Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Switch is OPB's series on energy in the Northwest, where it comes from and how new sources and new technology can help make our energy mosaic greener.

When you flip the switch, where does your power come from? And what will power Northwest homes and businesses in the future? We're asking these questions and more for our special series The Switch.

Today, we'll hear more about how conservation on an individual level - the choices we make at home - can fit into an overall energy strategy.

For more on that idea, we hear from Loren Lutzenhiser.  He's a sociologist and a professor of Urban Studies at Portland State University.

Lutzenhiser says consumers are not intrinsically wasteful and they want to conserve, but there are barriers.