Electric Overload

and the problem with a disposable economy

Our thirteen-year-old daughter wants to use a blowdryer, but our off-grid solar power system cannot sustain it. As with all humans her age, she is beginning the pubescent process of separating her identity from her parents (Read: lots of arguing about making her own choices.) and forming her own unique identity. I remember this process in my own life as being a bit confusing. Deciding who I wanted to be and what I wanted to stand for was as daunting as determining who I would sit with on the bus. In 1986, I was in 7th grade and I journeyed away from pop music and into hard rock, specifically big hair bands that were playing on the radio. I loved Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Cinderella and Poison-- men who wore more make-up then I've ever worn in my life. I also wore my hair very big, as was the trend at that time. Extremely big. Like a tower of red bangs jutting out of my head. Of course, in order to create this hair monument, I needed a blowdryer (and lots and lots of hairspray). And I had a …