Green Challenge #5

A quick check in for how I'm doing with the green challenges.  Overall, I would say pretty well.  I'm not going to lie, but I have cheated a little bit this past week riding the elevator.  I rode it more than I should have.  I guess I was just being lazy.  I'll keep trying. Tomorrow I will be at the airport and will try to do better once I have checked my bag.
As for last week's challenge and not using anymore plastic/reusable bags - so far so good. 

This week's challenge, with a little bit less research than I would have liked, but I have a good excuse.  Excuse:  I had to work until 6pm today, then drove 1.5 hrs to Chico, finished packing my suitcases for Costa Rica, quickly ate dinner, submitted my residency rank list and now am writing this blog soooo...I think you can forgive me for lack of research.

Green Challenge #5:  I'm giving up my hair dryer!

Again, this one comes with a few exceptions.  I am allowed to use a hair dryer for special occasions.  Examples of upcoming special occasions include:  Birthday, Match Day, Graduation.  The ultimate goal will be to use it as little as possible.  I'll try to remember to post my indiscretions and let you know when I use my dryer - just to give you an idea of how well I'm sticking with it!

I can guarantee you I will not be using for a FULL month.  How can I guarantee that you ask?  Well, I'm not taking my hair dryer to Costa Rica with me :)

Ok - so how's this eco-friendly.  Well, hair dryers suck up A LOT of energy.  My hair dryer draws up to 1875 watts of electricity (most draw between 1200-1875), which is more wattage than it takes to use a microwave (run around 750-1100).

A quick wikipedia search for watt (mainly because I was curious) states:

A watt is the rate at which work is done when an object is moved at a speed of one meter per second against a force of one newton.  Huh? 

examples: 
-  climbing a flight of stairs is doing work at a rate of about 200 watts
(my hairdryer does work at a rate 9x's greater than climbing a flight of stairs!)
-  a typical automobile engine yields power output of 25,000 watts while cruising
(sooo running a car uses only 13x's the amount of work as my hairdryer?)

*warning - I have no idea if my calculations are correct, but regardless - I know I'll be saving energy by plugging in one less appliance!

Wish me luck & now you'll understand why my hair will be in a perpetual pony tail for all of my Costa Rican photos :)