Reducing runtime memory usage in Cpython interpreter

[david_the_graower]

I'm running python on an embedded Linux system with a limited amount of main memory.

Is there any techniques that I can use to reduce system memory used by Cpython.
I'm presently using Python 2.7, but will be transiting to Python 3.8.

In top I see:
VIRT RES SHR
6.1m 3.8m 2.2m

for the trivial script:

import time

while True:
time.sleep(1)

The actual scripts that I run are taking about 30MB.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Larz60+]

python 2.7 has been obsolete since Jan 1, 2020
Load 3.10 (current version) and see if problems persist, if so ask again.

[david_the_graower]

python 2.7 has been obsolete since Jan 1, 2020
Load 3.10 (current version) and see if problems persist, if so ask again.

This not a helpful response. I know the statuses. I cannot change the version of the interpreter.
Please be helpful.