90 Percent Project - Week 16 & 17

Friday, 10:11 pm

By Kate

Sep

28

2007

Here’s my overdue Weekly Values update for the 90 Percent Project. Some good, some so-so, and a new thing or two.

Electricity
Week 16: 26 kWh
Week 17: 27 kWh

I must say, the trend line over the last couple of weeks has not been moving in the right direction.

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Gasoline purchased (for 1 person)
Week 16: 0 gallons
Week 17: 7.435 gallons

I noted that my previous gasoline receipt was dated August 23 and this past week’s gasoline purchase was on September 22. I squeezed a month out of 7.145 gallons. I’m pleased with that.

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Water (for 1 person)
Week 16: 74.81 gallons
Week 17: 67.329 gallons

Now I find myself beginning to think I should rationalize using only 9-10 gallons per day. It’s not much water, but I still manage to keep things clean around here. I can’t quite explain why week 15 was that much higher, though. I still did a small weekly load of wash these past two weeks. I am recycling water here like nobody’s business, though. Little seems to go down the drain unless it’s been used twice or three times. Routines and habits develop after a while and I don’t even have to think about it very often now.

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Natural Gas
Week 16: 4 cu ft
Week 17: 4 cu ft

I am bored with this constant 4 cu ft every week. I turned my water heater down another click. We’ll see if that makes any difference. I’d like to see something besides 4 cu ft next week.

I look forward to wood stove heating season. I’ll have a large pot of water on the stove at all times. Basically, free *really* hot water. As much as I could want. Although I seem to manage quite well without steaming hot water pouring out of the tap, a ready supply of really hot water would feel kind of extravagant and almost wicked.
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Trash (for 1 person)
Week 16: 3 lbs
Week 17: 16 lbs

Much closet cleaning and other cleaning this past week. I redirected as much as possible to the Salvation Army drop off, but there are some things that just aren’t suitable for giving away. For example, the six pairs of the lads old, stinky, and worn out track/running shoes. I have no idea why they were still in the closets. They aren’t now.

I also unloaded the bottled water cooler/heater and bread machine through Freecycle. There are a few other items over which I’m still debating with myself.

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Consumer Goods
Week 16: $2.50 - dog chews
Week 17: 20.00 - dog chews, 2 fabric storage baskets.

I surely must have the most boring consumer goods purchase list of anyone I know. Maybe I should make up my mind about a refrigerator or a freezer or both. Soon. I’ve been missing my freezer the past few weeks, now that harvests are rolling in.

One thing I noticed at the grocery store this week—the price of TP has gone through the roof. Even the cheap stuff isn’t cheap anymore. Since that product also has to go on my consumer goods list with the amount subtracted from my $1000 yearly allowance for this 90% project, I’m not of a mind to waste it on TP. New implementation in this house: cloth TP cut out of the lad’s old tee shirts. It’s not for everyone, though a number of the project participants have already gone that route, too. Over time, things change. What seemed undoable or unthinkable a couple of months ago, now....eh. 

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Food
Mostly farmer’s market, but did some shopping at the grocery. I’m finding more and more grocery store labels announcing that certain produce and products are locally made/grown. I’m not sure if that’s a new practice on the grocery store’s part or if I’m just noticing it because I’m tuned in to that now. It’s nice to find, anyway.