[Starvid]

I was thinking the other day about my use of oil and how I can comfortably reduce it. I got interested in what your situations are on this topic.

You could structure your reply like this.

Electricity: From where do you get your electricity? Is your electricity reliant on cheap oil? Is the price of your electricity connected to the price of oil (like natural gas is)? Have you done anything in particular to conserve electricity?

Heat: How do heat your home? Is your home heating reliant on oil in any major way? Have you done anything to reduce the amount of heating fuel (in any form) you consume?

Transportation: How do you get to work? How do you buy your food? How do you travel to other cities? How do you go on vacation?

Other: Do you buy local food and manufacture? Et cetera.

Ok, that's the structure. I'll begin.


Electricity: My electricity supply is 50 % hydro and 50 % nuclear. It is cheap, secure, plentiful and evvironmentally benign. Hence I don't worry much about it and I am pretty wasteful with electricity, leaving lights on when I am not in the room and often leaving my computer on around the clock.

Heat: My apartment is connected to the citywide district heating system. The heat is generated by burning peat and trash, and hence I am wasteful with heat too. My apartment is big, built in the 1880's with giant badly insulated windows. But the walls are 1 metre thick and I figure that help somewhat. My major worry about my heating bill is that the district heating system and plant have lately been privatized, and since it is as monopoly, has increased prices 40 %.

Transportation: I don't have a car. I walk to the University where I study. If I want to go further I ride my bike. I am going to buy an electric scooter this Spring. If I go to other cities I go by train. My major sin in the transport area is that I usually go on vacation down on the Continent once a year, by air. The European train system is just too fucked up to go across borders in any meaningful way.

Other: I don't think specifically on buying local produce as I want to help people in the developing world. Maybe I shouldn't.


edit: Maybe this post should be in the "Planning for the Future"-forum, tagged "[Opinion] Assessments and Plans" ?

[Doly]

Electricity: I get my electricity from the grid. In my case, I know a lot of it comes from natural gas, and considering that the North Sea gas is declining, I'm in trouble. I have no idea about what I could do about this, except trying to save electricity. I wish my tiny rented flat didn't have dimmer switches all over the place, because I can only change one of the lightbulbs to an energy-saving one (and I have). I'm about to buy a flat screen for my computer.

Heat: My home is heated by gas. Same problem again. I have a timed thermostat and my flat is tiny, so I hope both will help to save as much gas as possible. Also, I'm asking around what I can do about the windows. They are terrible, you woudn't believe how much air can go through the space between the window and the frame. My flat ventilates perfectly even when I don't open the windows. Unfortunately, because it's a rented flat, I'm not willing to spend a lot of money in a solution.

Transportation: I get to work by train (electric, I've asked). I'm actively searching for a job closer to where I live. I buy my food in a nearby supermarket, I walk there. When I need to travel to other places, I usually take the train. I take a flight every year to visit my family in Spain. If airline tickets start getting really expensive, I imagine one of these years I'll start taking a ferry instead.

Other: I buy my food in the nearest supermarket, and they don't seem to care much about getting local food. I plan to ask around where I can get local food.

[killJOY]

It's so difficult to "spirit out" all the hidden oil costs in everyday life.

We're kept in the dark, when this should be one of our primary concerns.

Electricity: grid. We've reduced useage to about 250-300 kwh/month. Replaced bulbs with CFs, have no electric refrigerator (we use an unheated pantry as cold storage from Nov-Apr, then fire up a kerosene fridge in May.) We live near a hydro dam. No hot water heater--water runs through a coal-wood stove. No electric drier, either. A computer, very few toys, except for partner's woodshop. We have the capacity to go non-electric for long periods. Weak spots: freezer, washer, woodshop.

Heat: half anthracite, half wood from our woodlot. This year we have a stock of 3 tons anthracite, 5 cords firewood. Useage strictly dependent on weather. We close down half the house in winter and close indoor wooden shutters at night. We've built storms for all the windows and doors. We staple plastic to the foundation in winter and bank with hay bales. One woodstove heats the livingroom, office and bath; one kitchen coal range heats the kitchen and two bedrooms, plus all our hot water, plus doing all our cooking.

Transport: 1990 28-38 mpg vehicle: travel twice-three times weekly to work (sixteen-mile round trip), plus use on fire-rescue calls in town. I average about 8,000 miles/year. Very little outside town travel if we can help it. Partner has 1980 Toy truck, which he continually restores. It's his sole business vehicle, revealing the lie of those in construction who say they "need" a big pickup as work vehicle.

We have two tractors: 1948 crank-start Farmall, and same period Ford 9N (gas hog). Used for haying, manure spreading, wood transport.

1980 Honda 650 for summer use.

Food: buy bulk from food coop. Grow a good portion of own vegetables and meat, which we can and freeze. Also have milk cow. Still reliant on outside sources for flour, sugar, etc etc.

[Wildwell]

Electricty: From the grid. Replaced a lot of the lights with energy efficient ones, although some of the switchers are dimmers, which need to be changed as they aren’t compatible with low energy bulbs, Computers are both flat screen. Don’t watch too much TV, preferring radio so keeps bills down further.

Heat: Gas, and it’s getting expensive!

Transport: Walk to shops, train pretty much everywhere else, it’s electric locally. I’m going to Europe in a month, which will all be by train. The local bus connecting to the train is poor, so I haven’t ruled out a small car, but I’m watching the situation. I don’t like flying, my least favourite form of travel, therefore no flights, except where I have to (Very long distances).

Again, rent, so there’s a limit of solutions I’m prepared to spend money on. However, longer term I’m even looking at self-build with solar, wood pellets, wind all integrated heavily into the building, grid connected, but at least 60% should be generated off grid. Not sure on location yet, trouble is I like this country too much for all its faults.

Low direct oil use.

[Ludi]

Electricity: Grid power, mostly coal generation. I can reduce my use somewhat and am in the process of doing so. Going to put a jacket on the water heater, and a timer, eventually plan to have a solar water heater. We'd like to get a newer, smaller fridge but will probably make do with the old one, I need to increase its thermal mass (more beer).

Heat: Home is heated primarily by wood, cut with a chainsaw. Oil would have to become extremely expensive to have a serious impact on this.

Transportation: I walk to work (to the next building - I work at home). I have to drive about 20 miles to the nearest town with stores of any size, but these trips can certainly be consolidated. We drive a Toyota Echo which gets about 40 miles to the gallon.

Other: I'm learning to grow a significant amount of my own food.

[NeoPeasant]

I'll start worrying about "dying off" when I can no longer maintain this standard of living:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')aczynski lived for years by himself in an isolated, 10-foot-by-12-foot Montana cabin without a telephone, electricity or running water, according to news reports. Neighbors said the bearded loner lived amidst stacks of books, appeared to bathe very rarely and fertilized his vegetable garden with his own feces.

[CarlinsDarlin]

Electricity: on the grid, mostly coal fired, with backup by natural gas. Our rates have gone up considerably in the last year, and we're doing what we can to reduce our usage. Our home is all electric (yikes) so that's difficult, but so far - we've installed wood heat, and rely on it a LOT, though we have an electric furnace (thermostat set at 60) for backup that sometimes kicks on in the middle of the night when the fire dies down. That's usually a wake up call (literally) for one of us to go add another log on the fire. We've added insulation and caulked just about everywhere we can, and also added a water heater blanket. We're hoping that will make a big difference in the bill.

Heat: As mentioned before, wood heat, with electric furnace backup. We have land with plenty of wood to cut from, and so far this winter haven't even had to cut one live tree. Just clearing up dead wood around the land has kept us in wood. Not one cent invested. Again, gasoline would have to become incredibly expensive for us to not use the chain saw.

Transport: Well, we do have one, not terribly efficient vehicle. But it is used only for necesary travel. Carlin works about 14 miles from home, and he drives to and from work, stopping for errands along the way. There is no public transportation where we live, or even in the nearest town (where Carlin works). We rarely drive anywhere on weekends. We also have one four wheeler that we use for hauling small loads around the farm, and we use my grandfather's 1950's model Massy Ferguson tractor for larger jobs.

Food: We grow a great deal of what we eat. Vegetables from the garden, meat from our farm and from hunting, and eggs and dairy products from our animals. We preserve most of the vegetables from canning, and freeze most of the meat, though I have canned up some chicken in the last couple months. At least 5 nights a week we eat dinners completely produced on our farm, with the exception of staple goods (flour, salt, sugar, etc.). We may get bored with our selection, but we won't go hungry. I'm learning more about saving seed as well, in preparation for the time when I may not be able to buy seed, and I have several varieties saved from last year's garden.

[linlithgowoil]

a few months ago i used to drive around 750-800 miles a month going to work. now, my job is 15 minutes walk down the road. so, i dont spend £90 a month on petrol anymore and my car barely gets used apart from at the weekend when visiting my mum and dad etc.

ive demand destroyed around 26 gallons of petrol a month

however, my house is heated my nat gas which is a bit of a problem worldwide right now as there isnt enough pipelines etc.

my electricity comes from scottish power who do have some renewables, but im pretty sure they are majority coal/gas/nukes.

i havent tried to buy local stuff yet but will probably start to do this, but in all honesty i just go for the cheapest stuff available as im trying to pay off debts as fast as possible.

[NeoPeasant]

I'll start worrying about "dying off" when I can no longer maintain this standard of living:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')aczynski lived for years by himself in an isolated, 10-foot-by-12-foot Montana cabin without a telephone, electricity or running water, according to news reports. Neighbors said the bearded loner lived amidst stacks of books, appeared to bathe very rarely and fertilized his vegetable garden with his own feces.

[frankthetank]

Yes and No...

Electricity: RDF (garbage) & Coal (no worries here)
Heating: NG (next winter wood)
Transportation: Car (need a car to get to work in winter...can't bike on the interstate...only 5 miles)
Food: Grocery store within a block/several big ones within 10miles

I could bike an "alternative route" once the snow/ice clear out. I plan on trying this tomorrow because of temps in the high 40's F, saving a few gallons of gas a month if i do it daily.

The heat is already @ the lowest it can be/so is the gas hot water, so that leaves electricity.

Don't really watch TV, so its mainly the laptop/router/modem/refrigerator/microwave/lights/well pump, of which the only thing i can really do is unplug the ones im not using saving "ghost" energy

[The_Toecutter]

Current situation:

Electricity: Coal electricity. Currently replacing incandescent lightbulbs with flourescent as cash allows. I rarely watch TV(maybe 2 hours/month), spend about 5 hours a day at the computer on vacations/weekends, 1 hour when classes are in session. My father probably watches 10 hours of TV a day, however.

Heat: Natural gas. Temperature is kept at about 58 to 60 degrees depending, but my room and my parent's master bedroom each have a small electric heater that is running on low constantly at the moment. My pet snake has two heating pads as well.

Transportation: Groceries, walk to the Dollar General or drive to a Shop and Save or Aldi for things the Dollar General doesn't have. School/work? Drive, 16 miles each way. Car is a 1996 Ford Contour and gets about 22-24 mpg or so(26-ish highway, which is the route I take and about 80% of its miles), and sees about 150 miles per week. Step mom drives a gas-guzzling pickup, unfortunately. 2000 Chevy Silverado with extended cab and V8, about 16 mpg. It sees perhaps 50 miles per week, as she often takes the car when available. When going outside the city, I walk about 2.5 miles to the Metrolink station and ride it to wherever area I'm going(Belleville, East St. Louis, ect.) and walk to my destination. Metrolink would see more use if it weren't so expensive(Would cost $5/day back and forth to campus. Until something goes wrong with the car that renders it inoperable, the car is currently cheaper, unless insurance goes up.).

Other: Don't buy local, would like to but too expensive at the moment. If we had a viable way to cut at least half the gasoline out of the budget without the alternative costing too much(either up front or per mile), however...


Future possibilities:

Electricity: Short term, so long as I am living with my parents, the greatest savings will be through conserving. The flourescent lightbulbs will save a good deal on electricity bills and next month will hopefully show a decline in them(about halfway to go on getting them in every light in the house). Long term(being 2-4 years from now), when I get my own place(perhaps a trailer), I intend to run it off of wind and solar. By then I'll have my engineering degree and the disposable income to do that.

Heat: Short term, again conserve. The house is kept 58-60 degrees in the winter, 85-ish in the summer. Maybe in a year, I might scrape the money for a solar hot water heating system as a gift to my parents. Maybe. Long term, again when I get my trailer, heating will be renewable, whether by electricity or biomass. A 500 square foot trailer could be kept very toasty with two space heaters. But electricity for heat is also inefficient.

Transportation: Not much I can do at the moment. After nearly being killed by a hit and run SUV idiot, biking is out for the time being. Considering a scooter or electric bike, but that would be less money to put into the electric car and would take at least 3 months to save for(if a $200-400 cheapie). Another possibility is that I postpone making my conversion of my Triumph to electric a high performance car(as it probably won't happen until I'm out of school anyway, with only $60-80/month or so spare to dump into it) and instead settle for a temporary but slow $1,500-2,000 setup that offers perhaps 40 miles range and 50 mph top speed. In the long term, I intend to have this car complete and race ready and will certainly have the free income after college. To make it a 100 mile range 140-150 mph top speed V8 killing monster will take about $10,000 total including what is in it now. However, it will be so damn cheap to run, it would pay itself off in savings over a few years compared to sticking with my current car, that gas guzzling Ford. If there is ever an emergency, the car is also there to sell as it is now. Depending on where I move to when I get on my own, biking may be an option again, and thus the car would be a mere toy and only taken out on rare occassions. But I'm not counting on that, as I would like to live about 15-20 miles away from any towns or cities, where land is cheaper.

If my dad miraculously finds himself capable of working again early this year, I'll have that electric car ready for road use this year. If not, oh well.

Other: Should my parents get of this current financial rut, eating local will certainly be the case. We've had enough pot pies and macaroni. This year, I am going to try to see if that square foot gardening meets the hype. Last year my dad and I had pretty awful yields so far as gardening due to weather, when the years before it's done really well. When I get on my own, I will be gardening and canning a good portion of my food, as I won't have much else to do. Should I buy any food, it will certainly be local because then I'll have the spare cash to do it.

[WisJim]

We get 1/3 to 1/2 of our electricity from the grid, rest from PVs and windgenerator. Our grid power is coal/nuclear generated.

Heat is passive solar and wood. We use 5 to 10 gallons of gasoline in the chain saw and wood splitter each year, and maybe another 10 to 15 in the tractor, but that includes some mowing and other work with the old Ford 9N tractor, a 1941 model.

My wife and I both are about 2 miles from work, in different directions, and she drives a 1993 Chevy Geo Prizm, 30mpg in town and sometimes 40+ on the hiway. I ride one of a bunch of old motorcycles such as a 1971 Honda CB350 or 1972 Honda CL100 to work and around town when the weather permits (when the roads aren't icy or it isn't too cold.) I used to ride motorcycle year around but age is taking its toll. Also used to ride my bicycle most of the year, but my knees are making that hard, too. Have an early 80s Honda CRX-HF to use in winter or rain. Getting a moped for my wife, hope she likes it as well as she thinks she will. It's an old used one that my son is getting in exchange for doing work on some other mopeds for a friend, and he is rebuilding it for her to use.

We use LP (propane) for heating water and cooking, and need to install the solar hot water panels that are sitting in the shed, given to us by a friend last year.

We grow a large percentage of our food, maybe half or more, and get beef from local farmers. We have about 1/2 acre or more of vegetable garden and an acre or two of fruit trees. We grow some winter lettuce, etc., in our sunroom/greenhouse, but don't put the effort into growing food in the winter that we could. We make a point to buy as much locally as we can, of the foods we don't grow, such as cheese and other dairy products. Luckily, we have numerous excellent cheese factories within 30 miles, and some makers of yogurt and other products have been starting to produce in recent years. We eat a lot of venison from our land, and fish from nearby lakes and streams.

[grabby]

I live in America, in the state of Washington ( the OTHER Washington, near Oregon.). the nearest big city to shop or do anything is 120 miles away, and I work 40 miles away I drive daily. My house is 4800 square feet and electric bill is 180 a month at 4 cents a kilowatt hour hydro power.
my car is a GEO metro, the finest car ever built I can drive to work on 3/4 gallon.



We heat with wood also for our home and electric heat pump. And our house stays cozy by the wood stove insert


we have rototillers, saws, four wheelers and a rhino and a Ford pickup .

350 V-10 that can haul 12000 pounds of dirt, manure or anything else.

When oil goes down we will just walk away. there is no way to continue this lifestyle like this without oil.


Thing is, there is no way to continue YOUR lifestyle whatever it is, either, when oil goes down. No matter how green you live. We cannot continue the same lifestyle you life now.


Grocery stores? Transport and global economy? without cheap oil?
When the war starts, oil will get more expensive yet, causing a snowball effect.

We are not worried, what good would that do? Everything is in God's hands. Work hard like the ants, Be a good neighbor, treat each man like your brother, help the poor, and give to the needy, and you will be taken care of with a little bit of faith.

.

[SixMileWalk]

Electricity: Well, I live in a small rural town, with its own electric department. We suck power off of a coal plant to our west. I've replaced most of the lightbulbs in my apartment with low-energy use ones. Being in an apartment, many of my options are limited. I can't replace my thermostat, water-heater, etc. Might buy a house in the next year or two, but thats a ways off. I've added the extra plastic covering to my windows, keep the heat turned down a ways, definately when I'm not here.

Heat: ... is gas, unfortunately. Best I can do is keep it turned down when I'm not here.

Transportation: Being in a small town, I have a six point two mile commute one-way to work. Most of its by way of interstate; to go the "back country" roads to avoid being run over on my bike, it's about a ten mile ride. Not bad in summer (esp. since work has showers I can get cleaned up in), but horrid in winter. My current car is about to expire. I'm too poor to afford a Hybrid, but I will definately be purhasing something small and efficeient (IE, Civic... Corolla). Being from the midwest, I might even invest in a Flex-Fuel vehicle.
Grocery store is 300 yards away; though that doesn't help me at all when prices shoot through the roof.
On my last semester at school; that's a 45 mile commute one way once a week. Not horrid, and only have a couple more weeks!

[aflatoxin]

My situation is this: I went from a homeless (Literally) college student to a fairly well-off engineer.

In 1990, I got a place with a roomate. I lived on $400 a month. Most of that was spent on food. I quasi-squatted in a $200 a month hovel with a like-minded roomate. No gas, no electricity, running water provided by the landlord. Toilet froze every night. Bicycle was my only means of mechanically-assisted transportation. I rode it to my part-time job at a greenhouse 12 miles each way.

Being a long-haired bearded weirdo did nothing to sate my appetite for drink and food. We had a 4000 SF garden, shot everything that was edible (pigeons, ducks, rabbits, geese, doves) and brewed a massive amount of beer and wine. My friend and I just made a decision to remove ourselves from $ociety.

Living that lifestyle:Electricity: $0

Heat: 2 dogs and a girlfriend. Dogfood, about $40 a month. Girlfriend, well, I'll get to that. We did heat water with scavenged wood on a fire in the backyard. I guess that was free. We built a wood-fired oven out of dirt. We cooked our food on a campfire. We bathed (inside) with water heated on the fire. We used the house for dry storage and a fenced garden.

Transportaion: The bike was close to free. A couple of tires here and there. Of course, I was on the 7000 calorie a day diet because I rode it a lot.

Other costs were minimal. We used the "dangerous phone" on the corner, so maybe I should count the cost of the .45 I carried around with me.

So, the next time you see a homeless engineering student, that would be me.

Nowadays:

Power at this place comes from coal, nucklear (sic), and gas. I do not have a terribly conservation-minded family. We use about 1000 kwh/month, with refrigerated AC, 4 computers, a ton of lights, my welding hobby, and the other stuff. It costs about $150 a month on average.

Heat: Natural gas and/or wood. I spent major $ on insulation and new doors and windows. I also have a really sweet dual-fuel (gas and heat pump) furnace. Wood (only, furnace off) is about 3 cords a year. Gas furnace only is about 70 a month in Jan and Feb. Dual fuel is about 35 a month in Nov, late feb. and March. AC is about 20 a month in June, July, and Aug. 1200 sf house. I could probably save some money if I did not keep the house at 70-72 in the winter, and 75 in the summer. But then, I would probably have to get a divorce.

Transportation: I have two cars and a truck. Cars are pretty fuel efficient. Truck is not. I drive the truck about 100 miles a year. Cars average about 8000 miles each a year. I spend $200 a month on car insurance. I probably spend 60 a month on gas, at most. If I got rid of my 30 mpg car, and drove my 12 mpg truck i would save money, but I hate to do that. My job involves making about 100 flights a year, so I guess you could say my commute actually costs about $20,000 a year, but I live 5 miles from the airport, and oil companies pay for the airplane tickets, so that does not count.

Food: Since I work all of the time, I do not have a garden, nor farm animals anymore. We buy all of our food from the local co-op and locally/organic. If I'm going to spend the money, I'm going to spend it here. About $800 a month.

Looking to the future, I'm seriously considering a PV electrical system, getting rid of my truck (renting one when I need it), and selling the second car and riding the bus. I would be happy living the "simple life" again, but my wife would not. At this point in life, I really don't need to worry about spending this sort of money on living expenses, but it still sickens me sometimes. I hate banks, the auto industry, the oil industry, and a lot of little industries, but I try to balance the need to remain debt-free with the need to stay married.

[mommy22]

Our family lives in a 30 yr old, 2000 sq ft house in a smallish town 30 miles south of Cleveland Ohio. From the ideas picked up through this site, and generally just becoming aware of PO over the last year, I've made some real improvements in our energy consumption and hopefully, our future sustainability. My husband drives a Honda Civic to his work and fills up once per week (driving about 25 miles each way). I drive a (paid for) 1998 Plymouth Voyager (2 kids and I'm a Girl Scout leader)and have seriously reduced my use of this. I used to fill up around 2-3 times per month and now I'm down to once per month. My older daughter catches the school bus. I walk my younger to school (1/2 mile each way) to school every day unless it's under 28 degrees/really windy/snowy /rainy...so that's just a handful of days we don't walk. I really consolidate errends now, and there are many days I avoid driving at all, and once per week or so, plan to walk to our downtown for banking, some meetings, or other necessities. We can walk to our hospital and dentist if we have to, and a grocery store, too, all within 30 minutes of walking.
We in NEohio get our electricity mainly from coal/nuclear. Our heating bill has gone down significantly...I can see what I paid the year before on our bill, and the last 2 months (in the winter) we've spent over $50 each month LESS than the year before (sorry, can't recall kW hours...less than 900, I think) and we have an all-electric house and heating is by heat pump. We have a fireplace, but as for heat, it's not very efficient. Would like to buy an insert so we have that as backup....need to convince DH of that! I have been much more concienious this last year with keeping indoor temps down in winter, up in summer. Also, about 80% laundry is hung up to dry, indoors or outdoors through out the year. I've unplugged many items that I've just left plugged in all the time before. Now, I plug them in when I need them, and unplug right after use. Wash all clothes (except undies) in cold water.
Also, as far as food goes, last year was my first year of a 200 sq ft garden, and there is room for expansion if I want, and we've been able to have veggies from April-Nov on the table, and learning how to can has been fun for the girls and I. They love opening up a jar of pickles, and nobody has died yet of botolism and this year, I plan to expand my attempts with green beans and corn and additional garden varieties for longer term storage (more squash and pumpkin). I am planting a few fruit trees and walnut (Cross your fingers they work out!) for the future. Also, there are MANY fruit farmd around here and we pick blueberries, apples and buy local peaches for preserving, and one of my best friends here is an organic farmer and beekeeper, so we have her honey. There are also dairies close by, as we have a huge Amish community, and Lake Erie is just up the road about 30 miles, and fishing can be good if you like perch! Unfortunately, for meats and other items, I am dependant on grocery stores. I try to stock up when things are on sale, and have probably enough food in the basement/freezer to feed my family for about 4-5 months. I would like a year's worth, like my Morman friends have...
I am also, trying to keep aware of other things that I can do to continue to use less oil in my life...tha's why I come to sites like this, as I think we are all trying to do what we can do, as money and time dictate. I learn from all of you!

[mommy22]

I was thinking about this thread the other day, and thought about how we are all dependant...I would imagine our family's diet would change radically if we couldn't get our daily quota of coffee, peanut butter, bananas, orange juice and many other items that so easily come to us now...but perhaps I should find a local alternative to these things. Also, while I like to think that I cook alot from scratch, I use my fair share of canned/packaged items, that no matter how much I stock up, will eventually be eaten down...so from a food perspective, I'm afraid our family will be in for transition, and are extremely dependant on oil.

[jsb1969]

Electricity: From the grid. Maryland's grid is fueled by 57% coal, 28% nuclear,
7% gas, 4% hydro, 4% petroleum, <1% renewables.

Heat: Gas

Transportation: 2000 Honda Accord V6

I think i'm more vulnerable than the average healthy and able bodied person, as i'm a paraplegic in need certain sterile equipment and medicine resupplied every month. My forcast is that after there is an interuption/end to my supply of sterile urinary catheters I will get a urinary tract infection (which is common with people how have a spinal cord injury. Normally that is not a problem as medicines, such as antibiotics are readly available.) Then (eventually) when I can no longer get antibiotics to treat such an infection, the infection will likely get worse, perhaps moving to my kidneys and then...well, it wouldnt be pleasant. In years past, the leading cause of death among persons with SCI was renal failure. Today, however, significant advances in urologic management (for the most part disposable sterile urinary catheters) have pretty much solved that problem, but as I see it with PO I will lose that (eventualy).
In terms of death and dying, we in the 1st world counties have for the majority of our life been kept away from such things and so they are very strange to us. We are spoiled with good medicine, good shelter, and good medicine which has influenced us poorly. BUT, in the end, you have what it takes to die already inside of you. That is to say it's one of the numerous skills humans have recieved in our remarkable ascent on this pale blue dot (ty Sagan for that lovely name).
So don't worry too much, things are already arranged for you. Cheers.

[Revi]

Here is what we have done to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. We figure we have decreased from 1/3 to a half in the last 5 years:

http://www.msad54.org/sahs/appliedarts/ ... /index.htm

[FoolYap]

Electricity: Grid. Our supplier is a local municipal company, that is struggling to clear NIMBY-mounted legal challenges to erecting a pair of large windmills. They have a good site for it (small mountain). They've gotten some experience with older, smaller windmills already on the site that they've operated for years, but that are too small to supply a meaningful percentage for the town. They estimate when completed, it should supply 40% of our small town's current use. So, that's cause for cheer. We have compact fluorescents almost everywhere. We regularly unplug things when not used. But we still use an electric clothes dryer, ouch. And the property's well is deep. We struggle to keep our monthly power use under 600KWH.

Heat: Oil-fired boiler, which also supplies our domestic hot water. We have some hydronic radiant floors, but most of the house is heated with forced hot-air. We're thinking of adding radiant heat on the 1st floor though, supplied by solar hot water. We also have a woodstove that keeps the 1st floor very warm. 11 acres of woods on the property, and we cut and split our own firewood. We turn off the 1st floor HVAC at night or when we're away from home. Are keeping the 2nd floor HVAC at 64°F all day and night in the winter; would like to lower the temps at night, but our daughter is still crib-sleeping, and kicks off blankets, and my wife worries she'll get too cold. Ditto for the day, but my wife worries about our three cats while we're away (so far as I can tell, they tolerate colder temps just fine).

Transportation: My wife and I carpool together in a 1996 Toyota Corolla that averages low 30s MPG. We unfortunately have a ~90 mile round-trip commute five times a week. That sucks, but the money is far better than anything we could get more locally. We could work from home if we had broadband Internet access. (We have a DirecWay satellite dish but it's not compatible with the company-mandated software we need to get access to the corporate network.) Our town has no DSL, no cable TV, but the municipal power company is working on rolling out a wireless network. Once we can work from home, our car use will drop like a stone.

Other: I'm still working on carving out space for a garden. The property is wooded and very rocky, so it's not a simple task. I have a 31HP diesel tractor that is invaluable in moving earth and rock, but I still spend a lot of sweat equity with pick-axe and shovel on the garden project. I have gardened in the past at previous sites, and I really miss it! I want to start canning this year, whether using our own produce or purchased locally.

--Steve