Why it's important

No one likes spending money they don't have to. When you think of what part of your income goes towards energy, you probably figure out what your gas and electricity bills are and assume that's it, right? While that may be a large part of it, you are also paying for the energy that goes into growing and packaging the food you eat and the energy that goes into making the things you buy. This includes the energy used harvesting materials, processing those raw materials into basic components, assembling and packaging the final product, running the factories these processes occur in, and powering and heating and cooling the store you bought the product in.

Energy costs are often hidden, which makes it hard to realize just how much we are spending. When gasoline prices increase, people drive less because it is very easy to figure out how much money you are spending on gasoline. It is a lot harder to figure out just how much the energy in the paper towels you buy costs you.

In general though, you can remember that all energy costs money, so if it takes more energy to make, you are paying for it. And not only does energy cost money, and its likely to cost more in the future, especially with carbon likely to be taxed in the near future (Check out Put A Price on Carbon for more on this). So using less energy reduces greenhouse gases and can also save us a lot of money.