Thematic Photographic 122 - Electric

Energy savers
London, ON, October 2010

If you're impatient, start here: Thematic Photographic launches its next week of fun with a new theme. electricity. If you're already well-versed on the insanity that is TP, post your pic, leave a comment here and have fun with it. If you're new to our weekly photo sharing activity, click here.

If you want the backstory, read this: Lately, electricity's been in the news fairly regularly here in Ontario. Government mismanagement (there, I said it) has resulted in skyrocketing baseline rates, coupled with a botched implementation of smart meters and a hair-brained layering of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on top of it all. Stories of bills doubling and tripling are not uncommon. Citizens are ready to torch Queens Park, the Ontario legislature building.

To say we're being governed by monkeys would cast monkeys in an unfairly negative light. I hope our Premier and grand poobah, one Dalton McGuinty, watched the U.S. elections carefully last night. There may be a little foreshadowing going on.

Oops, I got political! Doesn't happen often, but when it slips out, far be it for me to snuff it out.

There, I'm good. So...electricity. Yes. Triple-digit bills are prompting many among us to look for ways to save. Replacing conventional filament-based bulbs with these compact fluorescents seems like a no-brainer. Same light for less than a quarter of the energy. Ah yes, but there's the dirty little secret of these bulbs, that they have a small amount of mercury in them, and as of now there's no recycling process in place.

No one ever said being green would be easy.

Your turn: Please post an electrically-themed pic on your blog or site, then leave a comment here so folks know where to find it. Remember: how you interpret it is entirely up to you. There are no rights or wrongs here, so if you want to stretch things well beyond the bounds of conventionality, go for it.

Oh yes, one additional wrinkle this week: kindly send the TP link to a friend. I'd like to see more folks playing along because, well, bigger is always better. And I know y'all enjoy this. Thanks gang!