AskDong

Salon debuted the other day a new feature Ask Pablo.  Salon has picked up the column from Pablo’s website creatively and smartly named Ask Pablo.  Salon for those who aren’t famililar with it, is a left leaning online magazine. Since I’m a reader that probably makes me a little left leaning which I’m OK with.  Many of the readers in the comments sections think I’m wingnut troll.  Of course at other times in the same discussion, real wingnuts are just as likely to call me a moonbat.  If I can inspire ire on both sides of the fence, I’ve done something right.

So anyhow I was very intrigued when I saw “Ask Pablo” given this AskDong and I have friend named Pablo. The Pablo writing the column on Salon is sadly, howevermm not my friend, but a sustainability engineer who will answer questions about the environment and green living. As soon as read the premise, I thought “What a great concept!” As readers know, the environment is something I care about, and part of my pitch for frugality comes as much from a sense of environmental stewardhsip as it is driven by economic desire.

While some of the actions we take are obviously better for the environment - i.e. walking to work instead of driving, there are more than a few that are less than obvious. When does it make sense to buy a newer more energy efficient car versus keeping the beater? These are the type of questions that make sense to ask an expert, and Pablo advertises himself as such.

Given my background in the Energy Industry, I’m often interested by things that most people would not give a second thought to. On my flight from Honolulu to Maui, there was a serendipitous moment. I was reading an article on the geothermal plant on the Big Island while we flew over a set of large wind turbines dotting the mountainside of Maui.

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Last week I pondered what the environmental impact of my last vacation was. I took a cruise from New York City to Bermuda on the Explorer of the Sea. The technical specifications indicate the boat has six Wärtsilä 12V46C diesel engines which supply 75,600 kwh (75 MWh) of total power. My estimate is that while cruising between the ports, the engines are probably at about 3/4 full power, and at the dock the engines are merely supplying electricity to the boat (20 MWhs). Megawatt Hours or MWhs are the units of energy commonly used in the electricity industry. The estimate of use are just guesses on my part - I really don’t know how RoyalCaribbean operates the Explorer since I missed the Bridge tour. For reference a typical New England Resident consumes 653 kWH or .653 MWh per month (1000 kWs make a MW). Last month according to my electric bill I consumed 303 kWh of power at home. However given that I spend half of my waking time in my air conditioned office, a better estimate of my total energy use is 800 kwH a Month or 26.6 kwH/day.

The other useful comparison is not just looking at overall energy usage, but also looking at the distance traveled. I didn’t just get on a cruise ship and stay there. I got on cruise ship and traveled to Bermuda. Here’s a comparison of the efficiency of the different modes of transportation Traveling by airline is one of the least efficient methods of transportation. The two jets powering a typical Boeing 737 are functionally nearly identical to gas turbines used to produce electricity. Each engine produces the equivalent of 15 MW of power for a total of 30 MW for a 2 hour flight between Boston and Bermuda. However unlike the Explorer of the Sea which transports over 5000 people, a 737 jet only moves 180 passengers or so at the most.

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J.D. at Get Rich Slowly had a post on learning to love the not so big house. I couldn’t agree with him more. I’m both sympathetic to builders and buyers of McMansions. Who doesn’t want cathedral ceilings, 5 bedrooms, a “great room”, and a “mud room”? And builders build them because buyers buy them. It’s simple supply and demand.

There’s a natural tendency on the part of most people to want both more room, and more rooms. I live in a one bedroom apartment. I often think it would be great to have an office and spare bedroom. I would be happy to have more storage room as well. I don’t find anything wrong it in itself to want more. The problem is when the desire for more meets builders who can deliver beyond. On the business side, a classic mantra goes along the lines of, “deliver more than the customer wants.”

Often times, though, the consumers of housing are unclear of what they really want in the end. For instance, as I said, I would like an office and a spare bedroom. Does that mean I need two rooms, an office and an extra bedroom? At first blush it might seem like that. In reality what I need is an office that can be easily used as a spare bedroom. I imagine in the end, I, like many other people, are really interested in functionality rather than more space. The greatest problem with McMansions is not that they meet needs, but that they meet needs and wants inefficiently. I want a spare bedroom. I want an office. However, I realize if my apartment were designed with efficiency in mind, I wouldn’t actually even need more space than I really have.

What I really love about my current apartment is the open large living area–basically one continuous living room/dining room/kitchen. I stake off one corner for some file cabinets. I stake off another area for a desk. Both areas are relatively unobtrusive so when I do entertain people I have great space to host. I also realize that with a few smart additions the space could host a spare bedroom. The spare bedroom would be temporary in nature, portioned by either pocket doors, folding doors, or French doors that would allow the space to be normally used as standard living space. Efficient and adaptable space is both economically and environmentally more sound. Smart design beats big design.

I like to think that as people become both more environmentally conscious, and also realize from experience that bigger isn’t always better, the McMansion will be an early 21st century relic. Some towns like Wellesley, one of Boston’s posh suburbs, has tried to actively put limits on the rise of more McMansions. The town is following the lead of two other affluent Boston towns, Lincoln and Weston. I certainly applaud what hopefully will be positive results, I’m also conflicted about how I feel about legislating good/modest taste. While I believe the Government has the right to legislate safety, and local government has the right through zoning to make good use of space, I don’t believe the Government should be in the business of telling people what’s in good or bad taste. I just hope good and sensible taste prevails.

I didn’t mark it on my calendar, and I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t read some of my favorite blogs such as BripBlap, and Lazy Man And Money. Today is Blog Action Day. Shame on me on forgetting. Personal Finance and Environmental friendly consumption go hand in hand and it would be disservice if I didn’t take a little time to write about our personal responsibility to world we live in.

Here are the things I’m perosnally striving to be better at:

• Shop with reuseable bags. I often forget to bring mine.
• Do a better job of turning off the lights when I leave for work. Energy use during the day is both more expensive, and has a greater impact on the environment as dirtier generators are used to meet that load.
• Eat more vegetables in lieu of high production cost meat. I’m never going vegetarian, but I could probably do with eating more veggies both for my health and the environment.
• Give more money towards environmental causes, especially scientific research.

And most importantly we should take personal responsibility for our actions, and understand there is a very real cost to not only ourselves but the generations yet to be born. The biggest problem with caring for the environment is that as individuals we do not see the direct cost of the damage we cause. Not only is this damage sometimes done far away as in the case of mercury tainted shellfish, but sometimes it takes decades for the effect to be noticed as is the case with global warming. It’s too easy to hide in our shell and pretend that what we personally do has no effect since it’s just a drop in the bucket. Every drop counts.