The effect of positive reinforcement cannot be underestimated. Many a parent anxiously scans the comments box on their child’s report card, hoping (sometimes praying!) for a positive comment. Fortunately, creative measures are usually taken to write something positive, even for a child who exhibits negative behavior in the classroom, like driving the teacher crazy. For example, the teacher might write, “Shimon is an energetic child. His enthusiasm for learning rubs off on those around him. He inspires the class to participate in activities that go beyond the curriculum.” (Feel free to read between the lines.) But regardless of how a person behaves, the acknowledgement of achievement and growth serves as a catalyst to strive for more.
I recently got something in the mail that recognized my efforts and buoyed my spirits. It was my Home Energy Report Card from BGE. You see, BGE has a system that rates your energy use and compares it to that of your neighbors. Now, the rating system is relatively easy to understand. It consists of a three-bar graph. One bar represents your use, and the others represent how much energy your neighbors use. The goal is to inform you whether or not you are using energy efficiently. Accompanying your segment of the bar graph is a rating in the form of an emoji (aka smiley face) – at least you hope it’s a smiley face. For the first few months that I received this notification, mine was not smiling. Instead, I received the somber-faced, non-smiling, stern-looking emoji. This was accompanied by the statement: “Using more than average electricity.” Those of us who are now experienced at reading between the lines understood that what they really meant was “Are you out of your mind? Turn off your air conditioner. Why can’t you be like your energy-efficient neighbors around you?” Thank goodness, they were too polite to say it. Either way, I realized that something had to be done.
My first thought was that I would just move in with my energy-efficient neighbors. Since I didn’t think they would appreciate it, however, I turned instead to my Home Energy Report to see if they had any tips for me. As I was reading the report, it dawned on me that my neighbors were reading a similar report. However, unlike mine, which was telling me that all my neighbors were energy efficient, their report was telling them just how inefficient I was. Now, I’m not a competitive person by nature, but this was downright embarrassing. Needless to say, things had to change. No more turning on lights, air-conditioners, or appliances in our home. From now on, we were going back to the dark ages, literally. (How fortunate that, in my girlhood, I had been a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books!) Unfortunately, the rest of my energy-inefficient household was not as enthusiastic as I was. As you can guess, that initiative lasted for about a minute. Instead, we opted for moderation, which, believe it or not, actually worked. Within a month, we went from Mr. Somber-Face to Mr. Medium-Smiley face. Now, this wasn’t the highest rating, but at least we were improving.
This got me thinking that, when it comes to being energy efficient, there is a group of individuals who put the rest of us to shame. For example, a friend of mine recently told me that when her daughters call her on the house phone, she no longer answers. Just as I was beginning to judge her parenting skills, she explained the reason for this. It seems that when her daughters call, they are in their bedrooms upstairs while she is downstairs. Instead of walking all the way downstairs to talk to their mother, they call, from upstairs. Now, why do they call the house phone, you ask? Simply because they have a few extensions downstairs, making it easier for their mother to locate the phone. After all, cell phones often have a way of hiding themselves, making it difficult to find them. The truth is, most of us are guilty of having, at one point or another, engaged in this type of energy-efficient behavior by texting or calling someone in the next room. The upside of this is that we can’t yell at ourselves for being so lazy – er, efficient.
Unfortunately, energy-efficient behavior is not limited to electricity and technology. It has also seeped into the world via the natural phenomenon of gravity. Unlike the gravitational statement in the song, “What Goes Up Must Come Down,” there is no phenomenon that ensures what goes down must come up. If you need evidence for this, just look on the bedroom floor of your closest relative under the age of 15. I used to think that bedrooms must create an optical illusion that makes the floor seem farther away than it really is, thus resulting in a child’s inability to pick up his or her belongings. However, now I understand. It’s just another instance of misplaced, energy-efficient behavior.
In order to pursue this issue in a solution-oriented manner, especially since nagging didn’t work, I turned to BGE. Actually, I turned to their method of feedback. I decided to create a system that would monitor the amount of floor space that could be seen each month and compare it with that of my neighbors’ children. After collecting data for a month, I created a report for each individual involved and delivered it to the recipients.
A few days later, I asked my neighbor how her son felt about his Gravitational Room Report. She replied with an air of despair, “It’s no use, he thinks it’s somewhere on the floor of his room, but he can’t find it – I mean he can’t find the paper. Actually,” she added, “he can’t find the floor either.” As she walked away, she turned her head and said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to go energy efficient this month and keep all our lights off. I won’t even notice the mess anymore.”
Horrified by her statement, I realized that she had gone over to the dark side, changing from friend to “energy-efficient neighbor.” My first instinct was to run upstairs and turn off all my lights and air conditioners. However, my better judgment kicked in. For now, I’ll just visit her every afternoon, and when she’s not looking I’ll secretly turn on all the lights and air conditioners in her house. Then we’ll see who gets that smiley face.
