Making a difference

This won't be such a long winded post, unlike my usual blog entries.

I met with someone today and while I was discussing the computers I sell being very energy efficient, they retorted with "How much more power does a complete computer really consume anyway, I mean really.... will it make that big a difference?"

When I mentioned the boxes they come in are recycled, they said "Whatever, as if that's going to make a difference."

Eventually I got fed up with his remarks. I didn't bother explaining that the PC's I sell consume on average 65 Watts of power, not 450 Watts. I explained that the recycled cardboard boxes they come in make a difference when you sell a few hundred a year, or better still, when the manufacturer sells millions around the world. Never mind the fact that the PC's are physically smaller and that means more can be shipped in the same space (40ft shipping containers).

I didn't bother explaining all that.

Normally I would.

However, my comeback had far more impact on him than anything I could have used to defend the computers I sell.

I said "Well, you're making a difference by not recycling, by using a PC that consumes 4 times or more power than these. You're making a difference by negating everything I've said about saving the environment with something, a PC, which has become a bit of a necessity in life these days. If you're going to make an impact, and by taking part in "re-cycling" or not you are making some sort of difference, perhaps it would be a nice gesture to make a good difference, not a bad one by consuming more power than necessary and throwing away packaging in the correct bin, not the garbage bin."

Then he listened to what I had to say about power savings these computers offer. I felt I have made a significant difference today.