Averages from the Riot for Austerity Site (see links)
Gas: The average US household uses 1,000 therms per year (average of 83.33 per month). I was at 8.2 therms, or down 90.16%. However, since this is during the summer and the real test will be during the winter, I figure to be down 90% in the winter I will have to go without heat, and I just don’t see that happening. I do have some logs from a large tree I fell – but not enough to heat the house for the winter.
Electric: The average American household uses 917 units per month for electricity (1,100 per year). My July bill of 308 was down:
* 66.41% from the national average.
* 36.23% compared to my own usage during this time last year.
I am hoping that this will decrease further with my next bill since I have started hanging clothes out on the line to dry instead of using a dryer.
Auto Gas: The average person uses 41.67 gallons of gas per month for their car. In July my regular usage was 14.328 gallons, and then 1/4 of the gas used on the vacation I took with three other people was 10.1 gallons, so my usage of:
* 24.428 gallons is a decrease of 41.38% from the average.
Trash: The average American produces 1,642.5 pounds of trash per year, or 31.58 pounds per week. A 90% reduction of this would be 3.15 pounds. I have not been weighing my trash, because I am pretty sure that the kitty litter alone weighs more than 3.15 pounds. I am down to one bag of trash per week after all my recycling and composting, so I feel pretty good about that. I have also found a place locally that takes misc. items (toilet paper rolls, milk containers, etc.) to be reused by teachers for art projects.
Food: Well, this is another story. I’m working on it, but have not been eating near as much local produce while it is in such great supply. I have been eating cucumbers off the plant in my kitchen garden, and it looks like I will have enough butternut squash to feed the neighborhood (I’m thinking about making soup to freeze for the winter). Does anyone have a good recipe for this?
