Does it really take 4-5gb RAM just to run my Macbook (M3 16gb)? Can I lessen it? And why is WindowServer consistently 400-500mb when Activity Monitor is the only thing open?

Screenshot: https://ibb.co/Kjstb4P6

Macbook M3 (non-pro chip) 16gb RAM

I cleared the cached RAM but it immediately went back up to ~1gb.

"Memory Used" is consistently 4-5gb with only Activity Monitor open.

WindowServer is consistently using 400-500mb with only Activity Monitor Open.

This is also after I quit all the widgets that run in the background automatically that I will never open (NewsWidget, WeatherWidget, e.t.c....).

So is a little more than 1/4 of my RAM really what it takes just to run the laptop without anything open? Anything I can do to lessen this?