When I was growing up in Mexico City my father and mother always told me not to keep the faucet running because wasting water was bad. Then they told me not to throw things away because some day I can reuse them. I saved cans, jars, bottles, bags, and was very careful not to leave the faucet running while washing dishes or shaving. And, of course, you would not dream of leaving the lights on when nobody was in a room. That was such a waste of electricity.
Perhaps we were so thrifty because that was the economical thing to do at the time. But we were also frugal because resources were scarce and we did not want to waste them. For example we did not have all the water we needed. They would sometimes cut it systematically at different times during the day. Electricity was a similar problem.
I have noticed that Hispanics coming from Latin America, similar to my youth case, are also frugal with resources even if they have money to buy what they need. I have been curious to know if it is a general phenomenon that Latinos are more concerned with the environment than others.
Read the entire article at the blog of Dr. Felipe Korzenny.