uses. Understandably go for the cars...but people are leery. So go for the home goods that might help. Go for schools and have a day where children either made, do, or see the 'cool' things that will help their lives be better in the long run...it will trickle to the parents. It must catch on somehow.

Be well...

Answer 11

My dad just bought an energy efficient device for his home. It is something he has wanted for years and years, and he still had to finance it. The cost is too high. It will take longer than he will live for it to pay for itself. He bought an outdoor woodstove that heats the house and the water. It roasts them out of the house, doesn't seem to be any way to make it just right and a lot of times they don't have hot water. Another thing, he spends almost every single day cutting wood now so he can keep the thing running through the winter. His health and eye sight are bad so don't know how much longer he can keep that up and when he dies, my mother will not have any way to cut the wood and keep it running so it really wasn't a very efficient purchase at all. The price was too high and the item is not useful if it forces you to become a slave to it, cutting wood all day everyday. So, to answer your question, the devices should save time, money and energy expended as well.