90 Percent project - Weeks 35, 36, and 37

Thursday, 7:44 pm

By Kate

Feb

14

2008

Catching up on my weekly values for Weeks 35 (January 25-31), 36 (February 1-7), and 37 (February 8-14) of the 90 Percent Project....

Electricity
Week 35: 21 kWh used
Week 36: 17 kWh used
Week 37: 13 kWh used

These last three weeks put me at or below the 90 Percent Project electricity reduction goals. To recap, the average American household uses 11,000 kWh annually or 900 kWh per month. A 90 percent reduction means using about 90kWh per month (about 21 kWh per week). This, of course, is easier when there is only one person in the house, but as you’ve probably noted over the last several months, I’ve still had to work at it a bit.

I have been somewhat remiss in posting my electricity graphs over the last few months. They’re as much for my benefit as anyone’s. I do like having them here for handy reference. I have been on something of a plateau for the last four months. I think there will be a sharp drop in the next month’s graph.

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

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Gasoline purchased
Week 35: 7.965 gallons (2 people sharing 15.93 gallons)
Week 36: 0 gallons
Week 37: 5.018 gallons

Week 35 involved the trip to Pennsylvania and back (taking the lad back to school). Gas mileage was superb at around 44 miles per gallon. That’s 1 mile per gallon more than my car is rated for. I’ll take it. I suspect that the 55 mph speed limits through a good part of New York state and Pennsylvania had a lot to do with it (along with inflated tires, fresh oil and filter changes and tune up). People were paying attention to the speed limits and it didn’t seem prudent to go blowing past them. The state troopers were hiding behind the bushes here and there.

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Water
Week 35: 231.91 gallons
Week 36: meter was swapped out for a new one. I didn’t get a reading.
Week 37: 86.89 gallons

What I discovered, thanks to the new water meter, is that my toilet leaks. I have kept the water to it turned off in between flushings this week. I think that is saving me at least 6 gallons of water a day. I let the toilet tank fill up once and then kept an eye on it to see just how fast it emptied out. It took less than a day for the water to completely disappear. That means I was losing at least 42 gallons per week. Over the course of a year, that’s roughly 2200 gallons. I wonder how many people will make the same discovery. The water utility was complaining about the town using less water (less revenue)...the new meters could conceivably cut use even more. Works for me, though. I may stand a chance of reaching the 90 Percent Project goals with water before the year is up.

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Natural Gas
Week 35: 3 CCF
Week 36: 3 CCF
Week 37: 3 CCF

I have been indulging in constant hot water for the past 3 weeks. Now that the furnace pilot light is out and saving a couple of CCFs per week, I felt a little reckless and kept the water heater turned on. It’s not turned on high, but there is constant hot-ish water available on demand. I think the indulgence is over for a while. I need to get usage down to 1 CCF per week.

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Trash
Week 35: 3 lbs.
Week 36: 3.4 lbs
Week 37: 2.8 lbs

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Consumer Goods
Week 35:  ?
Week 36:  ?
Week 37:  0

I didn’t keep track during weeks 35 and 36. I can guarantee that if any consumer goods were purchased, the dollar amounts came to very, very little. I’ve been on a spending moratorium and that makes my savings account happy and it makes my weekly trash very light.

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Food
Back to eating as locally as possible, with the exception of coffee and some salad greens. But those are at least organically grown. And fair trade with regard to the coffee. I will be glad when spring and summer arrive. The locally grown produce selection grows a bit thin at this time of year.