A tale of four lamps

I got my Kill-A-Watt meter in the mail on Monday and finally had a chance to test it out tonight. I took pictures of four lighting combinations in my bedroom.

The first is my florescent nightstand lamp

That's 18 watts, which means that it takes about 55 hours of continuous usage to use one kilowatt hour of electricity. (The units my bill is counted in.)







The second is my full-spectrum SAD light

59 watts. This seems to be an incandescent, despite the lack of that word on the packaging. (It just said it would last longer than regular bulbs.) 17 hours to burn a kilowatt hour.








The third is the two of them running together

A not-too-surprising 80 watts for 12.5 hours per kilowatt hour.









And the final entry

Clocking in at 220 watts (this is exactly the same setting as the other photos), my halogen torchiere. It takes a mere 4.5 hours to clock a kilowatt hour with this baby.

Suddenly my $20 lamp doesn't seem so cheap. ;-)

Update:
I am watching the meter while posting this and my computer is using 150 watts without the hard drive and 175 with the hard drive. My halogen seems like a total energy hog!

I was also watching the watts setting on the stationary bike this morning. Apparently I can run a 22 watt device off my pedaling. This may be why my dad was never enthusiastic about wiring the TV to an exercise bike...

Ideas from Vegas - post 1

One thing that keeps echoing in my head is something Wayne Dyer said in the keynote session on Friday night:

Three lies of the ego:

• I am what I own.
• I am what I do.
• I am what people think about me.

It's easy enough to understand that "I am what I own" includes what I refuse to own, what I'm too poor to own, what I'm too rich to own and what I could never imagine owning. And it's pretty easy to see that "I am what I do" includes what I don't do, what I do for work, what my hobbies are, who I'm married to, who I'm parenting, what kind of exercise I do and the spiritual teachers I'm listening to. And "I am what people think about me" means I need to manage what people think about me to make sure they have the right impression of me.

If these are all lies of the ego, then when I am busy acting them out, I'm acting out of my ego and not my authentic self.

In terms of pursuing a smaller carbon footprint, my ego can threaten to derail me by whining about the fun toys I'm missing out on, by encouraging me to feel inadequate when I buy a cheaper car, or carpool, or ride the bus, or ride a bike, or walk. Alternately, it can tempt me with the idea that somehow I've achieved something by engaging in a project like this. And finally, it can tempt me to listen to the positive and negative opinions of others about me and change so that I can improve those opinions.

So, it seems to me that the ego is one of the forces that's resisting the changes necessary for sustainability.

Recipe of the week

I am still working on getting thoughts from the weekend grounded and me-centered, so instead I'm gonna post my recipe for the week. I have been experimenting with food as part of living not-so-big, and I have a weekly schedule of making a big pot of something at the beginning of the week and eating on it for most of my meals.

This week I'm having my version of the Southwestern Bowl sold by Amy's. Their bowl is beans, cheese and veggies in an enchilada sauce, topped by a polenta crust.

Here's mine:
Ingredients: corn grits, 2 cans or 4 cups of cooked beans, 1 medium-sized onion, chili powder, canned chopped tomatoes, soup stock or bullion, garlic, salt, cheese

Polenta - 1 cup corn grits (I use Bob's Red Mill) + 4 cups water. Bring water to a boil. Add grits slowly enough that they are spread out in the water and not clumped up. Stir every couple of minutes for 5 or so minutes, cover and let simmer, stirring every few minutes, for half an hour or until the liquid is absorbed and the polenta is a gooey mass.

Beans - So it turns out that red chili and enchilada sauce are two implementations of the same meta recipe. So, start out with a couple cups of broth (I used veggie stock from bullion). Chop and add one medium onion. Add about a 1/4 cup of dried mild chili powder. (Substitute or add hot chili powder to taste.) Let the pot return to boiling. Add two cups of cooked beans. Return to boiling. Add another two cups of beans. Return to boiling. Add one can chopped tomatoes with juice. Add garlic and salt to taste. Return to boiling. Cover and remove from heat.

To serve: Place about half a cup of polenta in the center of a bowl. Pour half a cup of beans and liquid over the top. Top with cheese. Eat with a spoon and enjoy!

To use leftover polenta, try using it how you'd use mashed potatoes. Stir in butter or cheese. Or heat a scoop of plain polenta in the microwave and top with honey and milk for a sweet snack. Of course, polenta is another name for cornmeal mush, so you can chill it and fry it up too.

To use leftover beans, eat with a tortilla, or wrap beans and eggs in a tortilla. Serve over rice. Or add another can of tomatoes and ground turkey for a "chili con carne y con frijoles" soup. Eat that with cornbread.