By force or voluntary?

When it comes to energy conservation, the big question that divides experts is whether the approach should be that of regulation or marketing. Government organisations associated with energy often tend to spen a lot of money on advertisements and marketing campaigns. Critics believe this is a waste of money. There should be a way of making conservation mandatory, they insist. For instance in India, we have the EC Act which has remained largely on paper. If implemented in earnest, the nation stands to save and hence produce much needed energy.

Another way of thinking believes that force is not the way, but persuasion and education. Or marketing!

A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that what really gets people engaged when it comes to slashing energy use is aggressive marketing campaigns. After a hot summer, the average person is getting back into routines of school and work, not tracking energy savings. (The US is celebrating energy conservation month now.)

While buying a new EnergyStar appliance at Home Depot on a MasterCard means that 10 percent will go to Habitat for Humanity during Energy Awareness Month, most US consumers are more likely to wait for Black Friday or post-holiday sales to replace a washing machine. Experts believe a better strategy would be for utilities around the country to have marketing pushes to let people know about home energy audits, rebates and tax breaks for retrofits -- or to host series of neighborhood meetings about how to save energy in the home, as suggested by LBNL in its study.

One comment on an energy website had this comment from a reader: ‘The way to inspire people might be to show the difference between before and after energy bills. American culture is slowly transitioning from the mindset of energy as a disposable resource. Up to this time we havent given it much thought, just plug it in and it magically works, cheap. Now that energy costs are going up we are re-thinking that slowly but surely. My combined electric, gas and water bill is under $100 a month, I know some people that are half of that. It doesnt take much to make it happen other than a few minor house upgrades and more importantly, a revised mindset in regards to energy use conciousness.’

Besides the glitz of advertising, how many of us (whether in the US or India) would really buy a product simply beause of the marketing? But again, will we change voluntarily unless we are pushed into it, by way of a steep energy price rise?