Put a sweater on It
I was at a Dalhousie University alumni event recently, speaking with an alumnus who graduated 40 years ahead of me. We were chatting about great difference between our generations, of which there are many. It struck me when he added, “When it gets cold, my generation puts on a sweater. Your generation turns up the heat.” Hearing that put so succinctly made me realize that there has been a profound shift in how we as individuals value energy, beyond the price that is put to it.
Climate Policy & Advocacy Specialist, Zoe Caron in her National Sweater Day sweater. Photo Credit: Howie Chong
A conservationist can be defined as “a person who advocates or strongly promotes preservation and careful management of natural resources and the environment.” While we commonly think of a conservationist as someone who saves forests, wild land, endangered species – real, tangible pieces of the natural environment – we rarely think of a conservationist as someone who promotes careful management of energy sources, also natural resources, themselves.
In working towards a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 worldwide, half of those efforts will come from energy conservation – by way of both simply using less, but also putting to work the efficiency standards, innovations and technologies that already exist and work. In real terms, this means everything from fuel efficiency standards, to building codes, to better public transit, to how we design and upgrade our electrical grid.
On the most basic level, it means thinking twice about how we use energy. On the most basic level, it means putting on a sweater before you decide to turn up the heat. This Thursday, February 9th, we are asking all Canadians to do just that, on National Sweater Day. While simply wearing a sweater and turning down the heat is not the grand solution to energy values and climate change, it is a perfect symbol of a choice being made to be caring, intuitive, and intelligent about our decisions when it comes to energy. It is our hope that each individual carries those values forward into bigger decisions and motives that will ultimately impact our energy, and environmental, future.
