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08/31/2005: "A Conundrum Wrapped in a Rationalization"
So, a few days into my renewal of vows to the anti-consumerist lifestyle I got a phone call from a local store that sells pellet stoves. I contacted them awhile back wanting an estimate on how much getting one installed in my house would cost. They can’t tell me until they come over and see my set-up but it seems they have been selling quite a few lately to people worried about the upcoming winter and out-of-control home fuel costs.
So, the problem is that I’m still really interested in getting one. For one thing, it would save me money in the long run and more importantly, they run a lot cleaner and more efficiently than oil furnaces (which is what I currently have). Not to mention that Juneau/Douglas is on it’s own little power grid which resides on the other side of an avalanche chute so that we lose power quite a bit…it would be nice to know I wouldn’t freeze to death in the event of a long term outage due to some as yet unforeseen weather anomaly.
So, do I spend the money to do something that would ultimately be better for the planet, or do I save the money to put towards helping poor people? My friend is convinced I should get a roommate so I can do both…i.e. stay warm and still give money to the poor. The only problem with that is that the idea of sharing my space with someone is tortuous to me. As an artist I really can't work if there's anyone else around and beside, I *love* being alone. But then I feel like a jerk because I know a house my size could probably house 20 people in a developing country. I guess if I’m going to really make sacrifices for what I believe in, I have to just suck it up and do it.