I still think a lot of people think that the electricity that is put into bitcoin mining somehow "goes to waste".
The reality is that it serves a purpose, just like how energy put into facilitating transactions on networks like Visa or Mastercard serves a purpose. Without this energy input the bitcoin network would be unable to function.
Everything people don't use is by default a waste in their book. If they knew that it secures trillions worth of transactions on a yearly basis, they would look at Bitcoin differently for sure, but what really needs to happen for them to appreciate it, is to have banks implode in their face. Bitcoin then is the only asset left that's portable, divisible, easy to transfer, and gives them a peace of mind because they own it in full.
And I'd argue that it's much more "green" and has less of a ecological footprint than precious metals mining, which essentially fulfils the same monetary functions to a lesser degree.
Not only that, but in African countries people literally die from all the toxic waste that is being dumped in rivers and whatnot. It's sickening how no one gives a shit about what these people go through, and the actual environmental and economical damage Gold mining causes there.