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It took me a long time to reach this point and/or frame of mind. I think it’s entirely possible that the sixteen-year-ago me would think the today me had gone totally around the bend. The sixteen-year-ago me might have seen some value in this project, but would not be prepared to actually...you know...try it. Too extreme, y’know? I think that sixteen-year-ago me was very similar to many people in the here and now.

It was around sixteen years ago that I purchased my first two compact fluorescent light bulbs. And I felt quite virtuous. I used cloth diapers on three little butts (foster kids). And boy did I feel virtuous as I looked longingly at disposable diapers. At the same time I was heavily involved in composting and organic gardening. I had smashing herb and vegetable gardens. On the other hand, our household electricity use was in the 1300-1500 kWh range every month. I contributed to the National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, and Nature Conservancy, while two televisions blasted in the house all day long and two or three loads of laundry went through the dryer daily and just about every light in the house (and a few outside, too) burned brightly. The very large house was always toasty in the winter through the the good auspices of cheap fuel oil and the hot water fairly boiled out of the taps.

In spite of my environmental awareness, I never quite made the connection between my energy use and the pollution going up my chimney or the belching coal power plants that were killing area lakes and forests with acid rain or filling our fish with mercury. I didn’t pay it much mind because electricity and fuel were really cheap in those days. It wasn’t on my radar. But, I was environmentally minded, you know. I cared about pollution and endangered animals and organic gardening and such.

Moving ahead a few years, the lad and I landed in this house. A very small house. Way less than half the size of our previous house. It was a conscious choice to purchase a small house. It didn’t have anything to do with energy or the environment. I just felt that it would be prudent to live well beneath our means since the future was uncertain. That turned out to be a very good choice.

Still, I learned quickly that our utility bills were rather high. It had nothing to do with saving energy for energy’s sake. It was a financial matter. I started whacking away, somewhat half-heartedly, at our electricity use and eventually purchased a high quality wood stove. But, there were still two computers and monitors in the house that were on 24/7. Televisions, too. Maybe I assumed that they were using free electricity? But I did unload my beloved SUV for my current miniature car. Gas prices started rising around 2000 and I saw that handwriting on the wall. Again, it was a solid choice, made for financial reasons, not entirely environmental ones.

So, now let’s move ahead to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. That is when I truly got scared and truly energy aware. I started reading The Oil Drum. It’s blog run by a bunch of very smart and well-educated people who, in one fashion or another, are involved in, related to, or have wide connections with people in the oil business. Back in 2005, not all that long ago—though seemingly eons ago—they were already beating the Peak Oil drum, warning that the largest oil fields in the world were starting to fall in production while these exporting countries were using more of their product and exporting less of their diminishing product—with further warnings that we were looking at some dire times ahead. And we’d better start doing something about it. Conserving would be an ideal place to start in order to buy time for us to get our little duckies lined up in a row.

For the most part, they were ignored and even inspired a good deal of ridicule for being doomers. You know...TEOTWAWKI! The End of the World as We Know It!! OMG!!! Snort.

After several months of following their well documented evidence and logic, I took them seriously. And what do you know...in the last year, the stats are too telling to ignore anymore and now Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN (among others) have started talking about it as a reality, not a crack-pot idea. Even the government’s reports are warning of serious consequences occurring within the next three to five years (George Bush isn’t part of that government, silly!). And that’s if nothing untoward happens in the interim—like another major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or an attack on Iran.

I decided that it was time to trim my sails significantly.

For one thing, I felt, using less was the moral thing to do. By what right do I get to use more than my fair share when poorer, less developed parts of the world are already suffering shortages and don’t have the means to compete in a high energy-cost world? For another thing, it occurred to me that learning to live on way less was a matter of self-interest and preservation. I’d rather learn now than later when resources are prohibitively expensive or rationed.

I did pretty well, I thought, in cutting back on energy use. I replaced every last light bulb in the house with CFLs. I started shutting things off that weren’t in use. Our utility bills dropped significantly. I used much less gasoline. I was pleased.

Then enter global warming. New incentive for cutting back more. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again more seriously, I don’t find the idea of the ocean lapping at my front steps particularly appealing. Nor do I find the idea of massive food shortages owing to temperature extremes, droughts, and floods, brought on by increasing weather anomalies to be appealing, either.

This summer, I discovered the 90 Percent Project or Riot for Austerity, as the founders call it. Their idea of cutting consumption, across the board, by 90% of US national averages was fascinating, if shocking. The theory went, if other people could see a large group of average citizens in various countries cutting consumption by serious numbers without pain, maybe others would be more inspired to try. I’m not sure how well the ‘inspiring others’ part will work, but it’s worth a try. I’d never considered cutting that much out of my life. But I’d already made a good start, so I was much farther ahead than many who signed up for the challenge. Many of the members started from where I was sixteen years ago, and they’ve almost caught up with where I am now. That is unbelievably impressive. They are a better illustration of what life is like with a sudden cut in resource use.

The one thing that we all have in common is that we’ve discovered that slashing our resource use has not impinged on our sense of well-being or the quality of our lives.

To the contrary, we’ve discovered, and to the surprise of many, our lifestyles have improved in several ways.

Now, I know that this is hard for many people to comprehend. In this country, at least, I believe there is a false equivalency between life style and stuff. The more (and expensive) stuff you have to show, the better your place in the social hierarchy...therefore, better lifestyle and sense of well-being.

But the question is, I believe, what makes a quality life. What is necessary for a good life? A comfortable life? A less stressful life? It’s scary to give stuff up. Giving stuff up traditionally means not living as high a quality of life. Stuff adds quality to life, after all. And what will people think if we don’t have all that stuff?

I don’t believe that’s an exaggeration. I well recall, one of the ex’s former bosses notifying him that his small energy efficient vehicle was not suitable nor did it afford the proper image for his title (or the corporation, I suspect). It was not a suggestion. Image is everything, dontcha know.

My life, during this 90 Percent Project has not necessarily been all about giving up stuff, though I’ve given up a lot of stuff that just didn’t matter that much. It has also been about making more energy efficient swaps...replacing things with much more energy efficient appliances or no appliance at all (think clothesline). And, for example, giving up bottled water and the water cooler for a water filter and a small stainless steel bottle to carry my filtered water in when I’m away from home. My filtered water is probably healthier for me than bottled water. And no plastics chemicals to leach into my water.

That choice was prompted after our last large nor’easter, which really chewed up the coast. The morning after, I went out to survey the damage and came across the local soccer field, by the waterfront, that was literally (I mean literally) covered from end to end and outwards across the parking lots to the waterfront, three layers deep, with plastic bottles. I suppose they were dredged up by the roiling waves during the storm and deposited on land. Where on earth did they all come from? And if there were that many in that location, how many billions more are scattered across the rest of the earth? I have, since then, realized that the image stuck with me as one of the most horrifying, environmentally awful things I’ve ever seen. It just shocked the socks off me and still does.

I think one of my main examples of chucking the misplaced ‘quality of lifestyle’ perception, was unplugging the large electricity guzzling refrigerator/freezer and using a small 1.5 cubic foot refrigerator instead. It took a long time before that idea occurred to me and I knew if people walked into my kitchen and saw that, they’d think I’d flipped my lid completely. I really debated that for quite a while. The perception of ‘normal’ seemed so important. It is not quite American to walk into a kitchen and not see at least a standard sized refrigerator. But, you know, it made sense to let it go. For one person, I don’t need much refrigerator space. What is the point of spending nearly $40 a month on 18 cubic foot refrigeration costs for what easily fits in a 1.5 cubic foot refrigerator? Just to maintain someone else’s perception of me not being a fringe loony or heaven forbid, not middle class enough? How does that make sense? My refrigeration costs, currently, run around $2.55 per month. Now that makes sense. I still have cold food and eat quite well. And part of that derives from the local food condition in the 90 Percent rules. I haven’t eaten this well (nutritionally) in ages.

And, of course, since the advent of this project, I’ve saved a lot of money. My savings account has seen rather a nice boost over the past four months. I’ve discovered that shopping is more of a past time/entertainment venue than a need. This project forces me to account for every penny spent and it was apparent early on that much of my spending was recreational and impulse driven. The fact is, I don’t need more stuff to make me happy. I need less stuff. The result is more money in the bank and less junk to worry about (or insure).

I now maintain two lists: WANT and NEED. The needs list has priority. Anything on my want list has to remain there for a couple of months. If, at the end of a few months, it is still important enough to stay on the list, then it’s not an impulse of the moment and it is important to me. That has cut down considerably on my impulse spending. My NEEDS list includes such unsexy items as a tube of caulk, insulated curtains, a super efficient (and small) chest freezer, pressure cooker, an enameled cast iron dutch oven for the wood stove, a well-insulated electronic ignition gas stove (no pilot lights!!), and a high quality carpet sweeper (non-electric). For example.

The one area of the project where I am having difficulty is water use. No matter how you cut it, 10 gallons a day is restrictive. I manage to do it and I maintain a clean house, body, and clothing, but it’s hard. I haven’t squared myself with it yet and I still cheat every couple of weeks. While recycling water for various uses around the house has gotten to be habit, it’s still quite restrictive. And let’s face it, the 2 minute Navy Shower is a pain in the neck. It gets me nice and clean, but I realllly like hot marathon showers. Okay, so maybe I could compromise with a marathon hot shower once in a while. Except, I don’t have really hot water.

Still, in the scheme of things...that hasn’t impacted negatively on my lifestyle. It’s a minor annoyance, but it doesn’t diminish my quality of life as much as I’d like to convince myself that it does. That is a matter of want over need, I think. And unimportant, overall.

My quality of life has changed a little from what it was a year ago. It has improved. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of the chaff, while the important stuff remains. Yes, it is amazing how much we can waste while convincing ourselves that we NEED it. In my opinion (and experience) life gains quality as the chaff is excised. That’s not an easy thing to convince people of, but I don’t think I started from a largely different place than where most people are at in this country.

Some of my motivations might be different, but the process of getting to where I am isn’t any different. Getting over the fear of giving stuff up is the largest hurdle, I think. I had some real hang-wringing moments last autumn when I wondered what on earth I’d do with myself if I turned the computer off early and disconnected the TV cable. But, really, I haven’t given much up. I just use less of what I have. And I’ve gained in the process.

I’ve found that, in keeping things turned off, or restricting the use of certain items (computer and television (DVDs) for example), I gain time to do other things. I have read many more books in the past four months than in the previous two years. I write more. I have once again started doing my needlework during some evenings while listening to NPR or BBC news programming on my portable wind-up radio. An evening like that costs me exactly 23 watts per hour in lighting. Pretty inexpensive for the return it gives me.

I’ve spent a few evenings playing Scrabble with a friend who is similarly trying to cut back on her electricity use. Doesn’t take much energy to light a Scrabble board. For the cost of that lighting, we get a lot of enjoyment. Rather more interactive than sitting in front of the tube watching a movie together.

My overall goal in this project was/is to learn how to use very few resources while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle. And that has happened in increments as I’ve learned to swap one thing for another or reach the point where I feel comfortable with letting something go that has ceased to be important...and probably, never really was (cable TV). I truly am not into asceticism, though I’ll dip my toes in that pond in some cases. Water use for example. And, on those cold evenings before wood stove season (announced when all the neighbors have their windows closed and the air conditioner units removed from their windows), I am quite apt to plonk a hat on my head rather than turn on the furnace. That is a little unusual, I suppose, but it works. It only took me sixteen years to get this far, so I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m a shining example, but there you have it.

The real heroes, in my view, are the members of the project, with families, who have managed, in four months, to cut electricity use from 1200 kWh per month to 200 kWh without feeling as though they’ve deprived themselves of anything...in fact, finding creative alternative methods for getting the same stuff done with less and gaining relaxed time with family and community involvement into the bargain. We waste far more than we realize. I don’t think we realize the cost that waste exacts on us in everyday quality of life, either in terms of time or money. I think we tend to rely on ‘things’ to amuse and/or validate us rather than hobbies, community contribution, reading, learning, or people. It’s liberating to let stuff go. And it does provide some feeling of security knowing that we’ll be a little more equipped to weather the future shortages, which may well be a lot closer than we’d like.

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