Here’s my typical day trying to reach the Riot for Austerity goals (more examples here). I’m at about 90% in all areas except water and electricity. I suspect that to get all the way down to 90% in these areas I’d have to have a different washing machine and water heater, or turn these off.
The alarm goes off at 5:00 AM. I pop out of bed because I’ve actually been awake for at least 30 minutes. First thing to do, feed the dogs and the cat and let the dogs out. Make myself my cappuccino with a stove top espresso pot, made with fair trade organic coffee and local organic milk from a glass bottle. I consider this one of my treats. Catch any water from rinsing pot and filling the pot for watering houseplants. Spend one hour on computer reading blogs (my substitution for magazines-which I love and am trying to give up).
Get dressed for work. I choose from clothing that I’ve made myself from organic cotton or hemp or refashioned from recycled clothing. A few items of clothing are also from thrift stores (jeans). I’m 7 months into a yearlong pledge to not buy new clothing. (Wardrobe Refashion). Next up, cleaning up. I use a cup while brushing my teeth to cut down on running water (even better than just turning the water off while brushing); I use soap and shampoo I’ve made myself. I don’t wash my hair everyday and I don’t do it while I shower-find I use less water that way). Gather what I need for work. Eat a little bit of a snack, usually some baked good that I’ve made on the weekend with local, bulk and/or organic ingredients. This week it was scones made with butter that I made and the buttermilk from the rinsing of the butter. Yum!
Walk Briar (my lab/basset mix and bed warmer) around the block with my new favorite toy, a flashlight that has a crank to wind for charging the battery. Has a LED light bulb and should last forever…. Bemoan the fact that I can’t come up with a better solution for the dog’s contribution to the garbage (which is about 90% of my garbage). I do use bags that will compost for scooping, but still put in trash. Haven’t found a good location to create my own dog compost pile in my garden as I grown fruits and vegetables in all parts of the garden and my garden is small.
Off to catch the bus (I know this isn't the best photo, I'm practicing my night time, dark, motion shots...). Most of the time I knit on the bus and visit with friends I’ve made. It takes me about 45 minutes to get to work.
Arrive at work. Spend next 8 hours caring for one year olds. This is a job that I love, although it is perhaps not the best choice when thinking about environmental impact. I’m working hard on finding ways to encourage better environmental practices at work, such as not sending wet clothes home in plastic bags (I’ve made reusable bags) and have found a lot of support for my efforts.
End of the day at work and I’m off to catch the bus. I try to walk at least 30 minutes of my commute each day, when there is more light and good weather I usually walk about 60 minutes of my commute. I have about a 3.5 mile commute (one way). I hope at some point to be comfortable biking most of the year, but I’m not very brave about riding in traffic.
Arrive home. Feed dogs and let them out. Change out of my drooled on clothing. I generally can’t wear something more than once to work due to the messy nature of one year olds, but I do conserve laundry by re-wearing clothing at home.
Fix myself dinner. Generally on the weekends I make a casserole, a soup or stew that I can eat a couple times during the week. I also make yogurt for the week, a baked good, and butter if I need it. I usually freeze one or two portions or anything that I make so that I can grab a serving for another night later on. Sometimes for dinner I cook up a little pasta and add an assortment of whatever is in the fridge that looks good. The last time I did this I added a touch of cream cheese (a splurge since it’s not local), some goats cheese, and some broccoli pesto. I usually add a salad made from whatever is in season or a piece of fruit. At this point I’m eating about a pound of meat a month (that's about 1/2 oz a day on average).
The next couple hours I spend reading, playing with the dogs and cat, working on altering my journal/making journal entries, working on a craft or writing project of some sort, or a little more time reading blogs/websites. I also listen to music for a bit. I’m also working on plans to try making a cob greenhouse and outdoor oven next summer. If it weren’t the darkest time of the year (dark at 5 PM here now) I’d be working in the garden.
I don’t have a television-just not something that has ever interested me-even in days when I wasn’t conserving energy. The computer really is my big electronic luxury. I watch the occasional movie on it, listen to my music, check the news and stay in touch with some of my friends. This is a whole other topic, but because of where I live, I actually think it is more valuable to have a computer than a car.
My daily electrical usage includes: lights, the computer, the stove, the hot water heater, a fan on the fireplace (when it’s on) and the refrigerator. I have a few other electrical appliances I use on an infrequent basis.
Today the heat hasn’t clicked on. I have a natural gas fireplace that is set so that it comes on when it’s about 45 degrees outside. This time of year my living room is generally both warm and cozy (if the fireplace has just cycled on) or just on the side of a little bit chilly-just enough that I’m comfortable wearing my favorite old ratty wool sweater. Generally the rest of my house is always on the slightly cool side, again this time of year I just put on a sweater and a pair of slippers and I’m good.
Because it is so dark right now, I’m burning candles made of beeswax more often. Something about the smell and the flicker of light gives me just enough emotional lift so that I don’t have to have a lot of lights on (oh so tempting this time of year)-just enough to see what I’m doing and not strain my eyes.
9:00 Time for nightly clean up and bed. I usually shower or take a bath at night. I don’t feel like a bath is too much of a splurge because I have a very small tub. Showers are very short. And then it’s time to curl up with my furry bed warmers, several wool blankets and quilts and get a good night’s sleep.