Am I Resource Conscious?

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Let me tell you right now, if you think you are resource conscious, but have never lived in a resource limited way, you are not resource conscious…yet.

 

Good news, you can learn.  

 

I grew up with what I called “Nazi resource” parents. “Turn off the light”, “Get out of the shower” - bane of my teenage existence. Looking back, I’m grateful for the conditioning, as it made moving into an off-grid home in the desert easier. There was (and still is) a learning curve, but having that baseline of automatically turning off a light when I left the room or turning off the tap while I brushed my teeth, helped a lot. 

 

These days, I can tell you exactly how many light bulbs are on in the house at any given time, and I can tell you how many amps each appliance draws. For a little contrast, an energy saving light bulb will pull .1 amps and an electric tea kettle a staggering 60 amps. Anything designed for our modern day immediate convenience was not designed for the environment.  

 

Be Impactful, Not Wasteful

 

It’s not about saving money, it’s about caring for the planet you live on. The more water you use, the less there is for the planet, for others, for the fish, the lakes, the oceans. I come from a place in North Carolina called “The Land of Waterfalls”, where the water (at the moment) is endless. There are more waterfalls per square mile than anywhere in the world and it rains so much it's actually considered a Deciduous Rainforest. It didn’t matter to my parents where we lived, it was about being impactful, not wasteful.   

 

We live in the desert, where our most valuable resource is water. We picked a house that ran off the sun, and when the sun goes down, the lights go down. You’re left with what the day stored in the batteries, minus what you used during the day. And if it was a cloudy day to being with, you’re not left with much. 

 

Part of the reason we picked the desert was to learn a different way of living, where resources were limited, not a given, not something we were entitled to. One of the reasons New Mexico doesn’t have a lot of water is because Colorado uses nearly all of it, and most of what is leftover from Denver, get diverted to Texas.

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The Midline and The Footprint

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All this being said, please watch the below video on conserving water while doing dishes and apply this skill to daily living. Charge your devices during the day, when the sun is out. When you leave a room, turn off the light. This is life at Blue Desert, taking the opportunity to pay attention to your carbon footprint. To understand the midline you must understand your footprint. 

 

If you need two 30-minute showers a day, we understand, and we please ask that you pick somewhere to stay in Albuquerque. 

 

Other things to note about staying at Blue Desert:

 

This is a wonderful, peaceful environment and it is communal living. If you are looking for a private, quiet environment, please pick one accordingly. There are nearby several recommendations on our “Other” page.