Water Usage Report: July-August 2008

We just received our water bill for the two-month period ending in August 2008, and I am pleased to announce that we have reduced our water usage by 25% versus the prior year. Due to a drought, the local water utility (EBMUD) had imposed voluntary water restrictions whose primary effect would be to impose heavy fines on households not cutting back on their water usage by at least 20%.

For the record, our water usage during the period went from 400 gallons per day, down to 300. We achieved this in the following manner:

1) I reduced the watering of our lawn from 8 minutes down to 6 minutes per day, and completely eliminated watering the left-hand side of our backyard.

2) I only flush the toilet after Russell, Punky and I all pee in sequence.

3) I run the dishwasher only once a month.

4) I bathe only every other day (yeah, I know its gross). This now applies to everyone in our family.

5) Jenny no longer leaves the faucet running when she brushes her teeth.

6) I no longer wash the cars.

My thanks to everyone in our household for their cooperation.

I Bought A "New" TV (for $20)

We've been a one TV family since the beginning. Our TV is a 20-inch Mitsubishi that I bought back in 1989. I still have the original remote control, although the only numbers that still work are 0, 1, 4, 7 and 9. Luckily, the volume and channel up/down buttons still work.

On weeknights, Jenny can usually be found in the living room watching her favorite Chinese and Korean soap operas. With only one TV, this leaves Russell and Punky with the option of watching their favorite videos on either my computer or on the portable DVD player with a 7-inch screen. I'm in no mood to see the Brewster Boys break another computer or ruin their eyes staring at a 7-inch screen, so I broke down this weekend and bought a used 13-inch Panasonic TV/VCR combo.

Originally, I went to WalMart to see what they had on sale, and the lowest priced TV they offered was $250, an LCD model. They no longer sell CRT-type TVs. So I went shopping on Craigslist and found a nice used model for sale. Now, I need to buy a used Nintendo 64 and Pokemon Stadium game for the boys.

Cross-posted at my "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio" blog.

Recycling Bags Is Tough

I'm posting some thoughts on recycling bags because the same thing happens to us every week. Namely, we go shoppng and either forget to bring bags or do not have enough on hand. It is difficult to remember to bring shopping bags with us every time we go out shopping, especially when we take the kids out. I estimate that we bring enough bags with us about 80% of the time we go shopping.

As a result of our forgetfulness, we still acquire some 3-4 plastic bags every week. Although I use about 1 plastic bag a week for garbage, this means we have a net accumulation of about 100-150 plastic bags per year. Not good.

My favorite strategy to combat this bag shortage is to store a set of bags in each car at all times. Typically, this means checking once every few weeks to see that the bag supply in the car is ample. But the payoff is two-fold:

1) I get 3 to 10 cents off at the supermarket for every bag I recycle

2) Our house does not drown in shopping bags

How To Save $4.00

In the refrigerator at work, I found about 100 single serving packets of butter (about 500 grams) that are still fresh. These are leftovers from meetings over the past 6 months. I'm going to bring them home and use them. Otherwise, they would probably sit here for months unused.

Progress on Water and Gas Consumption

We just received our water and gas bills. For the 2 month period ending in June, we reduced our water consumption by 8% over last year. Good, but not great. Our water company has targeted a 20% reduction for every single family. We've cut back by quite a but, so I am actually suspicious that we may have a water leak somewhere. When we renovate our bathroom, I'll have the plumber check it out.

As for our gas bill, we cut it by 10%--down to $27 for the last month. Again, not bad, but I want to save even more money. It's all about saving money!

The Importance of Being Earnest

When we rented a car from the Oakland Airport Hertz a couple of weeks ago, I faced the dilemna of dropping off the car and getting home without having Jenny follow me and then driving me home. I wanted to be able to let Jenny stay at home with the kids while minimizing the time and cost of a trip home. A taxi ride home from Oakland Airport, for instance, would have set me back around $20 plus tip.

I decided to take only mass transit to get home. Here is what transpired (times are approximate):

0) Drop off Rental Car - 8:30PM
1) Rental Shuttle to Airport Terminal - 8:40PM (free)
2) AIR BART Bus to Coliseum Bart Station - 9:00PM ($3)
3) BART from Coliseum to Fruitvale Station - 9:15PM ($1.50)
4) AC Transit Bus from Fruitvale to High Street - 9:30PM ($1.75)
5) Walk home - 9:35PM (free)

Thus, I was able to get home using mass transit at a cost of only $6.25 in a little over an hour without havng Jenny or a taxi drive me home.

Al Gore Uses 100 Times More Electricity Than Me

According to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (a conservative think-tank), Al Gore's average household electric bill is 17,768 KWH per month at an annual cost of $16,533. To add insult to injury, the Gore household's electric usage actually increased by 10% after they "went green". The details:

In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

“A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.”

In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month. In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household.

After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Al Gore is quite the energy hog. His Tennessee home uses at least 100 times more electricity than my modest home. Now that's a hypocrite!