We have had mixed weather the last few days. There have been some sunny times, some windy times, and some rainy times. Some days like today have been a little bit of each. The rain and clouds really did a number on my solar energy production lately, and I am glad that I have grid power to use when this happens. I have used 5 KWh of grid energy over the last five days, and three of those were on Friday night and Saturday morning. I am still on track to beat my last years' October energy use if all goes well. It is my goal to constantly improve from one year to the next, and for the last two years, that has been the case every month. I must admit that it gets harder every year because the low-hanging fruit of easy energy savings has been picked.
I have been driving the Honda scooter much more lately. I put about 120 miles on it last week. That is only about 1.1 gallons of gas, but I like to use less if possible. I also drove the van to a party in Altamonte Springs with my friend Kenny. This 40 mile trip was respondible for about 36 pounds of CO2, and the Honda made about 22 pounds. I also car pooled with my friend Michael to Christmas for a group hike at the wetlands park there. That trip in his jeep probably made about 50 pounds of CO2.
The emissions from those three tailpipes are not the only things that made impacts this week. My food intake did some damage too. On Thursday evening, we went to O'boy's Bar-B-Que, and I had the pulled pork dinner. There was probably over a pound of the stuff on my plate, and I ate every bit. Sometimes, I just lack discipline! At least the food was served on reusable dished with real utensils. Only the 2 napkins went into the trash.
Friday night, I had a roast beef sub from subway. It was not a huge amount of meat, but there was the was paper wrapper, the napkin, and the plastic bag. Saturday was the Halloween party. There was a foam plate, a plastic cup, 2 napkins, and plastic utensils. I held back on any protest of this waste because my friends were gracious enough to invite me to an awesome party.
Last night, seven of us went to Pollo Tropical for dinner. The chicken and side items were all good, but the trash was ridiculous. Foam plates, plastic containers, plastic utensils, and plastic cups all over that table which all went into the trash. It is a shame that good, inexpensive food comes at such a cost to our environment.
Today, I sit here writing this blog entry at Panera Bread. So far, I have poured myself two cups of coffer, and used four sugar packets and a plastic knife. The real knives had not come back from the dishwasher, and a plastic one was already on my plate before I could stop it. I will rinse it off, wipe it down, and put it into my computer bag for a second use later.
I want to share my inspirations for writing this blog. I have previously mentioned my friends at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage who live the most sustainable lives of anyone I know. Click here to go to their website. They are not just trying to save our planet, but they also are some very nice people. I also have to credit a book titled "No Impact Man" by Colin Beavan. This is an interesting and humorous account of a New York City man who tries to make the smallest footprint possible. He also takes his wife and child along for the ride. This book taught me a lot about how the choices I make can influence the footprint I make.
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