A Riot Iz An Ungly Ting...

...undt, I tink, that it is chust about time ve had vun.

That's a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies, Young Frankenstein. You gotta love a good Mel Brooks flick and how can you possibly miss with a cast of comediens like Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman and Terri Garr? You can't. If you've never seen the movie, go grab a copy at Blockbuster or the Library and watch it this weekend. I promise you will pee your pants. I just peed a little thinking about it.

Moving on.

It's been a while since I updated my Riot numbers and I like to keep them posted, if for no other reason, than to make sure I look at them. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about (and that happens a LOT. Probably more often than it should, in fact), then you can learn about the Riot for Austerity here. If you're too lazy to click the link, I'll recap:

The Riot for Austerity is a group of eco-minded folks who are attempting to reduce their emissions to 90% of what the Average American uses. It is, to say the least, a daunting task, but it has helped me to stay focused on my sustainability goals, as both the Yahoo Group and the R4A Website have oodles of encouraging folks and helpful information. The Riot breaks down our emissions into seven categories: Gasoline, Electricity, Heating Gas, Garbage, Water, Consumer Goods and Food. My personal numbers are based on a family of four.

So, without further ado, as there's been a lot of pre-ado already, here are my numbers for the month of May 2008:

Gasoline: 28 Gallons - 17% of the Average American
Electricity: 434 kWh - 12% of the Average American
Hot Water/Heating Gas: 15 Ccf - 18% of the Average American
Garbage (excludes my recycling): 10 pounds - 8% of the Average American
Water: 4 Ccf - 25% of the Average American
Consumer Goods: $485 - 58% of the Average American
Food: 50% Local / 25% Dry Bulk / 25% Other

But here's what I've really been waiting to see... how my numbers compare with myself. Not my other personality (shut up / no YOU shut up), but the oblivious me of one year ago and the new and enlightened me of now. Let's take a peek:

Gasoline - Down 43% from last year
Electricity - Down 45% from last year
Heating / HW Gas - Down 12% from last year
Garbage - Down 40% from last year
Water - Down 70% from last year
Consumer Goods - Down 50% from last year
Food - Eating much more locally and lovin' every minute of it!

Wow. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I've come a long way, baby. There's definitely room for improvement, but those numbers aren't too shabby for someone who lives in the 'burbs with two toddlers and a hubby, none of whom are actively pursuing a greener lifestyle. So all the reductions you see are the result of one woman who simply decided that she wanted to try to be a little kinder to the environment, and have a little fun along the way.

I'd say that's worthy of a little celebration. Let's go huv a yittle sponge cake undt some vine...

Inchworm, Inchworm

Measure Me A Miracle

So you all know that I joined the Riot for Austerity back in September of last year. For those of you who don't know about the R4A, It is a group of ecologically-minded folks who are attempting to reduce their emissions to 90% of what the Average American uses. It is, to say the least, a daunting task, but it has helped me to stay focused on my sustainability goals, as both the Yahoo Group and the R4A Website have oodles of encouraging folks and helpful information.

Anyswaze, one of the members of the group, Christine, has decided to write a book on the subject. She asked for volunteers who would be willing to speak with her about the challenge and I raised my hand without even thinking. Wish I had. Because, of course, Christine wanted to know my actual numbers. Had I reached the 90% mark? Was I even close? Crap, I thought, I'm gonna be the Biggest Loser of the R4A group. Once again proving that, if nothing else, I can be used as a bad example.

Well, it turns out my numbers aren't as bad as I thought. The R4A breaks your emissions down into seven separate categories: Gasoline, Electricity, Heating/Cooking Gas, Garbage, Water, Consumer Goods and Food. Here's how I did:

Gasoline: 37% of what the Average American uses. Ugh. This is exactly the same percentage I was at one year ago. However, last year Ethan was going to preschool three days a week, at a school one mile down the road. This year he goes four days a week to a preschool 10 miles away. So obviously I have managed to cut out some frivolous driving somewhere. This number should definitely improve when the kids go on summer break!

Electricity: 4% of what the Average American uses. Now before you think I'm typing by candlelight, you should know I get a 4:1 allowance on electricity because I get all my sparks from wind power (And You Can Too!). All I can say is that I couldn't be friggin happier about this number! Last year at this time I was at 23%. I just need to be careful during the summer not to go all crazy with the A/C.

Heating / Cooking Gas: 101% of what the Average American uses. :-( Very sad. Our heating system is so inefficient it makes me want to puke. Our thermostat is set at 65 day and 55 night, yet I still used 84 Ccf of gas last month. Grrrr. Still better than last February, though, when I was at 212%! Yikes!

Garbage: 8% of what the Average American produces. Rocktastic! How'd I get here? I choose my products (and their packaging) very, very carefully, I reduce, reuse, freecycle and recycle whatever I can, and I compost. Also? I just don't buy new shit much. My family of four produces one tall kitchen bag worth of trash each week. Last year? I was at 48%.

Water: 28% of what the Average American uses. That freakin' pre-rinse is killing me! ;-) That, and the fact that hubby loves nothing more than a long, hot shower every. single. morning. I'm working hard on this, but need to find more ways to save. I'm too close to give up now! Last year at this time I was at 31%, but peaked at 84% when I was using the irrigation system in the summer. You can bet your sweet ass that won't happen again!

Consumer Goods: 77% of what the Average American spends. This category is downright embarrassing. I looked at the amount of money we spent on pure crap last year and it was amazing. I didn't give myself the allotted allowance for buying used items (too hard for me to track) but still. That number is just way too high. Our numbers bounced up and down a lot last year, but our average for the past twelve months was actually 151% of the Average American. Maybe I need to re-read Affluenza.

Foods: This category is really difficult for me to track, so I'm just gonna say that I'm doing what I can to buy locally and start adding more "bulk bin food" to our diet. It's a slow process, especially this time of year, but joining the CSA, seeking out locally raised meats, and starting my own garden this year will definitely help.

Well there it is, folks. All my numbers laid out for the whole world to see. Not the greatest, but WAY better than where I was a year ago. Every change I make gets me a percentage point or two closer to my goal. I guess I need to keep making those changes, eh?