Often times you’ll hear environmentalists, economists, ecologists, engineers, enthusiasts, eloquent orators and devious demagogues, talk about consumption. They write reports that state things like “the consumption of roundwood to meet the needs of U.S. customers (including fuelwood) increased from 19.1 billion cubic feet in 1997 to 20 billion cubic feet in 1999,” and “production of wood products, paper products, and fuelwood required an increase in roundwood harvest from U.S. forests of 1.4% per year from 1965 to 1994.”(1) Maybe you’ve heard the one about the U.S. military, which consumed 320 thousand barrels of oil per day in 2006, or in that same year, that the Department of Defense consumed 1100 trillion Btu of energy. For comparison, 1,000 Btu equals about the same amount of energy as is contained in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maybe that’s not a good comparison. How about, “Nigeria, with a population of more than 140 million, (thats nearly half of the U.S. pop.) consumes as much energy as the U.S. military.”(2) Or consider that the U.S. as a whole consumes 80 quadrillion Btu’s annually. (3) Anyway you slice it or spread it there seems to be an imbalance out there. Maybe a simple table would offer some insight:

Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:

(from http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp#fact25)

Here are just a few more from that website:

- 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.

- In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much.

- The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants.

- The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money.

- According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.” That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year.

How about some water and sanitation statistics?

- Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.

- 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometer (~1/2 mile), but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 litres (~5 gal.) per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 litres (~13 gal.) of water a day flushing toilets where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters (~158 gal.) a day.

- Close to half of all people in developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.

- A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.

- Of the 1.9 billion children in the developing world, 640 million are without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, and 270 million have no access to health services.

And we’re complaining about lack of universal health care in the United States? Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advocate for universal health care, but I’d like it to be truly universal. Meaning, if we look at the difference in wealth between the richest and poorest countries being 3 to 1 in 1820, and 72 to 1 in 1992, and the current state of the world; where the per capita income in 2006 in the U.S. was $36,276 (of course about 36 million Americans live below the poverty line which in 2003 was $18,810 for a family of four; $14,680 for a family of three; $12,015 for a family of two; and $9,393 for an individual) and compare that to about 3 billion people in the world who live on less than $2 a day (that’s $730 a year ), there is definitely a trend that we’re getting richer and they’re getting poorer. (For those of you who would like to know where this $2 a day value comes from “this figure is based on purchasing power parity (PPP), which basically suggests that prices of goods in countries tend to equate under floating exchange rates and therefore people would be able to purchase the same quantity of goods in any country for a given sum of money. That is, the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Hence if a poor person in a poor country living on a dollar a day moved to the U.S. with no changes to their income, they would still be living on a dollar a day.”) (4)

With that increasing wealth comes increasing consumption and a sense of entitlement to it. I understand that many of us are aware of these facts and can say to ourselves “I’m not part of that problem,” or “I don’t make a living wage, and I certainly don’t consume very much.” Well, the truth is, whether you drive a BMW, or ride your bicycle, or rock out to your IPod or prefer the quiet storm of a compelling novel from the public library, we are all part of a cultural and institutionalized dependence on consuming “resources,” or as some would rather call it: the life that supports ourselves, our planet, and the species we share it with.

We all, most of us I imagine, flush the toilet 2-3 times a day. That’s anywhere from 3-15 gallons depending on how old your toilet is. (5) If you have a low-flow shower head that spills out 1.5 gallons per minute and you take a 5 minute shower, that’s 7.5 gallons. Do you have a low-flow shower head? Do you take a 5 minute shower? Do the math. How much are you consuming each day? Where does that water go? If you live in San Francisco like most urban areas in the U.S., the water the escapes down your sink, shower, laundry, and gutter drain and flows into a very energy intensive waste water treatment facility. Considering most of that is just soapy water (and you do use biodegradable, aquatic and terrestrial safe soap don’t you?), couldn’t we find a better way to reuse it? Like the wastewater wetland facility in Arcata, CA and other places around the U.S. That’s not even talking about the water that falls on your roof and joins all the other storm water run-off throughout the city in our sewage system. Okay, so the water that runs down the streets into the drain probably needs some form of treatment because of the leaky motor oil dripping out of cars everyday. The EPA says “It has been estimated that every three weeks, more oil is deposited on driveways and streets in the United States than the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska.” (6) Yikes! But what about the water on your roof? Think about it. If you live in a house that is 40 feet by 25 feet (1,000 sq ft) and receive an average of 20 inches of rain each year (which is San Francisco’s average), thats over 12,000 gallons slipping off your roof, down the side of your house, and into the sewer [1,000 x (20in/12in) x 7.48 gal/cu ft]. Imagine what people in the developing world could do with that 32 gallons of clean water each day, while we just expend more money and energy to “treat” it once it enters our sewage system.

How about when you don’t want to bump into something in the dark? Do you light a torch, made of biomass you gathered, or do you flip a switch? Perhaps your energy comes from the sun via solar panels, but if you are like most in America, it comes from burning natural gas. If you live in Texas, or nearly 40% of the U.S., odds are, the energy that lights your nights comes from coal. (7)) Which is brought to you via mountain top removal mining and 2.5 billion tons of carbon emissions each year; and 150 new coal fired plants are permitted to be built across the country. Aren’t you sick of smog? Doesn’t it seem unbelievable when you hear that in the U.S. alone, between 15,000-30,000 die each year from air pollution? (8) How often do you think about how much energy you consume each day to live in the United States? How often do you think of ways you can reduce that consumption through conservation or better yet, avoidance.

It’s not just your lights either. Think about it. You wake up in the morning, perhaps to an energy consuming alarm clock. You probably eat some form of breakfast whether you cook a meal in your energy consuming kitchen, or grab a cup of joe or food on the go that certainly burned a few Btu’s before it was served to you. That doesn’t take into account the energy that went into growing the food or coffee, transporting it a great distance (as well as the large labor teams driving dozens of miles to work the fields), packaging it in aluminum, cardboard, or plastic (often multiple times), refrigerating it (at a warehouse, in a delivery truck, in the store), and displaying it under well positioned electric lights for you to purchase it. Do you use any other appliances to get ready in the morning? Then how do you get where you’re going each day? Bicycle? Public transportation? Hybrid vehicle? Locally-reused biofuel vehicle? Compact car? Gas depleting SUV? How far is your commute? Do you listen to an IPod during the day? Or use a cell phone? Maybe you used an electric shaver in the morning. All these and many more appliances need to be plugged into the grid for a few hours of charging, but do you unplug it when it’s done, or do you leave it plugged in all night long, expiring more energy than little, mischievous gnomes steal socks from the laundry. If only we could blame the gnomes for increased and excessive consumption or our natural resources. Doesn’t it seem odd that everywhere you go, there is a computer on. Running. (Where is it going?) Whether you’re at school, or work, or in a public space, odds are there are many computers on, some are being used and many are not. Sure, computers have their power saving features but the phantom power that keeps your computer waiting for your to wake it up adds up during the day, week, month, and year. Just like your lunch and dinner and the energy it takes to prepare them, or have them prepared for you. When you get home, do you watch TV, listen to the radio, surf the internet, or engage in some other energy consumptive activity in or out of the home? Could you track a single day’s consumption? Would you lose count?
Okay, so you’re tired of statistics and mathematical computations. Well, I’m tired of being forced by our culture to consume and waste, all this water and energy. I wanted to see if it is possible to live with less. MUCH less. So on February 1st, 2008 I decided to move out. Out of my house that is, and into my backyard. I decided for the month of February or longer, I would walk the talk. I’ve talked to many people about consumption and conservation, but as much as I make sure to turn off every light I can, take the shortest showers, and only flush for number two, I’m still trapped in a systematic culture of use and abuse. I wanted to break free. I wanted to truly try to be as “sustainable” as possible. Well, as much as I could, living in San Francisco. When I started thinking more about this, I realized I wasn’t alone. There are over 3 billion people already living like this in the world. In fact worse than this. Most of them in the developing world, but truthfully, many in this United States as well, either on their on volition or because they fell through the proverbially cracks of see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil. Well I am going to live differently this month. For myself, as an experiment for how little I could live on; water, energy, food, material needs, and for solidarity with those around the world who are forced to live in poverty and subjugation.

This month, I am doing my best to live, consuming the least amount of energy possible for my daily existence; less than 5 gallons of water per day, and as close to $2 per day. I won’t use any electricity in my home, at night or in the day with the exception of charging my cell phone 1-2 hrs. a day (which is less than 25 watts total), and using my laptop for up to 6 hours a day (about 40 watts per hour) if necessary for school, work, or updating our website. While I can get my food consumption to below $2 a day, and have for nearly the last 10 days, it is impossible to exist in San Francisco on a complete budget of $60 a month. I’m not driving my car, but I bought a MUNI fast pass for $45 as well as riding my bicycle. PART 2 is an updated journal of my experience and details of how I am doing it, what I’m consuming, and what my shortcomings are. I don’t want to just make an interesting story to read; I’d like to make a difference. That is why I am asking you and anyone you know who consumes electricity or wastes water to pledge some amount of money each day that I continue this “living like the world”. I would like to raise money to help support a microlending organization, Village Hope Core in Africa. I’m hoping to raise $9,000. $7,500 would go directly to fund their microlending program (the organization itself does not extract any operating funds from this amount). $750 would go to the organization to help support their operating expenses, and $750 would go to ECOSF to help fund community projects in San Francisco. ECOSF is completely volunteer run, and supported by the community.

For a village in Africa, $7,500 funds a loan program for a group of 12 people, representing 12 family businesses, and provides 18 months of training, on-site monitoring, and technical support. When a group is funded, each person in the group receives a $400 loan to start or develop a self-sustaining business. This amount reflects the current economy in that village. For example, most villagers can raise a cow, and often a cow plus feed costs approximately $400. Some examples of businesses include dairy farming, dressmaking, furniture making, and raising goats and chickens. The loan is repayed over 18 months, at an interest rate of 6%. Each group attends trainings in business methodology, personal development, and HIV/AIDS prevention. Then, each person develops a workable business plan. Businesses are monitored and on-site technical support is available. Successful groups mentor new groups. Repaid loans are used to finance new groups, creating a village-owned and self-perpetuating fund, a Village Trust Bank. So far, Village Hope Core’s program has had a 100% repayment rate.

Make a pledge. Help me make a sizable contribution to a microlending program that makes an incredible difference in the lives of those who are forced to live with less in exchange for some of the inevitable consumption we are a part of here in the U.S. If just 300 people pledge $1 a day for 30 days that would be enough to change the lives of villagers in Africa. Not only are the lives of those who are loan recipients changed, but so are their fellow men, women, and children who benefit from more goods and services provided in their community, and the possibility of becoming a loan recipient themselves. If 3000 people gave $1 a day, that could fund 10 microlending programs. One such organization has 30 groups of aspiring, sustainable, village entrepreneurs waiting for funding. Help them out. Perhaps you can give more t han $1 a day. Send us an email or call (415) 846-8164 with what you’d like to pledge, and check back often to read my journal, and check on the status of this fund raising effort. Thank you for your support and for spreading the word to as many people as you know. For photos and details of my experience, please check out Part 2

Davin Wentworth-Thrasher - Program Coordinator - Ecology Center of San Francisco

REFERENCES

(1) U.S. Timber Production, Trade, Consumption, and Price Statistics 1965-1999 - USDA - Forest Service http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/28305/http:zSzzSzwww.fpl.fs.fed.uszSzdocumntszSzfplrpzSzfplrp595.pdf/u-s-timber-production.pdf

(2) U.S. Military Energy Consumption - Facts and Figures - Energy Bulletin http://www.energybulletin.net/29925.html

(3) Measuring Energy - Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy_basics/offmen-measuring-energy.html

(4) Poverty Facts and Stats - Global Issues website http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp#fact1

(5) How Much Does Your Toliet Use? - Santa Cruz City Water Conservation Office http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/wt/wtcon/PFRR/HowMuchWaterToilet.pdf

(6) US EPA Website Report - http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/npspage.htm

(7) 50 Dirtiest U.S. Power Plants Named - Environmental News Service http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2007/2007-07-26-05.asp

(8) Coverage of the Clean Air Interstate Rule - U.S. EPA http://www.epa.gov/air/interstateairquality/pdfs/cair_final_fact.pdf