by CHansen

The “butterfly effect” is the idea that a small and seemingly insignificant event can trigger something on a much larger scale than what originally took place. It’s the theory that a butterfly can flap its wings, eventually causing a tornado to occur a thousand miles away. Remember how Homer Simpson went back in time, squashed a prehistoric bug, and returned to a drastically altered universe, where donuts fell from the sky? I find that much easier to understand than fractals or chaos theory.

Anyways, let’s try to enumerate the long term effects of making a seemingly insignificant decision to wear flip flops instead of shoes and socks. It is an exaggerated and contrived example, but serves to illustrate the “butterfly effect” in terms of saving money and saving the planet. (I think it feels like compound interest on steroids…)

1. You drive less: Since you need fewer socks over the course of your lifetime, this means that you won’t have to drive to the store as often to buy new socks. Any time that you drive a little bit less, you use less gasoline. See #3 for the effects of conserving gasoline.
2. You save more money: This means that your saved dollars earn more interest, and in the long run, you can afford to work a tiny bit less. See #5 for the effects of working a tiny bit less.
3. You conserve energy/resources: Anytime you conserve a natural resource, you prevent it from becoming more scarce. The tiny effect of this is that rather than going up, the price of the resource stays the same because you haven’t decreased the overall supply. The next time you have to buy the resource, it’s slightly cheaper than it otherwise would have been. This means that you’ll save more money. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
4. Less wear and tear on your car: This leads to fewer car maintenance costs. In addition, your car lasts longer, and so you can postpone buying a new car. Fewer parts will stop working and end up in landfills, and you save more money. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
5. You can afford to work a tiny bit less: Since you can afford to work a tiny bit less, you’ll drive to work a tiny bit less. See #1,4 for the effects of driving less.
6. You can postpone buying socks: You spend less money to buy new socks, which means that you save more money. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
7. Slightly fewer socks are manufactured due to a small decrease in demand: Less plastic packaging material is manufactured to put the new socks in. Less energy is consumed to recycle the plastic packaging. Less cotton is grown. Less energy is consumed to grow and harvest the cotton. Less energy is consumed to make socks. Fewer waste byproducts are released into the environment. See #3 for the effects of conserving energy and resources.
8. You do fewer loads of laundry: This means that you use less water. See #3 for the effects of conserving water. Less energy is consumed to clean, transport, and store the water. Fewer waste byproducts are released into the environment. You spend less money on water. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
9. You use less electricity: Less coal or oil is burned to generate the electricity. See #3 for the effects of conserving resources. Fewer waste byproducts are released into the environment. You spend less money on your electric bill. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
10. You use less detergent: You drive to the store fewer times to buy detergent. See #1,4 for the effects of driving less. Less detergent gets into the environment, and you spend less money on detergent. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
11. Less wear and tear on your washing machine: This means that you can slightly postpone your purchase of a new washing machine at some point, and fewer parts will stop working and end up in the environment. You’ll take fewer trips to buy new parts. See #1,4 for the effects of driving less. In addition, you’ll save more money. See #2 for the effects of saving more money.
12. You don’t buy shoes as often: Less wear and tear on your shoes means that your shoes last longer. You buy fewer shoes. See #2 for the effects of saving more money. Fewer shoes end up in the environment. You drive to the shoe store fewer times. See #1,4 for the effects of driving less.
13. Ad Infinitum …