Op-Ed: To save the Earth, think like a 'blue water' sailor

At the height of the September heat wave, Californians provided the rest of the country with a glimmer of hope and sanity that should encourage those who feel pessimistic about our future. Within minutes of an Office of Emergency Services’sent to millions on Sept. 6, an abrupt decrease in electricity demand saved the state from rolling blackouts.

Life on Crazy Horse was, by modern standards, laughably primitive. I pumped fresh water from the boat’s tanks by hand so as to heighten my awareness of each drop used. I substituted salt water whenever possible, washing dishes, clothes and myself in it, with minimal amounts of fresh water for rinsing.

Voluntary conservation always seems less onerous when one is alert to the alternative. Only once in my sailing career have I been plunged into a crisis demanding involuntary conservation, and it was inspiring. I was a crew member on a voyage across the South Atlantic, from South Africa to Brazil, and we unfortunately took on a load of foul water on the remote island of St. Helena.

Here in the United States, with all its space and bounty, we have developed a particular talent for living large and ignoring limitations. We waste water, food and energy in a manner that can only confound a blue-water sailor. And somehow we have conflated our profligacy with the ideal of freedom — an immature belief that we cannot truly be free unless we are free to behave wastefully.

Over the long term, I suspect the best way to encourage voluntary conservation of electricity is for people to generate their own. On a boat, I study my battery monitor to see how much juice is available, then decide how to make it last. It seems likely that people in homes equipped with alternate power sources and monitoring devices would do the same.This technology has just proved its value in a crisis, and the more capacity we add, the more it will save us from high bills and blackouts.

We can run an efficient DC fridge 24/7 no problem. Efficient LED lighting keeps the boat well lit without resorting to oil lamps. And we have more than enough power to keep the family’s myriad phones and laptops charged up, all without tapping into the onshore electrical grid.

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