Here in South Africa, the theme of the past month has literally been conserve or die, as power failures across the country are leading to forced energy-saving nationwide.

Things are getting interesting here, as every day the power goes out for at least 4 or 5 hours in most parts of the country. This is leaving Eskom, the corporation in charge of SA power, running in circles attempting to save energy.

This is also forcing South Africans to look at energy conservation in ways that most Americans cannot yet dream of.

 "Load shedding," or turning off the power in certain areas daily to balance out national power consumption, leaves major factories, mines and shops in the dark for much of the work-day. The economy is stumbling.

Traffic lights are often turned off during rush hour, so the evening commute is more chaotic than usual.

The major concern is 2010, when the FIFA World Cup comes to South Africa. The power crisis is not going to be solved any time soon, unless South Africans learn to conserve in massive ways.

Many companies are already taking matters into their own hands. "Green challenges" are popping up everywhere. Chambers of commerce are sponsoring contests to see which business can be the most eco-friendly, sparking many, many companies to change their ways.

In the PR firm I'm working at, we are printing our paper on both sides, turning off our lights all day, opening the windows instead of using the air-con and turning off our electronics when we don't need them.

South Africa is facing the stark reality of an energy crisis. It's just a small peek into the rest of the world's future.