90 Percent Project - Week 28

Alrighty then. It’s time for my weekly values for Week 28 (December 6-13, AM readings) of the 90 Percent Project.

Electricity
Week 28: 15 kWh used

Not bad at all considering the Christmas lights. It’s a matter of making some trade-offs. I briefly mentioned last week that I unplugged the refrigerator to make up for the lights. A number of people on the 90% list have also unplugged their fridges and I was kind of curious how that would work on a daily basis. Some people claim that they don’t need a fridge at all—ever—and have been fridge-free for years. I’m not there yet. Not sure if I will be. I’d say I’ll never be, but I tend to prove myself wrong repeatedly in these matters.

Nevertheless, for now, winter has offered free ice. I put out my ice containers in the late evening, bring in the already frozen ones, and put them in the cooler. Everything stays nice and cold. I’m not in the least inconvenienced by it and opening the cooler isn’t much different than opening the fridge door. Stuff is cold and that’s what matters. As long as nature provides the ice, I’ll continue doing this. When nature quits providing the ice, I’ll probably plug the fridge back in. For now, it works well for me.

Is unplugging the fridge a little extreme? Well, I’d have said so a few months ago. But, it’s interesting to learn what I really, really need and what I have gotten used to thinking I need. It’s also interesting to learn what actually needs refrigeration and what doesn’t. We over-refrigerate in our culture. I still think that I need some refrigeration, but I have concluded that it doesn’t matter whether it’s electrically provided or nature-provided—at least in terms of effectiveness. I do quite enjoy the benefits to my electric meter that taking advantage of nature provides.

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Gasoline purchased (for 1 person)
Week 28: 0 gallons

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Water (for 1 person)
Week 28: 97.253 gallons

A little better than last week.

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Natural Gas
Week 28: 3 CCF

Not sure why I bother to fight with the bushes to read this meter. Nothing changes.

May I just say that I detest my gas utility? On November 1, they raise the rates nearly double for the winter. It’s like we’re being held hostage to winter. It’s one thing to pay nearly double if we’re actually getting some appreciable benefit from the gas use (though still a reprehensible practice), but I’m not deriving much appreciation. My current bill is $36 for a couple of pilot lights and a water heater parked on the vacation setting. How vile is that?

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Trash (for 1 person)
Week 28: 2.7 lbs.

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Consumer Goods
Week 28: bigger than a breadbox

I bought some Christmas gifts and I’d better not say or a certain someone might put two and two together. ;)

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Food
Most food procured is still of local origin. Many fewer varieties of local vegetables now, but there are still plenty of Cucurbits and root vegetables available. They’re ideal for heavier winter meals. Next year I plan to grow a lot of tomatoes so I can preserve them in various forms. I’m going to have to buy non-local tomato sauces and canned tomatoes pretty soon. I am having tomato withdrawals.