Project Get Off the Grid: Phase I
It’s really not that hard
My first resolution during this transition to a greener life is, simply enough, to use less energy. Our truly massive energy needs (in 2005, humans apparently consumed 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 J of energy), and the way we go about creating and using that energy, have been a significant cause of environmental damage and continue to be a serious threat to our environment’s short and long-term well-being. One of the greenest actions we can take is to consume less energy.
Although there are tons of ways to decrease energy use, I’m starting with the basics: turning off lights, appliances, computers, etc. – anything that uses electricity – when I don’t need them. And that’s not all. Many appliances, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, kitchen appliances, cell phones, etc., actually drain a small amount of electricity just by being plugged in, even when they’re, technically, switched “off”. With that in mind, I’m also resolving to unplug certain pieces of electronic equipment when I’m not actually using them, which, for now, will include my cell phone, blackberry, and laptop. I’ll unplug any of them when they’re fully charged, and I won’t keep them plugged in overnight. I’d include my alarm clock in this category, but showing up late to work won’t exactly strengthen my paper thin job security – thank you, credit crisis. I won’t be unplugging some items, like my TV, VCR, and DVD player, because accessing the plugs would require moving furniture, which would suck. In any case, I figure that’s a good starting point. Project Get Off the Grid: Phase I. Easy enough.
Although having certain electronic devices plugged in directly to your wall socket does drain energy, plugging these devices into a power strip and switching the strip’s switch to “off” will solve that problem. For now, since I don’t currently own a power strip, I’ll just stick to the current plan. Power strip has been added to my grocery list. Baby steps…
In order to really get a feel for the difference this small behavioral change can make, I’ll be comparing this period’s energy bill to my energy bill from the same period last year.
Now, this may not be a perfect comparison, considering many variables come into play, such as time of year and associated weather conditions (how hard my heating/cooling has to work), how often I’m actually home (my work hours were significantly worse at this time last year), my travel schedule, etc. However, I’m hoping it’ll at least give us a rough idea of what kind of impact such changes can have. I’m fairly certain it won’t be a huge one, because I’ve read lighting is apparently only about 10% of a typical home’s energy use and that’s the major change I’ll be making, but I’m still embarrassingly curious, and secretly (OK, not secretly anymore) hoping it makes a noticeable difference. Seeing a quantifiable difference (and quantifiable savings, something we all can relate to) on paper will probably give me a little motivation to stay in the habit of “disconnecting” (mind you, I am only “disconnecting” when there is absolutely no need to be “connected” – certainly not a difficult task).
Updates to come.
