Be Greener & Save: Watching Less Television

There was unexpected knock on the door this morning. The local phone/internet/cable company was canvassing the neighborhood looking for more business. The man noticed we were not taking advantage of their television service even though we had their phone and internet service.

“We don’t have TV,” I said.

I got a very strange look. Not even an incredulous “You don’t?!”, just a stare.

He needed more explanation. So I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

“We’re hippies.”

“Oh” he replied, smiled, and left.

I also said something about not wanting our children to become little consumers so we banned commercial TV from our house. I’m not sure what I said exactly because I was surprised the “We’re hippies” comment was so easily accepted and understood. We have been trying to explain to friends and family for months why we unhooked our TV from all cable, even basic cable, rendering it useless for watching broadcast shows. While I admit saving money was part of our decision, it was more important for me limit exposing my children to television commercials.

According to the book Affluenza by DeGraaf, Wann, and Naylor:

“The average American will spend nearly two years of his or her lifetime watching TV commercials. A child may see a million of them before he or she reaches the age of twenty. There is more time devoted to them now – the average half-hour of commercial TV now has eight minutes of commercials, up from six two decades ago.” (p.149-150)

I find those statistics are unacceptable. I have many reasons why, but let’s look at this from an environmental perspective. Over consumerism is a huge environmental problem. All the stuff we think we must have take resources to produce. And, when we realize they weren’t really that important, disposing of them becomes an environmental problem.

I can’t keep my children away from all the advertising aimed towards them. They are still exposed to advertising at their friends’ houses and at school. They see advertising hype on every inch of available space that marketing proponents find to slap it on. They will not, however, see one million commercials while sitting in my living room. I choose not to allow it.

I know unplugging the TV is a bit extreme. It doesn’t work for everyone, especially huge sports fans or news junkies. But it works for us.

I believe it’s important to reduce our children’s exposure to consumerist advertising. This hype promotes the “gotta have it” attitude that is prevalent today. Find a way to reduce unnecessary consumption that works for you.

For example, try setting limits on TV time. Or try using a DVR to record programs and watch them with your children, but remember to fast forward through the commercials. Perhaps getting rid of TV altogether will work for you like it did for my family.

By the way, limiting TV time - or getting rid of it altogether - won’t turn you into a hippie. However, if people are questioning your choice, you can always say you are one. Apparently, it works.