Living In the sustainability housing was something I have looked forward to for many years. When I started here at Franklin Pierce, I had hoped that through the Eco-Club I would be able to start an environmentally friendly housing. As it turned out Mrs. Cutter started the program before me. When I started this semester I did not know what exactly I would have to do in order to maintain an eco friendly household. As it turns out, it is much easier than I thought. The first day as I moved in I had to choose what I need to have plugged in and what I could leave unplugged until I wanted to use it. So I figured the Fridge and my alarm clock were a must. After that, I really did not need anything plugged in 24-7 to operate as I had in the past.
Over the months I have used my Television and my BluRay player but not as much as I had in the past. It seems that I watched movies or TV simply because it was there. But once I had to get up and plug the thing in, I lost interest. As a result I have found that I have a lot of time on my hands and there is a lot one can do with all that free time.
I decided from the beginning that I would not dive into the living style to hard. I figured I would get sick and tired of going without. About half way through October I noticed that the Microwave was on and that neither I, nor Sergio ever used it. Here was an item that we never thought about yet it was costing us $0.24 a day in energy cost. Once I was aware of the fact that we had left it on for over a month and never really used it, I got upset. Not so much about wasting energy, rather that it had and probably never been thought about. Here I was trying to reduce what I used and this item was left because the clock on the screen was convenient, and that it was deeply ingrained in me to leave it there. I let product placement rule my life in the most annoying way.
So I decided that I had to look around my apartment and find anything else that might be unnecessary. First, I saw that my lights were on and I had left the blinds closed from the night before. Lights off and blinds open. Sergio removed half of the light bulbs from the hallway because why are there five light bulbs in a hallway, only 30 feet long. Are we really that scared of shadows that we need to remove any from our sight? Later that month I noticed it was really hot in our apartment and the heat was still not on, so it dawned on me. After one of us took a shower we would leave the door open and the hot air would filter into the rest of the apartment. Now instead of using the heat I simply left the door open after I showered, so that the apartment would stay warm during the day. And when I went to bed I opened the bathroom door, so the cooler air in the bathroom can pull the heat out of the apartment making its own heating/cooling system.
These are some of the things I have learned while living in the sustainability housing this semester. Have a good day and try to remember that unplug anything you are not using.
Joseph Metzler
LV E2 Sustainability Blogger