90 Percent Project - Week 13

And here are my values for Week 13 of the 90 Percent Project. Or, as the founders like to call it—The Riot for Austerity.

Electricity
Week 13: 27 kWh

My newest electric bill (a whole $31.04) was online this morning. I was a little surprised to see the month of August end up with 36 kWh less than July. Cool beans! I’ll take it. That puts me at 82% less than the national average. Onward and downward!

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Gasoline purchased (for 1 person)
Week 13: 7.145 gallons

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Water (for 1.5 people)
Week 13: 703.21 gallons

I’m not sure how to calculate this. The above values are for last week and this past week. One week there were two of us and then just me this week. I guess we’ll leave it as is and move onward. Looking forward to better values.

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Natural Gas
Week 13: 8 cu ft

This represents two weeks. I also bought 3 cords of wood which, according to 90% rules, counts as 20 therms each. Since I haven’t used them yet, I don’t suppose I need to add them into my weekly values yet. On the other hand, I have no idea how to measure a cord as it is used until the wood is gone. And I hope that I don’t have to use it all this year.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no way on earth that I can achieve the 90% reduction values in natural gas under current circumstances. My usage would have to be 100 therms per year and I’ve already used close to 60 therms since the beginning of June. Adding my 60 therms for wood, that already puts me over the limit with 9 months to go. And I haven’t even turned the furnace on, which I probably will a couple of times this season. It’s all hot water, pilot lights, and cooking (and not all that much of that, either.). My hot water heater is turned down as far as I can realistically turn it down and still call the water warm enough for a shower. It’s surely not hot water. I need to get rid of pilot lights, which are a gross waste of gas, IMHO.

I will have to reduce further in other areas to compensate, for now.

Also...I don’t quite understand how my utility converts cubic feet of gas into therms. The conversion value seems to change every month. It looks as if I’ve been slightly over converting my natural gas into therms. I think I’ll just stick with measuring cubic feet for the time being.

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Trash (for 1 person)
Week 13: 3 lbs

This included the skunked dog bed. That troubled me as it sat out by the curb waiting to be gingerly collected and tossed into the truck by the thumb and forefinger pick-up method. Dog beds make Terry a very happy doggy, but they do wear out or the unexpected occurs which ultimately puts them in the landfill. It’s back to blankets that can be washed and washed and washed and....

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Consumer Goods
Week 13: $0

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Food
Purchased some pasta this week. And 3 bags of coffee, which, though not local, were at least Fair Trade and organically grown. All other food from the farmer’s market.