Food Intake and Packaging

For the first part of this post I am calculating the food and drink I consumed, my caloric intake, and how much energy and water went into producing it.

Food/Drink for one day:

Coffee (black)-Calories: 2, Contents: 2 cups of water and 1 scoop of instant coffee, Packaging: Plastic Folgers container and ceramic coffee cup; Total water used: 8 cups, Total energy used: 800 watts, Preparation: self-made.

Yogurt-Calories: 115, Contents: 4 oz, Packaging: Plastic w/ Aluminum lid; Total water used: 12 cups, Total energy used: 300 watts, Preparation: pre-made.

Salad with tomatoes, oil and vinager dressing-Calories: 33, Contents: 3.7 oz, Packaging: none-farmer's market, Total water used: 15 cups (including rising salad and tomatoes, Total energy used: 1000 watts, Preparation: self-made. Oil and Vinager Dressing-Calories: 43, Packaging: two plastic containers, total water used: 2 cups, total energy used: 500 watts, Preparation: self-made.

Water (tap from well)-Calories: 0, Packaging: none, total water used: 1 liter, total energy used: 2,400 watts (electric from well system).

Tomato Soup-Calories: 150, Packaging: 1 can, Contents: 1 cup, total water used: 15 cups, total energy used: 3,000 watts (mostly from production of can), Preparation: pre-made.


*To determine how much water is used to make a certain product I have used the following sources:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_water_does_it_take_to_make_a_plastic_bottle

**To determine how much energy is used to make a certain product I have used the following sources:
http://www.dearbornswcd.org/plastic%20bags%20campaign.pdf

http://www.pacinst.org/topics/water_and_sustainability/bottled_water/bottled_water_and_energy.html

http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/162215-chart-how-many-watts-needed-run-most-common-appliances.html

***To determine calories I am utilizing the information listed on the product and the following sources:
http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/1400/14214/Food.aspx

For the next section I am going to list portable items, the packaging, and the energy and water used in production and packaging.

Purse: no packaging, came with recycled paper stuffing, estimating 200 watts, 1 liter of water.

Cellphone: plastic container, 8000 watts, 5 gallons of water for single production of phone and container and charge, battery 6 volts, 200 watts, 1/2 gallon of water.

Pen: plastic with some metal, 200 watts, 2 liters, for production of set of pens and thin plastic wrap bag.

Ceramic mug: 6000 watts, 1 gallon of water for production.

Sources used:
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=24437
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_(electricity)
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=3
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/00ccdb/cc00_tabA9.pdf