Turn Your Lights Down Low

Not my s'more: Flickr user Eric Dickman's (Creative Commons)

I ate two s'mores last night.  With dark Hersheys chocolate--caffeinated chocolate!  Hooray for the end of Consume Less Caffeine June!  That said, I haven't really jumped back on the caffeine wagon just yet.  I think it took the whole 30 days without a trace of it for me to finally feel normal without it, so I know caffeine has super powers over me.  I'm reluctant to let it waltz back into my life and take over control of my energy again.  So you'll just have to appreciate the little time we have together, caffeine, and stop bugging me for more.  Coffee, I mean YOU.

Meanwhile, Operation Consumption Liberation has moved into the month of reduced power and water usage.  Before I dive any further, please note the "reduced" in that last sentence.  Nope, this is not "consume NO power or water" month.  I am not going all "Little House on the Prairie," cooking all my meals over a fire, reading by candlelight, washing my dishes in rainwater and water pulled from my well.  

Reading by candlelight... Not so good on my eyes.

Instead, to reduce my consumption of these two things this month, I am taking many small actions that fit into my everyday life in a modern city, in the hopes that some of these actions can be sustainable long after July ends. Small action examples: 

• I will not blow dry my hair this month, unless I have a job interview.
• During daylight hours, only one light will be on in the room I'm currently occupying , and only if daylight does not suffice. (Clearly, lights in other unoccupied rooms will be off.)
• I will turn off the sink when I'm brushing my teeth.

In fact, I'm taking so many small actions to reduce my consumption of these two important things that I don't want to list them all in one gigantic blog post here and now. Instead, I'll be posting my way through my home, looking room by room at water and power consumption, and the practices I'm putting into place this month to reduce waste.  Mind you, I will be observing all practices for all rooms all month long!

Because I live in a mother-in-law apartment, with my water and electric included in rent, I realized at the beginning of the year that it would be difficult to quantify my reduced consumption in July.  Therefore, last month, I tried to appraise a few of my habits around the apartment by collecting data about my water and power usage. I should warn you that most of this data collection took place in the bathroom. Thus, in my next post (coming very soon), we'll begin our home tour of power and water usage in the bathroom! Cue the scary Psycho shower music....

I'd scream like Janet Leigh too, if I were you...

Because I like to add something to my month to counteract self-deprivation misery, I'm adding more time reading in my hammock to July.  I've been waiting for it all year long and the sun's been out and the patio is oh so peaceful!  

Happiness is a warm hammock.

As I write this, my hammock and A Clash of the Kings call me.  See ya!