MAY 2013

The New York Times

Usage Per Month
Month September October November December January February March April KwH 1587 1524 1600 1532 1478 1422 1397 1250

ANDREA HANDAL

- A Yearlong Environmental Project This is my journey to reducing electricity usage, for the benefit of our earth Andrea

Introduction & Plan

This year, I recorded and analyzed the electrical usage in my home. I chose this out of the 3 options we had (water, trash and electricity), since I know electricity usage makes a bigger impact on our world, and also, because most people tend to waste it irresponsibly a lot more than trash and water. Overusing electricity can really affect the environment, as using things from our earth creates our electricity, and an overuse can significantly damage our atmosphere. By using electricity a lot, we waste fossil fuels and more raw materials obtained from our planet, which CAN and WILL eventually run out. Overusing electricity can contribute to global warming and pollution, which in most cases, affects our surroundings and us. I believe the irresponsible waste of electricity needs to stop. before we do severe harm to our planet. My family and I created a plan together; to change the way we consumed energy in our house. We turned on lights for fewer hours, turned TVs and power outlets off when they werent used and managed the amount of hours of electrical appliances used every day. By looking at our final results, we can clearly say our mission was accomplished, and we learned a lot in the process. We are now able the control the amount of energy we use which can help us to decrease our usage a lot more! We know it is important to be responsible of the amount of electricity you use, because if each of us helps a bit, together we can make a huge change to save our earth and create a better environment for the future.

Here are images showing the places where most electricity is being spent in my house. This is where I have tried to lower my energy usage.

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issue, date

Reaching My Goal: Reducing Energy Use

How long will it take to reach an ideal amount of kwh used per month?
Knowing your electricity usage is essential to help you make a decision in your life. By creating a graph of my data, I can easily see how my electricity usage changed through out the whole year. Now that I have a graph I will predict how long it will take me to reach 300 kwh per month. This will set a goal for me in the future to drastically change my usage and live a healthier lifestyle. I drew a line showing the path of my kwh usage. To find out how many months will take me to reach 300 kwh, I first need to find the slope of my line. This line goes in between all my points. To find the slope, I will use two points in my line, (3, 1500) and (4, 1400). I first use a slop intercept equation (y = mx + b) by using (3,1500).

Now I easily just substitute y for 300, since thats the kwh I want to use every month.

Now that we know the slope of our line, the rest of the process is easy. By making an equation of my line, I can find how many months it takes me to get to 300 kwh per month.

Now I know it will take me 15 months to reach a consumption of 300 kwh per month.