This week’s question follows a conversation I had with my dear friend Holly. She is environmentally conscious and although she is not ‘in your face’ with her opinions, she feels vert strongly about people carelessly wasting our precious resources. I am with her on this, as I’m sure many of you out there are! It’s almost embedded in our society that it is unacceptable to waste water, or energy…or anything! The strange thing is, she seems to keep coming across people who behave carelessly with some of these resources. This leads me to this week’s question…
Is it ok, when visiting a friend’s house, to turn off their lights…in rooms where they are not being used? Or is this a tad too pushy?
– Source -
So…is it???
Ha I turn off lights at valuation inspections! Id definitely turn them off at a friends.
Don’t get me started on tumble driers!!!
You go girl! Tumble dryers are terrible, but in Melbourne I think we may be able to get away with it!
I think that as will a lot of of other things- it depends on the level of friendship- it seems like you’d need to know someone pretty well to care about their light bill or even sometimes to know which switch goes to what. Nah, if they like it lit up like an operating room, it’s their business. But God help my husband leaving all the lights on at our house!
YES! Husband does this in my house too…am in the process of training him!
I would only do this at a close friend’s house, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect me in all occasions. I find myself doing it A LOT in the workplace, including turning off powerpoints, computer screens, etc. When house-sitting, I tend to do the rounds too
It’s not about cost-saving, it doesn’t bother me how much people spend on their bills, it’s all about saving our planet for future generations and the complete disregard to the world that we live in and should be caring about…
I like your thinking Pol x
I would say unacceptable …… better to have a conversation with them first and then suggest, but I wouldn’t just go and switch the lights off. Maybe in a close family members house I would….
Ha – this surprises me about you Mel – I would have thought you’d be into this!
My bad habit is that I complicate things. You ask a simple question, I should give a simple answer. I don’t think we can assume that someone’s level of consumption is higher than ours because they’ve left the hallway light on. I once did one of those internet quizzes that ask a range of questions about your consumption habits then gives you a score based on the premise that if everyone in the world lived like you, how many earths would be needed. At the time, I was in a two-bedroom house occupied by two adults. Our household had no car, no dishwasher, and no dryer. For all the other appliances, we had the most efficient that we could afford. I thought I was looking pretty darn good. Imagine my surprise to discover that we would need 1 and a half planets if everyone lived like me. Now, I have two kids, I live in a three bedroom house, I have a car, a dishwasher and a dryer. My electricity bill tells me that our household electricity consumption is roughly the same as a single person household. It is obvious to me that I have increased my consumption, yet apparently when compared to other households, I’m looking good. This worries me.
That is rather bizarre Ren! I am continually AMAZED at the electricity bill every time I receive one in the mail. I definitely need to cut back….but I just can’t work out where!
I would ask first, even with a good friend. Today’s energy-efficient globes sometimes mean that it’s more sensible to leave a light on if you’re only going out of the room briefly.
Good point Felicity!