Final Blog Assignment - A Summary of Energy Savings at Home

Basically, what I did was to make personal changes, mostly in my home environment, to save energy.  I did this for a number of reasons.  The first was to see what difference can one person make.  In other words, my personal goal was trying to reduce my personal energy consumption by 3 percent.  And if, in theory, all Americans could reduce their energy consumption by 3 percent, we would have less waste, need less oil and gas and other natural resources.  Needing less natural resources would make us less dependent on foreign countries for oil, and maybe that would reduce the need for wars and other types of conflicts that happen around the world.  Reducing energy consumption by 3 percent would also help the natural environment.  We, as consumers, would use less resources to make the goods we purchase.  By using less electricity and water, that also helps to save and protect the environment and reduces pollution.  If we all simply start by personally trying to make a difference, then the entire world is better off.  I like to think of it as starting small (bottom up model) and then if others do the same, it helps with the bigger problems that are hard to tackle starting at the top.
The first thing I did was to change every lightbulb in my house to an energy efficient light bulb.  My electric bill went down by $40 in one month.  That was almost a 30 percent reduction in energy use - and I saved money too.  I have no way to figure out how much less pollution was made because I used less electricity and I have no way to know how much less fuels were burned to make the electricity, but I know it was less and it made a difference. 
One of the other things I changed was washing clothes in cold water instead of warm or hot water.  They actually came out just as clean.  Again, I used a lot less energy because I did not use hot water, but I have no way of knowing how much less energy.
I already owned all low consumption appliances.  But those are easy to figure out.  A top loading washing machine uses 55 - 65 gallons of water per wash.  Most people do not know that fact.  A front loading washing machine uses between 8 - 13 gallons of water on average.  Water is a scarce resource in many areas of the world.  Using that much less water would make a huge impact.  When I first made the switch, my water bill went down by $300 per year.
I also made other changes as well.  I ramped up my recycling activity.  I did recycle but got lazy when I was busy. I started to use my reuseable shopping bags again.  I do now know how much that saves - how much energy does it take to make a paper shopping bag or plastic shopping bag and then there is more trash.
I also bought an indoor composting container.  I haven't used it yet, but that is next on the list.  That will reduce my trash waste.  Here is a picture of the natural environment that should be protected.  It could end up being filled with trash and plastic waste.  Sounds funny but there are areas that are polluted.  This picture is not but it is worth saving and it can start simply at home.

Even though I recycle plastic water bottles, I am trying to use non-disposable bottles because it takes a lot of energy to make the plastic bottles and ship the plastic bottles and water all over the country.  Think about the trucks that have to ship goods around the country.  They use a lot of gas, diesel - energy and make pollution.  So there is a lot to think about in a plastic bottle of water.  Where does the plastic come from?  It comes from the natural environment, natural resources and then plastic is made.  The plant that makes the bottles burns fuels and pollutes the air to make the plastic bottles.  And then the shipping...
There are so many ways to reduce energy and simply not waste it without completely changing one's lifestyle.  Spread the word, try it on your own and see what difference one person can make.
I started this project out by deciding I would use less energy and teach my immediate family about it and then I changed to a 3 percent commitment to reduction because National Grib is making that a campaign.  They are trying to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.  More on that program can be found at Reduce by 3 percent.

 Here is my reflection: I really did enjoy trying to make a difference and seeing what one person can do to make a difference. You can read about it on my blog, but I do feel like my accomplishment of cutting energy consumption had an impact on the greater good. I may not see it, feel it, or hear it, but it did make a difference. I cut my energy consumption by quite a bit and originally I did not feel like I was a big consumer of energy in the first place. But it absolutely affects the greater good in a positive way. There is a little bit less waste created; there is less oil burned (both to make goods and ship them, but also less fossil fuels burned that make electricity) and by using less oil/fuel there is less pollution - and eventually if everyone reduced their use, there would be those great things that happen but also less dependency on foreign countries for their resources. The question/reflection about 'would you do something like this again' - I certainly will continue to do what I am doing. It is an ongoing thing and I feel like I can do a better job at it now. And, yes, I would have students create their own service learning project because if it is something that is important to them, a cause or concern, that is authentic and that they care deeply about, the service learning part will come easy and much can be learned from being in service to others or to the community or country at large. It certainly would take time to do it right, but it would be well worth it in the end. Looking forward to reading other blogs...