Sit Back, Unplug, and Relax

This weekend I spent a day (24 hours), without the use of energy (as much as possible). The idea is to bring into focus the amount of energy use/waste is used daily and what energy use is really necessary. Living in a technologically connect society as we do these days; the issue of not using my cell phone and laptop will probably be the items that cause the most anxiety.

I had a strategy going into the day that I was going to unplug. My plan was #1 sleep in as much as possible, and #2 stay away from home during my waking hours. I could not stay in bed past 8:30am; so, so much for part 1 of my plan. Once we were up (my son Wyatt and I), we ate a bowl of cereal and went on a bike ride to the park. It was an awesome time to catchup  on some reading (environmental science of course), while Wyatt played on the play ground. We returned home at about 12 and got ready to go swimming. I had preplanned to meet a few friends at our community pool. I had my ice chest ready with fruit salad and drinks. We went down to the pool and had a barbecue/picnic for about 8 hours (well after dark). We went to sleep shortly after.

There were a few places I realize I kinda cheated. When I planned the BBQ I was thinking this is a wonderful way to not consume energy. Then as I was standing there in front of my barbecue I realized that I was in fact still using energy. I was using propane. I then thought about how I was using ice for the ice chest.
 This is kind of like using a battery. I took energy to freeze ice so that I could use it later....that later was this day.

Over all I did great staying away from the technology. I did let my son watch a little TV before bed. This was my project not his. I did well though, he went through the entire day without using energy without realizing it.
It was not hard to get through the day of being unplugged the way that I did it. It would have been much harder if I did not use the BBQ. Much of my car usage was done the day before to prepare for this day.

I'm not sure what I could do on a daily basis to continue using less energy. One thing I could do is to start using those "green strips" to plug my computers and entertainment systems into. That way I can get my electricity vampires under control.