Here's where we go off the map
Out past the power lines
Up that little side road without a sign
Hidden from the mainstream
The keepers of the ancient future
Keepers of the drum
They don't preserve it
They live it
~ Robbie Robertson, “Rattlebone”

Green Fest Challenge Results

Last month, Caren Black and Christopher Paddon conducted an unusual test. For three years, they have been working to “erase their footprint”, to become self-sufficient and live a sustainable lifestyle. It was time to see how they were doing, so they literally “pulled the plug” to test drive their improvements to their 1975 all-electric house. Their goal? To use no outside utilities, i.e. garbage, water, electricity; to make no purchases; to eat out of their own garden and stores; to get by on one tank of gas.

So, how’d they do?

“It was a lot harder than I’d hoped it would be,” admits Black. “though some things were fairly easy. We got by on one tank of gas with about forty-two miles, or one gallon, to spare, even though we had to make a trip to Portland mid-month. No garbage pickup was not a problem; we normally use only the smallest container with a biweekly pickup, anyway. But our housing, our technologies and our culture are built for instant gratification, independence and disposability, not for conservation, community and the seventh generation. It takes creativity to buck the system.”

Electricity was a problem. With solar thermal and solar electric panels plus a wind generator, they hoped their conservation program would keep them within bounds of what they could produce. It did not. They are still a little mystified about that one. “It’s as though we have an electricity ‘leak’ somewhere”, Black said. Paddon monitored their usage regularly and halfway through October he cut out two more major appliances and placed them on an even stricter conservation program. The result was still a disappointing ten percent drop over last year’s usage; nearly fifty percent of their electricity still came from the grid; still, they produced over fifty percent of their power on site.

“We were absolutely Spartan with lights, used no power tools, turned off all plug strips except the two for the portable phone and the computer,” Paddon explained. “We did use the washing machine, but not the dryer. We did have to add a new pump to the mix and we haven’t yet determined its impact nor that of one of the computers. So we have more data to collect. Looks like we’re back to the drawing board on this one.”

It should be noted, however, that the couple normally uses only one-fourth the average household’s electrical consumption. They have labeled nearly every electronic device they own with the wattage it consumes in order to offset usage with conservation in another area. For their month-long test they used a carpet sweeper rather than a vacuum “because the vacuum consumes ten watts per minute” Paddon calculated. The couple has friends who live off the grid or who, like they, are working towards that goal. They plan to confer with both couples for more ideas.

Cutting consumer spending was the other difficulty. While they managed to shave twenty-six percent off their already conservative monthly expenditures, their fixed expenses – taxes, insurance, phone – brought their overall savings to less than five percent. The couple said they will revisit their fixed expenses in an effort to conserve more.

So, was it worth it? “Oh, yes!” they both agreed. They now know exactly which areas require more analysis and they were pleased with the ones which were a huge success. Will they do another test next year? They’re planning on it. Meanwhile, they got lots of feedback from people in the community and across the country who wished them well and even joined in the effort to test a more sustainable lifestyle for one month. “We’ll all be doing this soon, whether we want to or not, whether we’re prepared or not,” stated Black. Paddon concluded, “It’s better to learn now while electricity is cheap and we still have plenty of options.”

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Through their 501c3 nonprofit, the Titanic Lifeboat Academy, Black and Paddon plan a series of workshops on energy conservation and sustainable living, starting in 2008.

For more information about their ongoing work and research, check out their website www.Lifeboat.PostCarbon.org. To reach them directly, email TLifeboatAcademy@q.com or phone 503-325-6886.