Think about waste and turn the lights off

The most important single facet of any energy policy is conservation. Here’s a recommendation: “one person, one light”. Whether it be someone living alone, or in a family or a dormatory, we don’t really need more than one light per person each evening. People have lights on outdoors thinking that will dissuade baddies from coming around (it won’t). The main reason Thais need a light on in each room is their fear of ghosts, but even that can be overcome by mature thinking. 

Less electricity use would result in less need to build dams on rivers, which would, in turn, save habitat for plants, animals and indigenous people in those valleys. Less electric generation would preclude the need for nuclear power plants and added smoke-belching coal and fossil fuel plants. Whether or not you consider yourself a Buddhist, it’s good to be aware of how your actions affect the environment.  

For managers of shopping malls or 7-Elevens, this missive will fall on deaf ears. Yet, for the rest of us, we can do our little part to help the planet.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai