Today was all about reducing my electrical consumption. To be honest, this was one of the easiest of my challenges. Here are some of the things I did:
-showered in the dark
-kept the lights off at work all day. I work for a hydro company and one employee came in and jokingly said to me, “What are you trying to do – put me out of a job? Turn your lights on!” I didn’t though.
-didn’t turn on the space heater in my office, which is a normal practice for me since my workspace is pretty cold. Instead I wore a warm sweater and when I got too cold I threw my down coat over my shoulders.
-At a no-cook meal for dinner
-didn’t turn the TV on
-only had the home computer on to post yesterday’s recap
-read by candlelight and flashlight
-took a bath by candlelight last night
The things I am not willing to give up: my two freezers, which contain a large portion of our food for the year; my oven and cooktop, my refrigerator, my hot water heater and my washing machine. I could happily do without lights, the TV (but only after I’ve finished watching all five seasons of the HBO series Six Feet Under, which I recently discovered and have become addicted to), and some of the other electrical gadgets around the house. I would miss my computer and dryer but could get by without them.
In other areas:
Garbage: no garbage yesterday!
Shopping: bought hair conditioner and skin cream, and bread from the local bakery
Local eating: breakfast was vegetable cutlets using veggies from my local dinner the night before, lunch was more leftovers (again all local except for the green beans) and dinner was just bread from the bakery and home made tzatziki (I was just too tired to cook anything and I really wasn’t hungry).
Transportation: carpooled to and from work, walked to dance, and caught a ride home with Joe who said he had to ‘run out to get some milk’. Really I think he just felt sorry for me. Transportation continues to be one of the biggest challenges for me. That and local eating.
Today it’s reducing my water consumption. I do love my long showers and baths, so we’ll see what happens.
taibhsearachd 
Love your ‘punny’ title!
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Transportation is a huge issue in Whitehorse. I guess because we all want to be surrounded by greenspace — the neighbourhoods are in little pockets everywhere and public transit isn’t convenient if you’re not simply heading downtown and back. Being without a car anywhere other than downtown Whitehorse is a huge challenge, at least when biking season is over.
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(Oh, and even then. I am not strong enough to tow both kids up 2-Mile Hill behind the bike. Although I guess if I had to do it all the time… I’d get strong enough. :P)
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My dear friend Joanne, bikes everywhere in town. She is amazing, she lives up the hill too. Once i walked home with her from her work. We walked because i did not have my bike with me, she with her bike in hand. It took us way more than an hour,i forgot because it didn’t matter, it maybe was 2 hours and why not! it was great,truely.
Why the rush?
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