Water Reduction

Since I started the Riot for Austerity in July of last year, I have done almost everything to reduce my water usage. I now shower every third day instead of every day. I skip a flush (or two). My dishwasher now only runs about once a week (I have been reusing not so dirty plates and bowls) and I have my laundry down to roughly one load per week.

In the past I have been frustrated when the water bill arrived, since I didn’t think it adequately represented my use - in fact I was almost sure they were just guessing… no meter reading… just making up a number. After all, how many people actually scan their utility bills like all of us seem to do these days? A handful, maybe?

However, I received the most recent bill from the water company a few days ago, and am happy to report that my reduction efforts are finally showing up as a reduction on their love notice. This bill was for 88 days, and listed my usage for the period as 3,000 gallons, or 34.09 gallons per day. This is 5,800 gallons or 65.91% less than the average individual uses at 90 gallons per day. Finally my reduction efforts are starting to show!

I’m a far cry from the 90% reduction that was the goal, but I have reduced my usage from approximately 74 gallons per day (from the beginning of this challenge) to approximately 34 gallons per day.

Rollercoaster Paradise

Saturday and Sunday brought high winds to my part of the US - lots of trees knocked over and branches down. Thankfully, only one 22′ branch from one of my trees fell to the ground without hitting anything or anyone. The temp was down in the 40’s a big dive from the 70 degree weather of a few days before.

It was 70 degrees and the sun was shining on Monday when I took my visiting cousin to Forest Park - the large park in St. Louis City. I consider myself fortunate to live just outside of a city where the Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center and Zoo - all part of Forest Park - are free to enter and enjoy. We walked all around the park. We enjoyed the Grand Basin and watched folks paddling the boats under the bridge from where we stood. He is an athletic type and one of the only people I have met that can match my fast-paced walk.

Tuesday was rainy and not quite as warm, and tonight we are supposed to be getting another storm with high winds. So… is it too much to ask for two days in a row of beautiful weather? Two days for the ever rising grass to dry off so I can cut it without clogging my mower? Two days of sun to help my plants grow?

Focusing on the Good Stuff

It was suggested to me by Theresa at Pondering the Myriad Things that I should focus on what I have done and not what I haven’t. So, here goes:

I have been using baking soda as a facial scrub for the last three weeks - and I love it! My complexion has cleared up considerably (go figure) with the scrub - just baking soda with a little water, scrub for a minute then rinse, and with the olive oil moisturizer. Just with those two items I will save a total of approximately 12 plastic containers per year from going into the landfill. And, as I said, I think they do a better job on my face than the other stuff I was paying a chunk a money on.

I have been using baking soda as deodorant and think this also works better than the deodorant I bought in stick form (in plastic) from the store. I used the crystal at one time and it did nothing for me in the odor department, so went back to the commercial product. The one problem is that it does nothing about wetness - and so far this hasn’t been a huge problem. But with the heat of summer approaching this could be a problem. At the very least I can see myself using this during three seasons of the year - a potential savings of 5-8 plastic deodorant containers per year depending on the summer usage.

I have been a planting demon these past few weeks. Not only are the tomatoes I planted in February a great size, and have been replanted into larger containers (all will go into containers this year until I’m sure all the ivy has been killed off) but the cucumbers and zucchini plants are a nice size as well and have also been transferred to larger containers. The bell peppers still have not come up yet, but should (if they are going to) in the next week to 10 days. This weekend I planted from seeds: acorn squash, cantaloupe, beans, peas, cayenne pepper, pablano pepper, parsley, scallions, garlic chives, cilantro, and butternut squash from the seeds I saved from last years crop. Yes, these are all in pots on my back patio at the moment.

I have a potato to go in soon, just drying with the Comet on the cut edge as I was instructed by a friend. She she had heard a great tip for growing potatoes in pots. Get a large, tall pot, fill it with about a foot of soil and put the potato in. Cover and let grow… When there are two shoots coming out of the plant, cover the first shoot with soil, wait for another shoot to come out of the plan then cover the lower one. Continue this until you come to the top of the pot. Evidently each of these shoots has the capacity to produce potatoes. When the season is over, to harvest the potatoes, all you have to do is flip the pot over. Now, I’ve not tried this yet, but it sounds like an interesting way to get a large crop of potatoes in a small amount of space. I’ll let you all know how it works.

My Confession

Forgive me, for I have sinned. It has been forever since my last confession.

In the last two weeks I have:

• gone to a popular fast food place (MD) three times!
• thrown away two “milk” containers instead of recycling
• gone from baking soda toothpaste to the commercial stuff after only two weeks
• gone through at least three rolls of paper towels while trying to house train my new dog
• used large quantities of plastic bags while trying to house train my new dog
• driven more miles than the last two months combined
• haven’t done the no plastic challenge I said I would
• haven’t done the limited water challenge I said I would

Being the good recovering “C” that I am, I am awaiting my penance.

I liken the last two weeks to being sick. I was overly exhausted and pulled in way too many directions. And, in lieu of comfort food, I went to easy and self-centered. I am hoping this is about over.

So, what is my punishment? I’m looking for creativity.

R4A April Numbers

I have taken the Average Annual American Household (AAAH) figures (when those were the figures given) and divided by 12 for the numbers to beat.

ELECTRIC
The AAAH uses 917 units per month for electricity.

April: My March reading of 244 kwh was…
…down 73.39% (673 kwh) from the national average.

My ten-month electrical usage (for July-April) was 3,568 kwh. This is…
…down 62.16%, or 5,700 kwh from the national average
…down 42.51%, or 1,475 kwh from my own usage during the same months 12 months prior.

HOUSEHOLD GAS
The AAAH uses 83.33 per month for household gas.

April: 17.4 therms. This is down 79.12% from the national average, down 64.5 therms from the previous month and 38.2 therms less than my own usage last year.

Ten-Month Usage: My usage for July-April was 404.0 therms. This is down 429.3 therms, or 51.52% from the national average. This puts me at an average monthly therm usage of 40.40

AUTO GAS
The average person uses 41.67 gallons of gas per month for their car.

I put $35 in my car in the month of April. I’m going to guess the cost was about $3.35 at the time. That means I used 10.44 gallons in the month of April (probably a little more since I’m sure there was some in the tank when the month started.) The sad thing is I’ve probably already used that much since the beginning of May - but that is another story.

I don’t have 10-month figures because I haven’t kept very good records of my gas fill-ups.

I’m Back…

Wow, a hugely busy week, with a friend unexpectedly going into the hospital with an ailment that left her confused and in a world other than this one. The cause of this illness is not known, but she is doing better and is more herself (and napkins are no longer keys to let her escape out of the locked doors.)

I ended up going through a bit of exhaustion dealing with the events of the friend in the hospital and talking to her many, many friends and keeping folks filled in on her condition. After a few days I passed this responsibility on, but was too tired to deal with the limited water, no plastic challenge. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I back-slid on my usual environmental practices.

Also, a friend came to visit during all of this - a very welcome and expected visit. She is the sister of a very dear friend of mine who died three years ago. He left me and our other very good friends his sister. She is wonderful, the PERFECT house guest, and a kick to be around. Her visits are never long enough!

In the middle of all of this, I got a chance to meet and speak with the newly enthroned Arch Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan - an area that includes our companion dioceses. He was a lovely individual as was his wife. I was fortunate to speak with him at a small reception at the home of my rector, who has, herself, been to the Sudan.
Like I said - a busy week!

Who is this Cruchy Woman?

Like many out there, friends know that I am perhaps, a little more environmentally aware than many, but not many know to what extent I go sometimes.

This afternoon after church I went to lunch with a few friends. One of my buds said “I read your blog yesterday…” (oh, oh, here it comes) “and I want to know who is this Crunchy Woman and how did she become leader of you and your enviro-wacko friends?” Well, I explained, Crunchy Chicken doesn’t make rules, she just challenges us to live up to what we say we believe. She’s not the leader, but a well-respected eco-blogger. And, hey, if I wanted to make up a challenge, I suppose I could as well, lots of folks seem to be offering challenges these days. I believe there was also a comment about the boob ball (grocery bag in a ball) that I won from Crunchy - which is a little humorous, since I really don’t need anymore boobs (but can’t wait to get the bag!)

Now, in all honesty, this friend will often walk the four miles to a part-time gig downtown. He shops heavily at the farmers market, and is a pretty environmentally friendly guy himself… I guess he just doesn’t consider himself a “wacko” - whatever that means.

By the time we had walked the eight blocks to our lunch destination and eight blocks back, I had talked to the group about wanting to make soy milk, asked where I could purchase cheese cloth (actually I asked them if this was something you get at a fabric store or a hardware store), discussed the many uses of baking soda, and the trials of finding items not packaged in plastic. At the end, one of the group suggested we stop at the health food store in the area and pick up soy beans, which we did, and on the way out I was asked if it was ok to eat something in plastic if someone else bought it… well it’s not May yet, so I enjoyed some dark chocolate covered cranberries.

The enviro closet… yet another closet I’ve come out of.

Saturday

It is another beautiful day here in St. Louis. The sun is shining, the grass is green, the temp is in the mid-60’s and so many flowering trees are in full bloom.

I spent several hours this morning tearing decorative and poison ivy roots out from the area around my back patio. My goal is to put my garden in pots on the patio. Next year, once I’m sure all the ivy is gone, I may plant veggies directly into the wonderful soil.

I also hung a load of clean laundry out on the line to dry. The weather is beautiful today, and has been for a few weeks, but it is supposed to get cold this evening, colder tomorrow, and there is the possibility of snow on Sunday late afternoon. So, all the plants I drug from in the house will have to come back in for a few days. I don’t think I’ll worry about getting every plant a “window seat,” rather just a warmer place to hang out for a few days.

The baking soda from yesterday’s deodorant application is still going strong.

Preparing

I have decided to incorporate a few of the easier things into my routine before the actual May Eco Throwdown begins where I limit my water and give up all things in throw-away plastic.

I have started brushing my teeth with baking soda. I shaved my legs this morning and put olive oil on them instead of lotion. I put on the baking soda and corn starch on my pits. I used baking soda for a facial scrub (I read that somewhere recently), and put olive oil on my face. Here are the results so far:

Baking soda instead of tooth paste - not too bad. My mouth actually feels “fresher.”

The olive oil makes my legs very smooth, but I smell a little like an Italian Restaurant, and I’m not sure how much good it is doing, since my dog thinks my legs taste great and has licked almost all of the olive oil off them.

The cornstarch and baking soda on my pits didn’t work so well… I made a huge mess all over myself. I think I’d do better to “dust” than get the bs&cs mixture wet and spread it. However, I just got in from strenuously mowing the front lawn before the rain came, and when I did a private “sniff” test, I still smelled fine. I’m wet, but smell fine.

The baking soda facial scrub felt great! I finished up with olive oil, and my dog has not had a chance to lick that all off, and it feel great, too.

I used my regular shampoo, because, well I’m nervous about the baking soda non-shampoo, but will give it a go in May.

I also need to find an all-metal razer for shaving. I haven’t looked too hard, yet.

Didn’t get to the Restaurant Depot yesterday to see about soy beans, but will get there soon.

One Week To Go…

Crunchy’s newest challenge, the Ultimate Econ Throwdown, has got me in a tear. I’ve decided to limit my water use and no plastics. The water thing probably won’t start messing with me until I actually start. The no plastics thing is going to be a huge challenge… I didn’t think it would be, but EVERYTHING seems to come with plastic.

I went shopping last night and bought a few boxes (no plastic) of baking soda (yes, my house was probably the only house in America without baking soda in it.) I also purchased corn starch to mix with baking soda for deodorant (one option suggested a mixture - I thought I would try both ways), this was in a metal can with a plastic lid. I also purchased a small glass bottle of olive oil, which my mother tells me is great on the face and hands as a moisturizer, but the olive oil bottle has a plastic lid. Now my medicine cabinet looks more like it belongs in the kitchen than in the bathroom, and while it is not all non-plastic, it is a HUGE difference from a week ago when EVERYTHING in it, with the exception of the ceramic glass I keep my toothbrush in, was plastic.

Right now all I have in my medicine cabinet is baking soda, olive oil, corn starch, my toothbrush and my dental floss that comes in plastic. Does anyone have an idea for dental floss?

Honestly, I knew plastic was everywhere - but I didn’t realize how next to impossible it was to life without it. And while the challenge says “no halvsies,” I am going to live with the two plastic lids as a huge decrease from the original and not beat myself up over it.

Here are a few more issues I’ve encountered/discovered: My coffee filters come in plastic - and I am NOT prepared to give up coffee. Ideas?

I talked with someone in the meat department at my local grocery last night and asked if they had butcher paper in back. That I was going to try and go a month without using plastic. He said he thought they did, but to talk with the manager during the day. He seemed happy to check and wanted to be helpful. I don’t eat a lot of meat, and there is an actual butcher behind the counter a few miles down the road, but I am trying to limit driving, so if my regular store can accommodate it works for me!

I have discovered a video on u-tube that shows how to make bread from scratch pretty easily, and I was going to try that today, but don’t you know, I forgot to pick up yeast at the store yesterday. I’ll let you know how it goes. Yes, I need my bread, but as you all know, bread from your local grocery all comes in plastic.

Tomorrow I will find out how easy it is to get my hands on soy beans to make my own soy milk.