90 Percent Project - Week 2

Tuesday, 11:46 am

By Kate

Jun

19

2007

My weekly values for week two of the 90 Percent Project:

Electricity:
US Average: 11,000 kWh per household per year (avg. of 900 kWh per month, 211 kWh per week)
Week 2: 44kWh
The goal is 21-25 kWh per week.

Gasoline
US average: 500 gallons per person per year, 41.6 per month, 9.6 per week)
Week 2: 6 gallons (for 2 people)
My figures in this category are gallons purchased per week.

Water
US average: 100 gallons per person per day, 700 gallons per week)
Week 2: 221.43 gallons (for 2 people)
The goal would be 140 gallons per week for two people.

With the aid of a little reminder by the kitchen sink (pretend you just carried the water you’re using home from a mile away), it’s easier to think about second and third uses of water before it ends up going down the drain. My dish pan and bucket are two of the most used ‘appliances’ in the house. It requires a bit more organization, but becomes a natural way of doing things after a short time.

My water/sewer bill arrived this week. It represents 6 months of use and the metering period began a month after the lad left for school. It’s the lowest bill I’ve *ever* had. Water usage was 7106 gallons (about 38 gallons per day), which is still high. The next bill should reflect much, much less use.

Natural Gas
US Average: 1000 therms per household per year
Week 2: Don’t know yet.

Trash
US Weekly Average: 31.5 pounds per person per week, 4.5 pounds per person per day)
90% reduction would be .45 lbs per person per day, 3.15 lbs per person per week)
Week 2: 5 pounds (for two people)
The easiest way to manage this is to drag less stuff through the front door.

Consumer Goods
US Average: $10,000 spent annually on items like gifts, toys, music, books, magazines, newspapers, tools, household goods, cosmetics, toiletries, paper goods.
Week 2: Total: $11.99: $4.99 Genuine Martha Stewart stainless steel dish draining tray, $6.99 Genuine Martha Stewart dish drainer. (To go with the 11 quart MS dish pan. I’m relearning the zen of washing dishes by hand in approximately 3 gallons of water, total.)

Food: Most of it this past week was from the farmer’s market and using up what is in the pantry. No grocery shopping at the supermarket this week. Didn’t really need anything.

While some of these figures may seem rather extreme, I have to say that the impact on our lifestyle hasn’t been noticeable, at least in terms of quality. Retraining ourselves not to waste has been much more difficult. I am very curious to find out just how much of a reduction I can make before it begins to hurt a little. My guess is that I can still reduce quite a lot more in several places without any discernable difference in daily living. Mainly it’s a matter of being constantly aware, developing some new ways of thinking, and thinking before using.

Right now I’m in something of a quandary over refrigeration/freezing. Several months ago, I unplugged the large fridge (18 cu ft) in the kitchen after I determined it was using a ridiculous amount of electricity. With the lad gone most of the year, I don’t need a huge fridge. As an interim fix, I hauled the lad’s tiny 1.5 cu ft fridge down to the kitchen to use until I figured out what I wanted to do.

Interestingly, I discovered that being limited to that small size fridge entirely changed the way I shopped. And now...well, I don’t need a large fridge. Anything more than 3 cu ft is a huge waste for me. What I do miss, however, is a freezer. So...I’m still thinking about what I want to do—and somehow managing just fine the way things are, which seems to foster a certain amount of inertia on the subject. Part of that inertia stems from thoroughly enjoying the idea of using less than 1 kWh per day for refrigeration. That might not be as important to another person, but it *really* floats my boat, lemme tell you.