A couple of years ago my other half was complaining about the utility bills being so high. I was embarrassed and angry that he was taking me to task for the high cost of the bills. Of course I defended myself with the whole, "I am constantly turning off lights, what do you expect when you have two toddlers home all day" and the "Think of all the money I am saving by being home with the kids?" After this conversation I got to thinking.
I thought of all the times that I really hadn't paid all that much attention to the lights, what about the TV being on "for noise", my computer being plugged in and running -- waiting for me to come back to it, and the fact that often we would have a kid in one room, another in the living room, me in the kitchen with the dining area lights on, and the hall lights on connecting each of us. I started asking myself, "could all these things be changed?" "What kind of a difference would it really make?" "How long would it take to see a difference in the bills?"
I decided to try an experiment. I decided that I wanted to shut us off from using unnecessary electricity. What??? That is right. I unplugged the TV, DVD, Wii, the main computer, put my laptop away, taped over all the light switches and electrical outlets, put the toaster, blender, and coffee pot away, unplugged and covered up the microwave -- for two weeks. The only thing that was left plugged in was my electric stove (had to have something to cook on, especially in the winter) and the refrigerator.
Our lives dramatically changed in a very short period of time. The teenager and the first grader came home and immediately did homework by the window to get the last of the fading light, we ate by candlelight, the kids (ages 4 and 6) ended up teaming up to get themselves ready for bed (they didn't want to be alone at that time). During the day we worked hard to get everything done and ready for the evening, after the kids had everything done they could play. Once darkness set it, the candles around the house were lit and we all congregated around the dining room table and we talked, read, and played card games. We went to bed at a decent time, without complaint and we ended up waking up a bit earlier.
The first couple of days were the hardest, especially for the kids. They wanted their TV fix, didn't know how to entertain themselves and in general they wandered about the house looking a bit lost and forlorn. Soon after the creativity started to flow, they picked up the Barbies and baby dolls and started to play, the crayons got dusted off and my house was filled with art work. I found that I got a ton done. I found time to get little projects done, I no longer had piles of laundry laying in rooms either waiting to be washed or put away. The house was more picked up and I was feeling less stressed.
At the end of the experiment we pulled the tape off the wall switches and squinted at the glaring lights, the kids didn't even think of turning the TV on, but instead continued on with their Barbies and babies. It was nice being able to nuke a mug of hot tea in two minutes and not have another pan to clean, but as the weeks passed I found that my levels of stress increased, I escaped into my laptop far too often, the house looked a little more worse for wear, the kids spent more and more time with the TV and argued a little more often. I missed some of the aspects of our experiment and looked back upon that time a bit more fondly.
Since the start of our Minnesota winter the kids have been asking about unplugging ourselves. I keep saying sure, we need to figure out a good time. I have to ask myself, "Why does it need to be a good time?" The last week I have been telling myself, "It needs to be now". I haven't been happy with our family dynamics. As my shoulder heals and I try to take on more, the kids have been less helpful and mindful. I realize that we need to unplug and work on regaining our creativity, our productivity, and our connections to each other.
You ask, "What did our bills look like the next month?" Our electricity bill was half what it was the prior month, however our water bill went up, no doubt because I was getting a ton more laundry done! After we looked at our bills for that month I did eat a bit of crow and I became a whole lot more concerned about what was plugged in and what lights were left on. We changed out some of our light bulbs from incandescent to CFL's and now we are changing the CFL's to LED's.
I am going to see about making a trip to the store and see about getting an old fashioned gas lamp and a new box of crayons and paper for the kids. If you happen to stop by our house and it looks dark, don't drive by thinking we are gone but stop and knock real hard. We would love to have you stop by and pull up a chair around the table with us.
