I’m going to give you a peak into the mind of a consumer of “the red pill”.  Sometimes knowledge doesn’t set you free, but traps you in a rabbit hole so deep, you struggle to remember a life any different.

Years ago, prior to my life as a ScaleDown editor, I was involved in some research and legwork putting together some flyers for the 1999 provincial election. I remember this like it was yesterday, because the idea that I was introduced to would infect every moment of every day thereafter.

It was during the assembly of this flyer, focusing on the quantification of energy usage in the home, that I stumbled upon the term “embodied energy”. I didn’t think much about it at the time – it was just another concept with which the greenies could further push the notion of examining our relationship with the world around us. Yet, it wouldn’t leave my head. To this day, every time I make a purchase or decided to do “this” as opposed to “that”, the concept of embodied energy factors into that decision on some level.

Like peeling back layers of an onion.

From Wikipedia;

Embodied energy is defined as the available energy that was used in the work of making a product. Embodied energy is an accounting methodology which aims to find the sum total of the energy necessary for an entire product lifecycle. This lifecycle includes raw material extraction, transport, manufacture, assembly, installation, disassembly, deconstruction and/or decomposition.

Let’s dissect the chair that I’m sitting on as I write this column. It’s an old wingback chair which I inherited from my grandparents. It’s nothing fancy nor valuable (except to me – it was my Grandma’s) yet according to the WattzOn embodied energy database (EED), this chair represents approximately 560,200,000 joules of embodied energy and has a personal energy footprint of 1.025 watts. Those are the numbers that represent the energy that went into the harvesting of the wood for the frame, the transportation of that wood to the mill and the assembly of the frame. It also represents the extraction and production of the fabric which holds it all together, the foam which makes it comfortable to sit on, the nails binding the various components tightly, the shipment of the chair to the store and its delivery to my grandparents house, and finally its disposal. I don’t think it includes my driving up to Sauble Beach to pick it up, but you get the point.

How about the vehicles we use to travel around in? They must represent a huge amount of embodied energy. Again, according to the EED, the bike that I use to get myself around uses 3,734,618,200 joules of embodied energy and has a personal energy footprint of 7.9 watts.  If I chose to propel myself and my family around in an SUV?  That would equate to 129,855,372,000 Joules of embodied energy and a personaly energy footprint of 158.521 watts.  Let’s say I felt the pangs of eco-guilt and chose The Toyota Prius that the tree-hugger down the road from me operates with impunity.  Shockingly, I would be using 107,215,560,000 joules with a personal energy footprint of 239.72 watts – around 30 times the energy embodied in my bicycle, and pretty well on par with the SUV!

Can you see how this could cause problems in the day-to-day operations of an enlightened mind? Start adding this up for everything you own/use/desire and you will become overwhelmed and perhaps paralyzed (as in my case) with the knowledge that you are responsible for an astronomical amount of energy usage.

Which is why I am particularly cognizant of how I live my life. I purchase as many locally produced goods as possible to minimize transportation costs and impact on our infrastructure. I try to buy organic as much as possible (and can afford) to eliminate as many pesticides and fossil fuel based fertilizers that I can. I reside close to where I live, work and play so that I can use that bicycle instead of that wolf-in-sheeps-clothing Prius. I also repair and reuse as many things as possible to save all this embodied energy from filling up our landfills.

Which brings my mind to our city and its fondness for ignoring its investments in its older neighbourhoods at the expense of building more roads, burying more sewers, laying more hydro lines to more subdivisions. It’s all an incredible waste of energy and disrespectful to the people who have invested heavily in sweat and time in building our existing city. Whether you throw something away, or leave it neglected and unused, both amount to the same thing. The reluctance to utilize any object or substance to its fullest potential amounts to the disposal of thousands of hours or labour and resources into a landfill.

One last thing we all need to remember. This idea of embodied energy is not limited to material objects. One of our most precious resources are the people of Windsor and the embodied energy they represent. Think not only of the tangible resources that went into the production of everyone around you (food, clothing, shelter, etc.), but the knowledge, wisdom and experiences that went into the creation of those beings you call your friends, family and neighbours. To lose them would surely be a crime against your community.

Tags: Alternative Transportation, bikes, cities, energy, environment, Heritage, relocalization, Reuse, transportation, wasted resources