Donella Meadows shared a story she heard from a researcher in Denmark. In 1973, they examined a suburban neighborhood of Amsterdam, where all the houses were very similar. Some of the houses had their electric meter in the basement. Others had the meter in the entrance hall, where residents couldn’t help but notice the power usage every time they entered or left their home. All other things being equal (and they were), the houses with visible meters used one-third less electricity than their neighbors.
