Energy Awareness

[Hayden Collins]

We’ve been hearing lately about a need for both cuts and savings to help us stay within our budget – let’s look at how that applies to our energy needs.  October is Energy Awareness Month and I challenge you to try something new.  

We all know energy is the resource that we can save by personal habits like turning off lights that are not in use.  This simple task saves energy, increases the life of the light and cuts down on maintenance – we have all chuckled at the joke about how many people it takes to change a light bulb.  

Now is the time to put ourselves on the front line, and use innovation and creativity to make not only our own homes more efficient, but to help our communities become innovative and self-sustaining in meeting their energy needs.   

Let’s look at the three E’s of Energy: Energy education and awareness, Energy economic development, and new opportunities for developing renewable Energy sources using leading edge technology and making good choices about the environment.  

First, you can increase your energy awareness by identifying energy conservation opportunities and efficiency improvements to your home and place of work.  Be the household hero looking for ways to cut cost and save energy in your home.  When you were young, the parental unit always said, “Close the door, we are not trying to heat the neighborhood.”  Don’t try to heat the neighborhood from an open door this fall and winter season.  You can take some of the ideas from home to use at work and when you see energy efficiency at work, bring some ideas home with you.  Set the example at work and at home for a strong economic future.

Energy is an important part of economic development.  Pursuing programs to create new energy sources and reduce power costs locally will lower the cost of doing business – and create an advantage for Bartow County over other locations.  In the current economic slump, doing nothing will not help us, waiting on the government will not help us, and continuing the same patterns as the past 25 years will bring only diminishing returns because the world has moved on.  We need to become innovators to gain the advantage and to advance.   And how do we do this?  .

This brings us to new technologies for Energy from new or renewable sources. Elsewhere in Georgia the installation of landfill gas-to-energy projects are coming to the front line of the energy battleground, and the retrofitting of Bartow County’s landfill could provide a similar source of energy, revenue and an opportunity for reduced costs to businesses – from a renewable energy source.  The utilization of different kinds of energy technologies – from exterior LED lighting to individual solar cells – also lowers ongoing energy costs, and understanding their strategic use can help businesses and households alike.  New biological waste energy technology is also becoming more affordable, and may provide additional energy to support our efforts in the near future. 

Within our lifetimes, we have seen unimaginable advances in technology.  Now is the time to become aware of the 3E’s of Energy and of the potential to make our usage more efficient, reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources, and to look for opportunities to employ new technologies – and achieve savings for our own households, our communities, and ultimately for our country.  The more who are serving in this cause, the more attainable is this goal.  

From old-fashioned conservation to innovative products that harness new energy technologies, every economic issue that you can help with provides ammunition to help fight the budget battle.  Creating our own energy and becoming self-sufficient also cuts the dependence on foreign and high-risk sources of energy and saves on the cost of doing business.  The economy affects us all equally and we are in this battle for the long run.  

Here is the challenge for each and every one of us: educate yourself so you can make good decisions.  Your education is your future.  Let’s lead the way with energy awareness, advantages for economic development from new resources, and renewable energy technologies.  Try something new in order to achieve efficiency for your own household and advantages for your community. Do not wait for another crisis – either in energy production or in the budget – to take up your weapons.  Join the resistance.