Week #1 Reflection
For the past week, I've lived in a world of darkness(my room). On Monday, the 3rd of December, I took out the light-bulb in my room. Why, you ask? Well, I want to help save the world. By taking out the light-bulb in my room, it stops me from ever turning that light on! In turn, this somewhat reduces the amount of electricity I personally use.
It's been a hard week. My eyes have fully adapted to the darkness of my room, and now, whenever I see light, my eyes start to burn(not really). In all seriousness, it's been pretty difficult. I misplace things A LOT, so not having a light in my room makes my life even more miserable. Taking out the light-bulb has also hindered my ability to study and do homework, as I have to depend on my phone's flashlight(which isn't bright at all)to brighten my room.
Why is this good for the environment?
Barriers(what stopped me from doing this before?)
Being able to see is great. One way to be able to see things is light. With the lights on, I could do anything! I could read, do homework, see and not have to face my fear of the dark. Basically, I need light to do(and see) many different things. Also, for some reason, my mom would always yell at me to turn on my lights whenever she saw them turned off. So, being an amazing child, I turned my lights on whenever she yelled at me to do so.
What do I need to change to make to act upon this habit?
There's not much I really need to do. With my light-bulb taken out, there's absolutely no way I can turn the lights on in my room. The only way it could be turned on is if my mom screwed a light-bulb back in, which I really hope doesn't happen.
(3)https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/averageenergyprices_seattle.htm
For the past week, I've lived in a world of darkness(my room). On Monday, the 3rd of December, I took out the light-bulb in my room. Why, you ask? Well, I want to help save the world. By taking out the light-bulb in my room, it stops me from ever turning that light on! In turn, this somewhat reduces the amount of electricity I personally use.
It's been a hard week. My eyes have fully adapted to the darkness of my room, and now, whenever I see light, my eyes start to burn(not really). In all seriousness, it's been pretty difficult. I misplace things A LOT, so not having a light in my room makes my life even more miserable. Taking out the light-bulb has also hindered my ability to study and do homework, as I have to depend on my phone's flashlight(which isn't bright at all)to brighten my room.
Why is this good for the environment?
My habit will help because it will reduce the total amount of electricity we use in our household. While other electronic devices such as air conditioners and heaters use more electricity in a household(1), lighting is perennial, always on. In order to actually do my habit, I will take out the lightbulb for the light in my room. By doing this, I won’t be able to turn on the lights in my room at all, even if I tried to. My habit relates to electricity, because having my lights on contributes directly to the amount of electricity that’s used in my household. A lightbulb, per hour, uses 60 watts of electricity per hour(2), and the cost of electricity in Seattle, is 10.9 cents kWh(kilowatt hour)(3). This may not seem like a lot, but think about how much of the day you have your lights on. Personally, I have my lights on the entire time that I’m home, until I go to sleep. If I wanted to save even more electricity, I could limit myself to only having 1 device plugged in at all times. However, I didn’t choose this because it would hinder my productivity related to school and other things. Also, I have to have more than 1 electronic device plugged in in order to use my computer. I would also have to charge my phone and chromebook laptop, which is necessary for me.
Barriers(what stopped me from doing this before?)
Being able to see is great. One way to be able to see things is light. With the lights on, I could do anything! I could read, do homework, see and not have to face my fear of the dark. Basically, I need light to do(and see) many different things. Also, for some reason, my mom would always yell at me to turn on my lights whenever she saw them turned off. So, being an amazing child, I turned my lights on whenever she yelled at me to do so.
What do I need to change to make to act upon this habit?
There's not much I really need to do. With my light-bulb taken out, there's absolutely no way I can turn the lights on in my room. The only way it could be turned on is if my mom screwed a light-bulb back in, which I really hope doesn't happen.
References:
(3)https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/averageenergyprices_seattle.htm
- Reflection on the 1st week
- Describe (IN DETAIL) how your first week went with your behavior to reduce your environmental impact?
- What did you do? How did you do it? How often did you do it?
*If you didn’t do it yet talk about what you WILL do! (and how, how often) - Why is the conservation behavior good for the environment? (Justify your choice!) *Cog Skill: Justifying / Constructing an Explanation
- Identify barriers: what has prevented you from undertaking this behavior to reduce your environmental impact in the past?
- What needs to change to make this behavior to reduce your environmental impact achievable for the next 30 days?
- Can you make that change yourself or do you need outside help?
- Explore incentives: are there internal or external incentives that would help motivate you to make the change?
- References: *Cog Skill: Selecting Relevant Sources
- Include citations in one of two ways:
I wonder how much energy devices use? Because I think they all use DIFFERENT amounts. Like, aren't some light-bulbs use WAAAAY less electricity than others? Also, what devices in your room use the most electricity? Maybe you can try going without some of those and not all of them?
ReplyDeleteFor me, watts per hour and kilowatt hours are hard to imagine as a normal person. What does 60 watts per hour actually translate to in carbon tons or how many miles a car drove?
ReplyDeleteI also learned that Seattle's electricity price is 10.9 cents per kilowatt hour. I never knew our energy prices until now, so thanks for that!
I agree, I think that we tend to use too much electricity even when we don't need to. Most times we just turn on the television or lights out of habit.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is another way to grow out of this habit than taking out your light bulbs?
I am in the same boat in a way. Not that I have been living in the dark, but I have definitley been cutting down on my electricity use by turning off the lights when I am not in the room. It hasn't been as hard as I would believe, but I know that we both can pull through. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement fellow no-lighter!
DeleteI love all of detail about how much energy you will be saving! This is a very entertaining post!
ReplyDeleteGood title hooked me in. How was your first week?
ReplyDeleteThe title gave a great brief summary of your situation and goal. Was it difficult to transition into this lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteGood way to challenge yourself. Do you ever cheat by going to another room and use the electricity there?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good question. I'd like to add on to it and ask if by not using the lights in your room, do you end up using even more electricity that before in other rooms? Also, I like how you managed to fit "perennial" in there, Ms. V would be proud....
DeleteThis post helps me to to somewhat rethink my own behaviors I am doing to save electricity. This is because I had the conclusion that it would take more effort to conserve it by habits like continuously unplugging chargers that aren't being used and reducing use of heating systems, when I could be doing something more simple like turning off or not using the lights in the house when I don't need too.
ReplyDeleteif you wont turn on you lights in your room, wouldn't you still be draining power from other electronics that are plugged into the wall?
ReplyDeleteDo you only have 1 light bulb in your room? How much would it cost on a regular day prior to your project? This made me rethink about how much energy light consumes.
ReplyDelete