Earth Day, turn those amps OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew Pam for many years before she died, and yes, I know she died very close to her 50th or 51st birthday. She made some great CDs, including “Utopia”, named after a restaurant in DC where she used to sing weekly. To anyone who loves good singing mostly jazz, I recommend look up Pam Bricker.

Crazily, Suzanna McCorkle, by any standard a very successful jazz singer, also committed suicide, in her case by jumping out a window on W 86th St in NYC, from an apartment directly across the street from my sister’s.

In the vein of this thread, those plastic water bottles and the idea of buying water in bottles when local tap water is perfectly ok, and considering what happens with those containers once drained of contents, infuriates me. Even more because many of those who buy bottled water can ill afford it. 

I’ve only bought water in a bottle once in my life. In an airport Heading for Grand Cayman Island, I was dog sick and needed water to take medicine.

At security they said get rid of it. I poured it out, went thru, found a drinking fountain and re-filled it.

We went thru a period when restaurants had little signs on the tables, saying water served upon request. Now they fill glasses automatically, with ice. And how many places give you a plastic straw automatically.

I think we should get back to ’ask for water’, and ’ask for straws’ (paper).

If you have ever worked in a commercial kitchen, worked the dishwasher, you know how much energy it takes to: make ice, use water, heat water to wash a lot of glasses, and need additional space to store all those glasses, thus the place has to be a bit bigger, more materials to build it, more lighting and ac for the larger storeroom, it ALL adds up.

buying that water felt like buying Exxon, I still resent it.

Why are the roads filled with people, driving back and forth to work. Covid taught us you could trust your workers to get the job done from home.

That reduces the size of office space needed, 

While we are at it, I’m an advocate of a permanent 4 day week. Work 4 long days for the same pay, or, take a 20% cut, which, after taxes is only -15%.

You get +50% more leisure time for -15% income. That’s a smart deal.

And, employers could employ +20% other workers, to keep output 100%, thus helping keep unemployment low.

@hilde45 Dug your post

For my gear...

Class A amps (48W): (2 mono’s each @ 24W)

1,501 kWh ÷ 0.048 kW = 31270 hours
31270 hours ÷ 2 hrs/day = 15635 days ≈ 42.8 years..such a deal!

Anyway...

At our upper central valley CA house we are privileged to have solar (and drive EV’s). In seven years the solar panels have generated 61MW and returned 27MW (27000KW) to the grid. In that time we have purchased 14MW  (or just 166KW a mouth). This is all meaningless feel good clap trap. We eat meat, travel far sometimes, buy crap, and when I was working I rolled up 2.5M air miles. I’m aware of my hypocrisy despite trying to be "good."  Reminds me to “Going Mobile” by The Who.

“I don't care about pollution

I'm an air-conditioned gypsy

That's my solution

Watch the police and the tax man miss me

I'm mobile” 

It's all clear as mud to me.

@wsrrsw Enjoyed that response. Sometimes I think about the tradition of some native American groups of "seven generations" -- namely, trying to think ahead that far when one is considering actions. Instead, so many people not only roll on with consumptive lifestyles, they go further -- and just scoff at the idea of preserving the earth even for their own kid’s generation. There is a doubling-down that is both nihilistic and narcissistic, summed up by my kids generation in the offhand put-down, "Ok, Boomer."