Tell me why we aren't doing this again?

Paihia is a small community tucked into the bush-clad hillsides of the north island of New Zealand. I was amazed daily at the variety of ways that everyone here, no matter where they live conserves energy, fitting it into their daily routines. Take for instance the electric plugs. There is an on/off switch directly on the plug. If not using power, it’s off. No more feeding power to things when not in use. It’s so easy to do! (see photo)

Then every home outside of the city limits has it’s own bio-system. Your own water & sewage treatment plant. Easily incorporated into the environment and provides no need for septic tanks and gives back great fertilizer and grey water for plants and grasses. All very efficiently and easy as well. So tell me once again why we aren't doing these things?