Nathan Scandella (personal)

Energy Saving Tips (Part II)

Another energy saving tactic I've started using more and more is renting movies online. It's always been my policy to avoid taking (driving) trips just to perform one task (e.g. going directly to the grocery store, and then back home). Combining multiple errands into one trip saves a lot of driving, and thus gas, and thus pollution, etc.

Along these lines, there are certainly times when I feel like renting a movie, but don't have any other errands to run (or can't run because of the hour). In these cases, getting onto my computer, and renting a movie from Blockbuster.com, or iTunes is a great alternative. Now, I am not one to recommend gratuitously wasting bandwidth. Network throughput is a resource just like electricity or water. It's not free to use, and it does cause pollution of multiple kinds. However, if your choice is between getting into a car (usually by yourself), or sending 1GB or so over the Internet, the choice is clear: download the movie, and leave the car in the garage.

Of course, this hinges on you having a fast internet connection. Not everyone can afford $50 or so per month for broadband access. I'll take this opportunity to state that now is a perfect time for the government to use some stimulus money to lay high-speed fiber networks across the country. But, even with FiOS available in only a few places, most of us still have access to moderately fast Internet pipes. Spending the extra money on one can often save money elsewhere. Aside from not having to drive your car to the video store, I have benefited from tunneling my phone service (Skype) over my broadband connection for several years. I also watch certain TV content (e.g. The Daily Show, SNL, or even live sports) online. I haven't had premium cable or dish TV for years.

Who knows what high-speed networking will allow us to do better in the future?

Posted at 08:23PM Jan 08, 2009 by Nathan in Environment  |  Comments[0]