You hear people talking about it all the time… “Going green,” living an “eco-friendly lifestyle”… But what does it all mean?

Does it mean that you recycle or are considered as a “tree hugger?” Not at all, but recycling is a great start!

But, to “go green” or live a more eco-friendly lifestyle means that you seek knowledge and practices that cause environmental and social responsibilities and incorporate them into your daily lifestyle. This is what you would call sustainable living, and it plays a major role in helping protect the environment and preserving our natural resources for generations to come.

In knowing that, it then sparks the question of if this “green living” is so great for the environment, why is it that people don’t take it seriously? Just think about it… Climate change is a real issue that impacts everyone in the world, and for a worldwide problem of that magnitude, why aren’t more people doing something about it?

The truth is that lots of people are uneducated about the matter. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of last year, renewable energy accounted for only 11% of total US energy consumption and 17% of electricity generation.

There is obviously more work to be done with renewable energy from an education perspective but the more people can get accurate information about it, the sooner they’ll be to making the switch. But with so much information at our fingertips these days, it can be quite easy to blur the lines of what’s accurate information and what’s not.

The easiest way to determine what’s accurate is to first point out what’s not…

Again,  people are simply misinformed about renewable energy. What people don’t realize is that renewable energy isn’t just something people are doing simply because it helps the environment. Because if we’re going to be realistic about society here, people care more about the fact that it helps lower their monthly utility bills.

That may not be the greatest or most environmentally conscious reason to decide to switch, but regardless… If it takes people realizing only the financial benefits it brings, then so be it. Once people see the financial benefits, there’s the potential to spark curiosity in discovering other ways to be more eco-friendly, even if it’s just to save.

If you’re remotely interested in renewable energy, in the slightest form, take a look at what not to believe about it first.

Biggest Reasons Why People Don’t Take Renewable Energy Seriously

It’s Too Expensive

To be fair, if you are thinking of having solar panels installed on the roof of your home, that indeed can get expensive. But what lots of people don’t know is that you can actually compare utility prices of renewable energy providers.

What does that mean?

It means that you don’t have to go through your traditional electric company, where the utility prices fluctuate every month… You can go straight to alternative electricity providers for your utilities and be charged one flat monthly rate for a certain amount of time.

They Think You Have to Be All-In, All at Once

There is a lot that goes into energy-efficiency, and it doesn’t just happen overnight either. A lot of the people you see who have adopted the lifestyle have been living the lifestyle for many years. They’ve become quite knowledgeable and have adjusted properly.

So don’t think that if you want to embrace the lifestyle that you have to be all-in, all at once. Take baby steps and get yourself educated so that you can truly appreciate your efforts and understand how you’re not only helping yourself but the environment too.

You don’t necessarily have to jump in head-first by making your own eco-friendly juice… Maybe start out by simply recycling and eliminating your use of plastic water bottles, and instead use reusable bottles. Once you’ve incorporated that into your regular routine, you can then start to incorporate other eco-friendly habits.

They Think Their House Will Turn Off on Cloudy Days

One of the biggest misconceptions about renewable energy in the form of solar energy is that people think their house will “power off” if there is no sunlight to be absorbed by solar panels, and that’s just not the case at all. Even on the cloudiest of days, your home will be able to power and operate normally.

You have to realize that just because you can’t see the sun, that doesn’t mean it’s not out. The clouds are only blocking the sun from your vision. But another thing you may not know is that the clouds act as reflectors of sunlight. So if you have solar panels and it’s gloomy and cloudy outside, there’s no need to panic…

The clouds will reflect the sunlight to your panels, and will even have your home run at night too, simply from the process of saving the sunlight during the day to keep your home powered at night.