Why Environmentalism Needs Financial Incentives
Price is far from the only cost we pay every time we make a decision. Only recently we have become increasingly aware of the various hidden costs in our lives. For instance, it was in 2013 when we first heard of carbon costs and people began to realize that we “pay” for carbon emissions in one way or another since their destructive effects create costs for all of us.
The realization of this cost has led to some interesting findings: a study published by the Danish government found that making a single-use plastic bag requires so little energy and produces far lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to reusable cotton bag that you need to use your cotton bag 7100 times before it would have a lower impact on the environment than a plastic bag. Consideration of environmental costs also led to changes in many people’s behavior. Flying has, of course, become almost anathema to hardcore environmentalists; you can either commit to less flying or you can visit a website where you figure out how much emissions your flight costs and how to “pay” for it (for instance, sponsoring reforestation efforts or funding the research of carbon removal technologies).
For most of my life, I’ve always perceived environmentally-friendly actions as always being more expensive, either in financial costs, in time or in my own effort. There are some things we should all be willing to do, for instance, take the time of your day to properly separate your trash, or consider biking instead of commuting by car. However, a lot of other environmentally-friendly actions are limited in popularity due to their perceived costs (in either money, resources, time or effort).
At FUERGY, we believe environmentally-friendly actions should not hurt your wallet, nor should they be tough to do. In fact, we believe that to take effect on a structural level, environmentally-friendly actions need to be incentivized. We already have soft incentives; we admire the people who go the extra mile to create less waste, release less emissions and live greener lives — this is something that works especially well in developed countries where people are willing to sacrifice money and time. However, to convince people from all demographics and income levels, we need to offer tangible, real incentives.
Money is easily the most communicable and universally-appreciated incentive, which is why we believe that environmentally-friendly decisions should be financially profitable. Only then can we draw the continual interest of the entire world. This philosophy is at the core of our product — the FUERGY Device. Once purchased and installed, the Device leverages the accumulative capacity of your home battery to either store or automatically trade energy with other FUERGY users. We’re creating an economic system in which energy is produced in a decentralized fashion and its price is dictated by the market rather than by utility companies or the state.
At FUERGY, we believe money talks all over the world, and to find a common language in our effort against climate change, we’re communicating our advantage through financial incentive.
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