Citizens of the West — citizens of the U.S. in particular — use more than our share. You know this. You have probably taken a carbon or ecological footprint quiz. You have probably found that it would require 2 or 3 or 6 Earths to support your lifestyle. Yes, me, too. I am not particularly wasteful, though my friend the No Impact Man feigned horror when I told him I dry my hair. I offered to use a human-powered peddle energy to run my hair dryer. “Why not just stop needing that energy at all?” he asked.

Yes, why not?

While I’m well aware of the need to cut my needs, I’m one of those who hopes that my small lifestyle (small house, small car, small family) will be enough.

It won’t.

I know. I don’t really hope I can continue with my below average number of required Earths, but I do I hope I won’t live to see the crash. I don’t linger too long on that ridiculous hope, but I do linger. Even if I don’t see it with my own eyes, chances are very good my children will see it up close.

But someone will.

So, I have to reduce?

Yes, drastically.

I’ve been following the conversation among those rioting for austerity in the past month. Basic idea: the fair share of U.S. citizens is 94% less than most of us use now, so reduce to our fair share. Go slowly by just reaching for 90% to start.

The Rules of 90% Reduction including 7 areas (quoted from the rules):

1. Gasoline. Average American usage is 500 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR. A 90 percent reduction would be 50 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR.
2. Electricity. Average US usage is 11,000 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR, or about 900 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTH. A 90% reduction would mean using 1,100 PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR or 90 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTH.
3. Heating and Cooking Energy - this is divided into 3 categories, gas, wood and oil. Your household probably uses one of these, and they are not interchangeable. If you use an electric stove or electric heat, this goes under electric usage.
4. Garbage - the average American generates about 4.5 lbs of garbage PER PERSON, PER DAY. A 90% reduction would mean .45 lbs of garbage PER PERSON, PER DAY.
5. Water. The Average American uses 100 Gallons of water PER PERSON, PER DAY. A 90% reduction would mean 10 gallons PER PERSON, PER DAY.
6. Consumer Goods. The best metric I could find for this is using money. A Professor at Syracuse University calculates that as an average, every consumer dollar we spend puts .5 lbs of carbon into the atmosphere. This isn’t perfect, of course, but it averages out pretty well.
7. Food. This was by far the hardest thing to come up with a simple metric for. Using food miles, or price gives what I believe is a radically inaccurate way of thinking about this. So here’s the best I can do. Food is divided into 3 categories: 70% local food, 20% dry bulk, and 5% wet goods.

There is oh so much more detail in the rules, and the Yahoo! group includes a spreadsheet set up to track reductions. I’ve been thinking that a chart of 7 thermometers would be a good way to track my sinking usage from my place somewhere below the American average down to my fair share. A compelling scoreboard might encourage my children to participate through their own motivation more than my nudging.

Nearly irrelevant final note: When I typed in the link for the Earth Day footprint calculator above, I typed “Death Day.” I type fast, and I sometimes find it interesting to see what comes out my fingers before my brain engages. This type, I stopped short. Is that how I see it? Somewhere inside, I must see it that way.