That's why I said it's better in the long run. Problem is, what defines the beginning of the long run and can people handle the extra cost until that long run hits?
I don't think assigning sexist blame is going to do well to get people to change.
Assigning sexist blame gives the ability to distract from the real issue and coming up with a solution. It serves no real purpose and it also tends to follow an over generalization fallacy (more often then not).
In a society where we blow huge amounts of money on vanity, recreational toys, electronics, etc. maybe it's time to pay the piper for decades of ignoring the warning signs of our disposable lifestyle.
Our super efficiency dishwasher cost around $500, the washer and dryer were about $1,250 for the pair. In our area, a $100 plus water bill is pretty common and an average electric bill is even more. Ours are about $25 for water and less than $50 for electricity per month.
Our BOSCH dishwasher uses 3 gallons of water to clean our dishes with very little prerinsing. A typical dishwasher uses 10-15 gallons to do the same cycle load. A conventional clothes washer uses 25-30 gallons of water for a normal size load. Ours uses about 5 and it spins the clothes so well that they are barely damp when they go into the dryer. Other conservation minded appliances we have is a tankless water heater, 1.0 gallon per flush toilets, low flow shower heads, etc. We also turn our fridge to its lowest settings to keep our food fresh without overkill. We have what is called a recirculating pump for hot water. When it senses a demand it pumps hot water almost instantly to the open faucet. I don't understand the physics behind it, but you're not wasting 5 minutes worth of water waiting for the hot water to arrive. It cost $150, took an hour to install and the manufacturer information claims it will save a family of four 10,000 gallons of water and the energy trying to heat it per year. The thing probably paid for itself in less than the first six months.
These are all easy to do, not exorbitantly priced upgrades that make a huge difference. It's all about priorities. Want to keep kicking the can down the road for future generations to deal with, then EVERYTHING costs too much to do.
In Santa Fe, NM a city prone to drought, they created a fund paid for by the lodgers tax hotels and such pay every month which pays for the stocking and labor charges for every licensed plumber in town to carry at least one or more low flow toilets on their trucks at all times. Regardless of the reason for a housecall, if the plumber sees an old, wasteful or leaking toilet, they replace it with a new one and all costs are paid by the fund. Some of this stuff is a no brainer. Electric utilities have been giving away energy efficient light bulbs, etc. for years because its cheaper to do so, then build new power plants.
It's not sexist to point out who is buying the overwhelming majority of machismo, vanity related rigs that unless used for heavy construction and hauling, have little purpose other than to make men feel more manly and add a disproportionate amount of emissions. I don't see women being the primary demographic buying monster rigs, jacking them up, altering their emissions, rolling coal on "tree huggers" for "fun", etc. Nor are women buying the most tickets to auto racing events where one drives the big rig to an event with thousands of other dudes and sit and watch high powered cars with little or no emission controls drive in circles.
Some generalizations if true are appropriate unless its your ox being gored, then of course you'll be offended.
