Forced conservation

In India people are very careful about their water usage. They don’t need a TV ad to tell them to not keep the tap running when brushing their teeth. Not many people use showers as they are wasteful, choosing instead to bathe using a bucket of water where the usage is more easily monitored. Many toilets have two different flushing mechanisms, and you can choose one or the other depending upon what you are trying to flush. In Bangalore, many apartment complexes have water treatment plants that process waste water to be used for landscaping and toilets flushing.

In the US, on the other hand, you will have to search high and low, and probably pay a premium, to get a dual-flushing toilet. A few people may use rain-barrels to water their gardens but by and large you could drink from the lawn sprinkler.

It is not that Indians are a more environmentally aware people. The water conservation is a way of life because most Indian cities face acute water shortages. The municipality supplies water for a few hours every day, and everyone must store up enough water to last for a couple of days during that supply time. Just last week, I was in Delhi. There were a few more relatives in the house and we used up all the stored water. Unfortunately there was no water supply the next day, and we had to borrow water from a neighbor. This is fairly common occurrence.

This got me thinking about the current push to be “green” in the US – an extremely consumer-oriented society. I am convinced that to promote conservation we need actual shortages. No amount of awareness or education can make human beings save up resources that seem unlimited, even if they aren’t. Either that or it has to be felt in the pocketbook. The talk of being “green” was highest when gas prices were high. No politician will even go there, but maybe the prices of gas, water and electricity need to be kept artificially inflated. Hell, this could just pay off a large chunk of our national debt while making us greener.