Week Three and Thanksgiving

The third week of the project was probably my worst week. I guess I thought I did a pretty good job with week two and forgot to think about it as much on week three. I did well with the not-eating-meat part of the project as well as the water and electricity parts (including turning off my roommate's room lights and the tv when she wasn't there!) but I did terribly with the trash part. I guess I was discouraged after feeling sick and throwing away so many tissues and other trash. Thanksgiving was also difficult. I did eat the free range turkey my family made, but I made an effort not to use the paper plates my family used throughout the week in efforts to limit the amount of dishes they had to wash. So I used other plates and washed them which made me think: is it better to use paper plates and throw them out or use water to wash plates? I decided water to wash plates because I could limit the amount of water I used whereas the whole paper plate would go to a landfill or wherever. It was also difficult to watch the amount of electricity that I used and that my family used. We had twelve people staying at our house and I know we used so much electricity it's scary. Overall I think that I have decreased the amount of electricity, water, and garbage that I have used. I haven't had a bad day yet, but I can imagine the one thing that I will probably fall back on is the water usage for my stressful-day shower. Also, I would like to continue eating a mostly meat-free diet but I think that I will be up for eating the occasional free range chicken or beef product. I think now I'll always take recognition of the amount of garbage, meat, water, and electricity that I'm using. The difficult part will be permanently changing my actions to permanently use less.

The Last Week... which was last week.

So, this is coming more than a little late, but it gives me the chance to tell about this week as well.
The last official week of the sustainability project went well. I hardly drove at all, and continued with my limitations on energy and food consumption. But, this week I spent Thanksgiving with my family in Houston--my first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian. My parents already knew about my recent eating habits, but I hadn't told my grandparents or the rest of my family. I thought I could slide by unnoticed when I didn't take a slice of turkey, but I was wrong. The first thing my mom said when she came through the door was, "Hey, that turkey smells great. Too bad Kate doesn't eat meat anymore." Thanks Mom. My aunts asked me if I had an eating disorder and my grandpa tried to convince me that turkey wasn't really meat. By the end, I think they accepted my reasoning.
I did a little catching up with some old friends in Austin on Friday. We decided to see a movie and I suggested "Fuel" because I heard that it was only showing in 4 theaters in the US and depending on how many people go to see it will determine if it will be shown nation-wide. The movie was eye opening. It was all about America's dependence on oil and the importance of alternate energy, like wind and solar power, but mostly biodiesel. Josh Tickell was the director and "star" of the film and his mom, who had a part in the film, was there to meet everyone after the showing. It was amazing! I was like, "I just saw you on that screen, and now here you are in real life." It was crazy. There wasn't many people in the theater, so we got to have a real conversation. She really stressed getting the movie out there through word of mouth.
So, here I am--Go see Fuel! Seriously.

Last week! (a little late)

Sorry this is coming late but I drove home Monday night passed out and forgot about school.

But now I have remembered now that I have preached sustainability and being environmentally friendly to the entire family all day today. The last week of the project came more natural to me than the previous weeks even though it was for a longer time I found it easier to be responsible and be more sustainable. As far as energy usage was concerned I lived in the dark for most of the four days I worked on the project. Unless I was doing homework I didn't use the computer, and invented ways to get light. Like carpooling you can share stuff like light, I went to my friends room or the common room when I needed to do something. As far as water consumption is concerned my quick showers are pretty much habit and I still reuse a water bottle. I have made sure to minimize my waste in every way possible from snacking less, to reusing everything I could. It was nice to sit back and talk to the family about my classes and I enjoyed telling them what a big difference awareness could make.

In the end after the project has ended I think I will continue the project in my life. Just the fact that I CAN make a noticable difference through simple actions has somewhat inspired me to do my part. In the beginning we talked about the deffinition of sustainability, and after working and thinking about my project I would have to say Sustainability is the awareness of our actions, the reduction of the impact that we have 0n the environment that we occupy, and the education of others around us toward that goal.

third week

This last week went pretty well. I went to Austin and to my surprise i ate NO meat!! I could not believe it and neither could my friends. I did get tempting at time but i was able to survive the whole weekend. My friends and i went to lunch on sunday and i convinced them to take their own boxed for the food they never finish. Throughout the whole week I used much less light than I usually use.

hmmm

Well, as far as my eating habits this past week, I let myself down a few times. My mom threw my dad a surprise party for his birthday and we had a great dinner... with steak and chicken. I guess my carnivore behavior was to prevent my mom from feeling disrespected, plus I knew how great the cooks were. Then another day, I was very hungry and didn't have time to make a meal but I didn't have anything quick to make... except for some Chef Boyardee meat ravioli that turned about to be really disgusting. And lastly, my roommate wanted me to try some of her meat from her Lean Cuisine, and I was pretty impressed I must say. I guess it was kind of a downhill week for my vegetarianism since I started with my dad's party, but those were the only times I had meat so at least I didn't have it every day I guess. So the cold weather has stuck around the past couple of weeks, and our heater has not been as warming as it could be and I am in the process of making a very warm blanket. Aaaand for electricity and water usage, I'd have to say it's about the same as last week, I can't really recall any vast improvements or situations that arose, but there still is some let down in the lack of improvement. Well, I guess if you weigh it out I didn't do so well this past week, but hey, it's a process. Never get discouraged!

Week Three

Week three was actually pretty easy for me I have gotten pretty used to most of the changes I have made. The hardest thing for me this week was just doing all three things at the same time and thinking about all of them. I would be thinking about how I was proud of myself for not eating meat and forget to turn off the water. I think only this can come with doing things over a long period of tme and getting used to thinking about them all the time. Another hard thing for me in the beginning was cutting down my showers because I love to take long showers. Over these three weeks I have been able to consistently take 5-6 minute showers, even if they are really hot when it's cold outside I consider this a big acomplishment for myself. I have learned to try and use light in places where the lights are already on instead of using my own light, and it really hasnt been a big adjustment, and ive tried to keep my driving to a minimum only driving when it's absolutely necesarry.

My Journal Entry, Week 3

And here we are.

Well, for starters, let me say that this week was probably the worst in terms of me being a good vegetarian. The first day there was the turkey dinner in the commons, and although I DID have two very small pieces of turkey, I stopped there. The next day, I ate a little bit of this shrimp thing, and on my third day I ate a bit of a different shrimp thing, but that was it, I promise!

So, all embarrassing vegetarian-related confessions aside, it was a relatively normal week in regards to the electricity part. Nothing much changed from last week.

Finally, the water thing was pretty good too. First day, I took a 7-ish minute shower, the second day was 5 minutes, the third day was 3 minutes, and, actually, the fourth day was phenomenal because I was so exhausted from that day that I completely crashed at 8 o' clock in the evening and forgot to shower completely. So THAT was a record. ;)

All in all, this actually was a good experience for me, even if it was really annoying at points. :) I felt like I really was making a difference and I believe that this project will help me automatically be more environmentally conscious in the future!!

Before and After

I have always known that making clothes was hard, but making clothes from your own, at home, found materials is even harder. I remember last semester going through clothes and donating them to Goodwill, so the truth is, I now have a thinner closet with few items I would like to recreate. At an auction I sold  few dresses that I had made by hand and one vintage dress I fitted for a customer. The past few weeks I have stared into my closet and gone mad in thinking, "I have to create sustainable clothes, but not only that, I have to go into my own creativity to make something sustainable." I think it's fair to day sustainability starts with a thought, then action. But when the resources are limited, how do stay sustainable without using too much or wasting? This is what I had to do, but in a smaller less important sense, in that this was just my closet, not the end of the world. I shook the big question in my head and thought simple. For example, a plain white tee. I must for anyone's wardrobe. But how can I make it different? Simple: Take scissors and experiment. Thankfully, I have a lot of plain white tees. But it only took me a few tries to get what create look I wanted.

P.S. Vegetariansism, not doing too well. Last week had fish, then something in my dressing/dip had chicken. Totally felt sick too...this happened in high school when I was vegetarian, and I came into contact with beef and threw up on my prom dress when on sixth street. It was very classy... The composting however is going well, and I am happy to say that the whole family has joined in it.

Natalie K

Oh, the Sustainability!

as i started this faux-vegetarian lifestyle for a few days a week, i was quite unsure of whether it would stick or not. i didnt eat very much meat before-hand so i figured it wouldn't be too much trouble. as i realized these past few weeks that i was very wrong, and it was difficult, it's finally become habit for me not to eat meat when i don't really want it. i ate very little meat at the turkey fry this past weekend and no meat at our apo (community service organization) thanksgiving potluck. although this week is thanksgiving, i decided to quit meat, cold turkey.

i have come to be in a very good habit of saving water and electricity: i don't turn my lights on until night and even then it's just two lamps, i turn the water off while brushing my teeth, i took 2, two minute showers this week and when doing the dishes, i am turning off the water between dishes. it's quite neat knowing that my small changes are making a difference.

as for the recycling project...i finally contacted the manager of my office about it! i have to submit a "green" proposal to them laying out a plan for the recycling project and how to move forward in the "greening" process from there. i know everyone in the office will be just as excited to recycle...

Week 3-- The End, But Not Really

I can honestly say my lifestyle has changed drastically since the beginning of this project. Not only are my showers shorter (7 minutes), but I also practically never turn on my lights (unless it's to read at night), and YES, I kept myself from creating waste.

I think most importantly these past three weeks have taught me how to be more aware of my consumption habits, which like someone else said, was the whole point to this project. And despite the project being over, I've noticed I still find myself thinking twice before doing anything that does not contribute to sustainability. This goes to show just how much of an impact this project as been for me, and I'm really glad to have learned so much. I hope to from now on always be aware of my consumption habits, and if anything improve further.

Week the Last

Food
-I was planning on going four days in a row without eating meat, but wouldn’t you know it? Day 2 was Thanksgiving turkey dinner. And while I realized at the time that refusing the turkey would have truly shown my devotion to this cause, I couldn’t help giving in. I added on an extra day to the end of the week to make up for it, but I still feel guilty.
-The commons had a tofu stir fry dish on day 3, which I decided to take since I couldn’t find much else. I hadn’t had tofu in a very long time and I was surprised how tasty and satisfying it was. If anything, this experiment is reminding me of all these vegetarian options that I forgot about
-I’ve been learning that if you look hard enough, there’s always something vegetarian and good in the commons. I found in a small container in the salad bar a really good pasta salad with all of these vegetables in it. I know that if I was eating meat and didn’t have space to fill on my plate, I would have passed over it. I’m not sure why they hide all of these good vegetarian choices.
-They had chicken tacos on day 3, which I really wanted, but I resisted. I told the woman behind the counter that I wanted everything except for the tacos and she gave me an incredulous look and said “except the tacos???” I didn’t take it personally, but I found it interesting how she was sort of judging me for not eating the meat. I bet a lot of people have problems with that.

Trash
Going wasteless this week was somewhat of a disaster. By day 2 I had a fairly bad cold, and despite my using my cloth napkins, resisting gum, composting leftover food and reusing when I can, I couldn’t help but use lots and lots of tissues and packaging around allergy and cold medication. I went to the Cove to get tea with my own mug, but still had to throw away the wrapper around the tea bag and the receipt they forced me to take. I find it interesting that I seem to be wasting more while trying to go wasteless and being sick than I waste when I’m well and not trying to go wasteless.

Compost
I’m actually doing better every week with composting. My container is brimming with leftover food, banana peels and potato skins as I type this. Even some of my friends who live on my floor are coming by with some food to compost, which makes me feel good.

Epilogue
Doing this lifestyle project was no easy feat. A lot of things I consumed or wasted without thinking about I was forced to take for granted. Yet despite its difficulty, in another light, my life didn’t change significantly at all. Yes, it might have been hard to be conscious of not wasting, but the task was not nearly as daunting after I got used to it. I still had three satisfying meals a day, I still could go wherever my friends went and I could still do almost everything I had done in the past, though perhaps with some slight modifications. Although it wasn’t a piece of cake, ultimately the lifestyle project really didn’t change my lifestyle that much, which I think is a good thing. Being sustainable is not as unattainable or even as irritating as it seems. I think I’m going to stick with some of my strategies even after these three weeks are over. I’m going to continue to use my cloth napkin, I won’t ever use the Styrofoam takeout again and I won’t always eat meat whenever it’s available to me. I will going to go back to chewing gum, I decided, but I’m going to start buying the kind that you pop out from the one package like Dentyne Ice instead of the stick gums from Extra that are each individually wrapped in foil and again in paper. I never thought how wasteful that was before. So yeah, I think this three-week experiment has really shown me some useful tools that I can use for the rest of my college career and even my entire life. In the words of will.i.am, it’s a new day!

The Final Week (dun dun dunnnn!!!)

Overall, what I've found to be difficult about this project is that it is based on the assumption that I was not already environmentally conscious in my daily living. I will definitely admit that I discovered a multitude of ways to live more sustainably that I had never known before, and I will most definitely incorporate those into my lifestyle now that I have been enlightened.

At the beginning, I was very enthusiastic about this project, and did everything in my power to throw absolutely nothing away, to use as little electricity and water as possible, and to abstain from meat. However, it became harder and harder to progress as much as I did the first week because I had to improve in areas I had already improved before this project. I lost enthusiasm pretty quickly.

So this past week, I messed up quite a bit, and in trying to make up for it, all of my days just blended together. I just tried to consume less and dispose of less in general instead of paying attention to specifics.

Living sustainably is hard. Much more than I expected. Honestly, I feel pretty disappointed in myself for how easily I persuaded myself to justify my wasteful actions, but I realize that that is a vital part of revamping my lifestyle. I won't be able to live a "green" lifestyle tomorrow or next week, but I'll change one habit at a time until I get there.

Lifestyle Project Week Three

Looking back before I started the lifestyle project I remember being afraid that I wouldn't be able to successfully complete week three of our project, but this past week instead of completing four days of the lifestyle project I accidently completed five. It wasn't till I finished taking an extremely short shower on friday night that I remembered that had already finished my four required days. This made me realize that being sustainability really revolves around changing our bad habits which are usually the result of laziness.

In these past three weeks eating foods that are sustainable to this area wasn't to hard, but since the only fruits that are sustainable to the Austin area in the fall are melons I encountered a slight problem because I'm allergic to melons. So on my sustainable eating days I usually stuck to eating vegetables instead of fruit. Cutting out highly processed foods wasn't to hard, except that I am used to drinking a diet coke almost everyday.

Over the past three weeks I realized that most of the waste I created stemmed from my school work or snacking. Cutting out highly processed foods eliminated most of the waste I created from snacking. And  to cut back on my paper waste I've tried to save the paper and write my grocery lists on them.

Cutting back on my electricity was hard based on how much I multitask. I usually study in my room at night, so I tried to do most of  study during the day when I didn't need to have the  light on. I also stopped watching tv when I was on the the computer. 

3rd Week

So here we are on the third week and things are looking up. On the food, I have finally decided that the cheese pizza in the commons isn't too bad and the soup is good too. The no meat thing isn't actually that hard I just have to plan ahead for everyday. I just sometimes aren't able to eat the meal I want, but I can still find something to satisfy my hunger. Starting out on this project, I thought it was the end of the world that I had to cut down on eating meat, but it really isn't this bad.

The showering is pretty easy compared to all. My showers have been knocked down to between 5 minutes and 10 minutes. I really am surprised with myself in how I shorten the showers down. The showering allows me to cut down on my time and be more efficient daily. This helps me have more time in between my kickboxing class and my nations and nationalism class, in which in one hour, I have to shower, eat, and get everything ready for class. 

The no waste thing has also been a semi-success for the week, (I ended up cheating when I bought myself icecream) but all in all I have been pretty good at not making trash. The lifestyle project has caused me to create a pattern which will allow me to cut down on the trash and energy I produce long after the class is over.

week 3 of lifestyles project

The third week of the lifestyles project was more successful than I was expecting. I have found myself being extremely more conscious of my actions and I think that is precisely what this project was intended to do. I think that this will help me in the future also because even when the project is not going on,  all the information I have learned about sustainability and sustainable actions have really opened my eyes to all the simple things that I can do to save just a little bit of energy or water. I am going to try to only eat meat a couple times a week and eat much more fruits and vegetables. Also, I am going to encourage my family back at home to shop locally and to also check out the farmer's market sometime soon. For the simple logistics of the week- I was actually successful in my attempt to be vegetarian for 4 days, I really cut down my showers (they were all mostly around 5 minutes), and I didn't drive except when I went to work.

week three

Like the people who've posted so far, I'm trying to evaluate what's going to stick.

I don't think short showers will, honestly. It's something that I'm going to have to work really hard on to keep up with. Electricity will, I think. It's something I pay a lot of attention to now.

Being a vegetarian might, in the long run. I already can figure out what I'm going to eat without much trouble, as opposed to the first week where sometimes I would wander around the Commons for a few minutes trying to figure out what I was going to do. In the first couple of weeks, on no-meat days my mantra was 'It's okay. You can have it another day' and I noticed this week that my attitude was less that I was being deprived and more that I was doing something that would have a positive impact on myself and the world around me.

Except when there was bacon in the vicinity. Then it was sort of hopeless.

So I think that it's going to be off and on for quite a while. But I think the attitude shift is the important thing. That's what really gets anyone to quit doing anything. The past three weeks have gotten me to look at what's important to me, and to follow through on that in my behavior. It's a good feeling.

I'm so proud of my junk art. It's something I always say I'm going to do, and never get around to. But in the past week I've finished two projects and am almost done with a third. One of them is awful, but the other two. So cool.

The third week of the sustainability project was actually the most difficult for me. I didn’t think this would be the case because I felt like everything was going so well, but I guess I didn’t really understand how much change the third week would bring about.


The biggest challenge for me this week was the temperature change. It has been the most difficult thing for me all three weeks, but it was really tough this week. I will put it to you this way; it was so tough that I had to wear a jacket to bed. Anyway, the temperature was set at 63 degrees. I had a lot of restless nights, but I was fighting through it. One of my suitemates, however, was not having an easy time. I had thought everything was going ok, but apparently that wasn’t the case because on Thursday she decided to adjust the temperature. Though I was disappointed that she didn’t talk to me about it first, I could understand why she adjusted the temperature. She apologized, but I insisted that an apology wasn’t necessary because we inhabited the same area and I could understand why it would be hard for her to live in such uncomfortable conditions. Even though she turned the temperature up just three degrees, I could feel the difference and enjoyed it knowing that I failed. Overall, I was disappointed that the temperature adjustment thing didn’t work out over the entire three weeks. But honestly, it is hard for me to be too disappointed because I felt like I did a good job going out of my comfort zone. I am extremely cold-natured, and I am impressed that I was able to tolerate the temperature shift for even two weeks. Truly, it is hard for me to expect others to want to sacrifice their comfort for my project…

Just like the previous weeks, my biggest victory has been found in my short shower times. I actually took a 3.5 minute shower, which is amazing for me. The longest shower I took this week was 6.5 minutes, and the average of the rest was roughly 5.5 minutes. I finally stopped cutting my legs during speed shaving, too! As I have said in my previous journals, I am one of those people that usually take way too long in the shower. In a sense, I feel reformed because I honestly have gotten used to taking shorter showers. I am going to try to make shorter showers a permanent part of my lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean I will never take long showers. I might need to take at least a few… But, I truly believe it is doable to incorporate shorter showers into my lifestyle.

I also had to wash clothes this week, so that wasn’t too good. I washed two loads of laundry but instead of wasting energy by using the dryer, I just had them air dry in my room. It actually was pretty nice because we set it up to where half of our common room could be used to dry clothes, and I also saved money by not using the dryer. Win-win situation honestly…I unplug my computer anytime it isn’t in use now, which I never used to do prior to week two. I probably have wasted a significant amount of energy simply by not unplugging my computer. I feel a bit repetitive, but I used sunlight rather than room lights to during the day. I like sitting by the window while doing my homework. It is nice. I didn’t use the microwave this week at all as well.

I did well in the food aspect of the project as well. I survived being a vegetarian for four days, but it wasn’t really that enjoyable for me. Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoy vegetables a lot. I just enjoy eating meat as well. I don’t think there is anything wrong eating meat as long as you balance it out by eating other healthy things such as vegetables and grains. It is all about balancing out your diet. Like I have said before, I wish I could say something dramatic about food. I just really haven’t had issues. I am thinking that is a good thing!

third time's a charm

Week 3 has definitely been easier than I thought it would be. I think Week 1 was probably the most challenging but by the time I started planning ahead and thinking of more sustainable ways I could do something, it was a lot easier. Week 3 almost felt like a breeze. I guess I didn't realize how easy it is to change a few things about my life in order to become more sustainable. Taking a shorter shower, turning the water off when I brush my teeth, lowering the heat, composting...those are all really simple things that I can do. I think the biggest thing was just changing the way I thought about things. It is really easy to get in a routine and it's a lot harder to break that routine. However, now that I have gotten used to using less water and energy and producing less waste, it has become my new routine. Yes, I did have a few slip ups this week but I have begun to learn from them so that I am better prepared the next time. I really hope that I can keep up this project for the rest of my life and I think that I will. If just a few minor changes in my life can make a difference, think about what we all can do if we just work together.

week 2.

After completing my second week of bettering my lifestyle for the environment, I have gained even more respect for the idea of sustainability. The changes implemented were not as hectic as the first week, but the duration of three days seemed to last much longer than an additional day. The only real obstacle that seemed to be troublesome was not eating meat. I never noticed how much meat I actually consume. Like I saw in an earlier post the film on corn was really eye opening. It helped me become more aware of what I was actually eating and has also effected people around me just by casual conversation with them about it. Lowering my energy consumption has been more of a fun lifestyle than a hassle. Over all this project has been a fun combination of learning and using concepts that I learn in class in my life. 

Week 2

So far my project is going smoothly Week 2 was spent constructing my recycle bin. The actual cost to purchase all the materials was actually a little bit cheaper than I had anticipated. I have actually modified my design. I maintained the can crusher idea which I feel is a great way to save some space. All I did was cut a long oval shaped hole in a piece of plywood. Then I spray painted it the typical blue recycle bin color and fastened some clamps onto the back side of it. This means I can attach the relatively small recycling receptacle on any ledge. On the bottom of the bin, I have attached hooks which allow for a bag to be hooked from the underside of the plywood. I have thought about an alternative to a typical plastic bag, but as of now I don't have the money to purchase any more materials, but I'm thinking about a washable bag that could be reused over and over. So for now I track the progress that we make as a group effort. People here seem to be excited about the notion of a recycling program in our house which is exciting!

Semana Dos

Week 2 was a success. With little trouble I've been able to keep the air off, eat the tiniest amount of meat and refrain from driving. One reason I haven't noticed myself wanting to change the way I've been performing these tasks is partly due to the busyness of school. I guess with my mind being elsewhere, I have been living more sustainable (weird, I know). Another likely possibility is that before I consume items like water, food, groceries, etc. I've been more and more mindful of the origin of these items. This has really helped reduce any resistance to becoming more sustainable. Also, watching King Corn last week was a shot of reality. I had no idea that the majority of corn grown in the U.S. can't be eaten off the cob and that the corn is purely grown to be processed. wow

Week 2

This week my three days of cutting down on water/electricity use and waste production was relatively successful. I have learned that its pretty easy for me to reduce my electricity consumption by just spending more of my time being outside and active, in the gym, playing soccer, or taking a nap. When im outside being active I spend less time sitting on the computer with the lights on in our room and have less of an urge to snack. So in the end being active encourages less energy usage, and we are healthier for it in the process. Another thing that I learned this week is that everything comes in a wrapper and I love snacking. Managing my waste production has been and still is my toughest area of the lifestyle project. Alot of cutting back on waste is about planning ahead. So when im not on my lifestyle project and i go buy all these snacks and they sit on my shelf its quite tempting to eat them and then u get nothing other than a bunch of trash. So my snacking habbit has frustrated me a bit this week but my roommate had a good theory and that was that I eat because im bored. So I figure I need to find something productive to do with all this freetime I have nowadays. Other than trash I have continued to find it easy to use less water, I can walk in and out of the shower and 2-3 minutes and not run the sink untill i need to rinse. I use the water fountain alot more now to fill up a water bottle instead of bying the 28 packs of ozarka water bottles that I used to use. As far as energy consumption goes this week while I was turning things off I thought why do we have two AC units on full blast all the time, so i turned them off and opened up the window and just like that it was cold. This computer is the only thing that I really use now that consumes electicity, besides my alarm clock and my phone charger. So overall I am pretty happy about this week. I feel that I have continued to lessin my impact on the environment and it will be hard to improve upon next week. I welcome the challenge though.

Wasteful Week 2

So here is what I've discovered. Saving electricity and water is relatively easy. All I have to do is turn things off when I don't need them. No problem. And individually, it's not that hard to avoid meat and to not throw anything away for 3 days. The problem here is doing them at the same time.
I am willing to try foods other than meat, but the problem is that when I'm in the commons deciding what looks edible or not, it's usually the vegetarian dish that freaks me out the most. So when I bravely choose to get the squash instead of the chicken nuggets, I convince myself that it's okay because it will be healthier for me. But when I try it and I feel the need to spit it back out onto my plate before I barf, it wouldn't matter if I lost 5 pounds from eating the squash. I just couldn't do it; I had to throw it away.
One of my favorite snacks are my Special K bars. And I always think "Hey, I can have a granola bar because it's not meat!" But then I remember that I'd have to throw away the wrapper, so I don't eat it. This is especially hard in the morning when I want to bring one to class for breakfast, but I can't. I actually gave up halfway through the 2nd day and decided to try not to throw anything away for another half-day.
So I didn't do very well this week; I didn't have a lot of willpower to resist a few luxuries. However, I was really excited because my suitemates have started to use less electricity. They used to leave lights on and sometimes even the TV for an hour or two when they weren't even in the room, so I finally just started going into their room and turning off their lights. When they discovered what I was doing, they laughed and began to turn off their lights and TV more. :)

Week 2

So, I didn't do so hot in the transportation area. I drove myself to Austin on Friday to get my hair cut. Also, I haven't been saving as much water as I used to, seeing as I've gone back to showering everyday. But, that will soon change. I might buy this water-free shampoo stuff that my quadmate was telling me about. We'll see how that goes.
Although I failed in transportation and water usage, I've gotten better at knowing my personal portions of food. Many-a-time have I been President of the Clean Plate Club. Mom and Dad would be so proud. On the subject of food, I have also gotten my whole quad contributing to the compost. I started a compost bucket for everyone to thrown in their peels, rinds, etc. Which reminds me--I should probably take that to the compost sometime soon...

Week 2

This weekend I went to Austin again. Though someone from Austin came all the way to Georgetown to pick me up and take to Austin, so I failed in energy use. My vicotry this week is that i accomplished reducing the amount of meat i ate. Watching how the cows were being treated when watching King Corn really affected me, so it was not really heard hard to reduce my intake of meat. Also I also do not blow dry my hair as much. I used to shower everyday in the morning to dry my hair. I now shower early in the night so my hair drys naturally and i wont have to sleep with my hair wet cause i get really cold.

not so weak 2!

You know, I think I did pretty well this week. With some help from my roommate, we made a great impact on cutting down to minimal light usage and unplugging appliances we don't need plugged in all day. Also, I actually cut down my shower time by an average of two minutes, which I thought was a pretty good step since I really enjoy my once-every-couple-days showers. My eating habits are doing just fine I am happy to say, though I did splurge on some Whataburger and the divine McAlister's club sandwich, but those were my only meats for the week! And as we all felt this past week, it got a lot colder. And my heater was not on as high of a temp as I wanted to put it on, and believe it or not I am alive. But yeah, I'm looking forward to keeping the heating down since I'm pretty sure my apartment doesn't circulate air well anyway and I could definitely save some money. Way to go week 2!

Oh, what a second week

As I continue my quest to cut out meat for three days this week, I hit an interesting "bump in the road." Due to some scheduling conflicts, my mom's side of the family had our Thanksgiving get-together this past Saturday. Not planning ahead too well, that fell together with my last no-meat day. I am not a huge fan of Thanksgiving turkey, but it was quite a struggle to not pick at the turkey while waiting to eat dinner together. Since there were two other vegetarians at the gathering, we had some vegetarian options to substitute for the turkey stuffing and gravy and such. I gobbled these right up as they were quite delicious and soon after eating way too much of all the sides, I didn't miss the turkey at all. Other than this interesting habit change, cutting meat out has become a nice habit I have come into.

I took a four minute shower this week and I'm pretty proud of that. Still going for the solid two minutes, but I still have another week. My electricity usage has been cut way down because i dont leave my laptop charger plugged in all the time. Instead, I plugged it into a power strip and turn the strip on when I need it and off when I'm through.

Still working with the office manager to start the recycling program because I'm determined to be successful here. The employees here throw away way too many recyclable items and it can easily be changed.

My Journal Entry, Week 2

Electricity:

Throughout these three days, I did pretty much the same things as last week; I tried to stay in public places as much as possible, taking advantage of the lights that would be on whether I was there or not as opposed to being in my room where I'd be using more electricity for just myself, I challenged myself to only have one light in the room at a given point in time, and I'd rush over to turn the bathroom lights off whenever one of my suitemates would leave it on (AGAIN) like my ever-loving life depended on it (jk ;)...just the usual. hehe...

Food:

I was a bit better than last week at being a vegetarian, probably since I didn't see a whole lot during the past three days that was meat-related that I particularly wanted. I DID get awfully sick of eating pretty much only cheese pizza and salad for three days straight, though...only one slip-up for the week --- and it was kinda deliberate...there were Caesar chicken wraps today and I was so tired of the same old pizza and salad routine that I went ahead and got one. It wasn't that much chicken though, and I avoided the "Cuban Rubbed Chicken" (that looked pretty good to me) like the plague at dinner. :)

Water:

This is the change that definitely annoyed me the most this week.

The first day, I got a four-minute shower in, and the second day I took a three-minute one. The third day I took a five-minute shower to wash my hair twice because I had a special event to go to the next day.

Looking at those sentences I just typed, I feel like I'm living like a monk or something.
It's just that I want to relax, not simply get clean. Showers USED to be therapeutic....grrmff.

That was my Week 2. :P

Week the Second

Day 1

Food
-Not much has changed since last week, really. Yeah there are certain meat dishes I sometimes looked longingly at today, but each vegetarian meal has ultimately been very satisfying

Trash
-The cloth napkins I brought from home work like a charm. I can just stuff them in my pockets when I walk to the commons and it saves me the trouble of reaching across the table whenever I need a new napkin
-I really wanted coffee this morning after getting very little sleep the night before, but I need my coffee to be sweet and the only sugar I can use are the prepackaged squares, so no coffee for me. I guess I’ll have to find other ways to stay awake
-I also can’t have the awesome Texas-shaped waffles since it requires pouring the pre-made batter into the iron from a plastic cup and throwing the cup away. Oh well.

Day 2

Food
-Well, unfortunately for me, today was chicken fried steak day. It was hard to pass that up, but I prevailed. It can only get easier from here

Trash
-I had bad allergies today and had to bend the rules a bit to use some tissues. I felt guilty throwing those away, but I would have felt guiltier with snot all over my face.
-I’ve been noticing how abstaining from throwing anything away is revealing all of the dumb little things I’ve grown accustomed to. For instance I used to get a straw every meal for my soda/tea/water, and now I find myself getting bothered by the ice blocking the flow of the drink into my mouth. This is followed directly by me being bothered that I’m bothered by something as negligible and stupid as the efficiency of the flow of soda into my mouth. It’s an interesting range of emotions.
-The gum thing is still bothering me, but it’s getting a little bit more manageable. I’ve been thinking about switching to the kind of gum packaging where you just pop the little square from that plastic bubble sheet like Dentyne Ice instead of the individually wrapped stick gum I have now.

Day 3

Food
-Still no huge change or epiphany. I’ve actually noticed that I’ve been complaining less about the commons food than my meat-eating friends.
-They had shrimp etouffe today and I was debating whether shrimp and seafood counted for me under the category of meat. I decided that while fish might not be fed grain, overfishing is still an issue and I turned it down

Trash
-I decided to take the food out today and was able to do it without wasting anything. Instead of using the Styrofoam boxes and cups and plasticware, I used my newly purchased Tupperware container and a used glass Snapple bottle. I might have also stolen some silverware.

Compost
-I asked my friend if I could take her watermelon rinds for the compost after she ate like 5 slices. She thought it was a weird question, but after I explained she had no problem giving them to me.
-I’m doing better with recycling everything possible, but I’m doing a bad job of regularly visiting the compost. My room doesn’t smell yet, surprisingly, but I have a lot of gross moldy fruit above my refrigerator. I’m surprised my roommate hasn’t complained yet.

Week Two

Well, to start off with, I found this week definitley more of a challenge. Not creating waste is still my biggest problem. And if anything, I think it's my only problem. I've pretty much gotten used to using only one light in my room when necessary, and have cut my shower down to 8 minutes (when I don't wash my hair). As far as driving goes, I only ever really drive to Austin once a week, and rarely if ever, use my car any other time. But this not creating garbage thing... it's hard. For example, this weekend I broke this mirror I had on my wall. And on top of that, I had a bunch of cardboard packaging material left over from this painting I bought a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't help much either that I'm also guilty of wasting food (especially in the commons). I always try to get only what I know I'll eat, but sometimes I get crappy food without realizing it, and end up refusing to eat it. There have been a couple of improvements, such as I'll use paper over again if I can, or even use glass jars as drinking cups, but it's still all very much a working progress. Some other good news is that I'm no longer using any of the to-go boxes or cups anymore, I've quit drinking bottled water, and even cut down my laundry this week from 3 loads to two!

Week Two

Week Two has definitely been a challenge. 

The hardest part was not producing trash on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, when I went home for the weekend and went to two high school football games. I didn't eat any of the food at the concessions stand and took all of my drink bottles back to my house to recycle. The only difficulty was being aware of what I was doing and preparing for it. On Friday and Saturday, I ate before I left for the game and didn't eat again until I got home. I was still able to enjoy the game without the usual football food. The not producing trash has actually become somewhat of a contest with myself.

Now to the shortened showers and only one a day. The shortened showers has actually help me be on time for some of my classes in the morning that I am usually late to. The shortened showers is probably the easiest thing on my list.

Not eating meat for these three days was really difficult, because of what I saw as limited food choices. Now of course my food choices aren't limited. I saw myself eating a salad and cheese pizza for lunch on Wednesday and Friday. And for dinner I usually went out and chose something that would help me not eat meat. The hardest part was not eating meat on Saturday and being at home. Luckily, my Dad understood and provided an alternative.

The "Lifestyle Project" has become somewhat of a test with myself for me to see how I can handle these changes and so far I have been really proud with myself. 

week two

I hate short showers.

There.

I think it's because showers aren't really just about getting clean. Honestly, how dirty can I be spending all day in class? What showers are really about for me is relaxing. It's a ritual for me to get through classes, finish all my homework, deal with anything else that needs doing, and then go take a shower. It's my signal that I don't have anything else to worry about, at least till tomorrow. It's not about dirt, it's washing off all the stress from the day. All those worries down the drain. So trying to cut down on that time has been hard. Much harder than not eating meat. Partly because of my bath time associations and partly because I don't have some sort of factory farm equivalent for water use to make me turn the faucet off.

That said, I'm down from twenty-ish minutes to ten.

I noticed that I was having trouble with the electricity portion of the assignment because I tend to rely on my television for background noise. So I ended up unplugging the cable connector so I can't use it unless I'm watching a movie. The first day I could barely concentrate on anything. I kept grabbing the remote and turning on the TV without even thinking about it. But it got better. I also started unplugging my microwave. I only use it a few times a week and the clock is always wrong anyway.

I have my junk collection sitting on my desk now. There are little groups of things that work well together forming. I even started one of my junk art...things. I don't really know if I should call this one art. It's mostly just decorative. And pink. I found so much pink ribbon. It's incredible to me that anyone would leave that laying on the ground. It's not even dirty. Anyway, I think I'm aspiring to make it into one of those Things You Hang on Your Porch.

Week Two

First can I just let everyone know that I took a two minute and forty three second shower after swim practice this week? Even though I may not have washed all the chlorine-smell from my body, no length of shower ever seems to be able to, and I got clean enough-I promise. Other than water, this week I really tried to do a better job with the garbage part of the project and I was pretty impressed with the results. First, I didn't realize how many things are covered and wrapped and enclosed in plastic! I think that the recognition of the extent to which we throw things out without even taking note of what we're throwing out is incredibly important. For example, I'm almost out of the vitamins I take in the mornings. I wanted to open a new bottle because the old one doesn't have any of the flavors I like in it (they're gummi-bear vitamins...they're really good!), until I realized that the new bottle had a plastic seal around the lid. I was bummed that I had to eat some of the yellow-I don't know what flavor-ones but more bummed that I don't know how to approach the situation of packaging in general. For example, other than recycling, what will I do with the plastic from the vitamin bottles I buy in the future? And the wrappers on cough drops. And Day-Quil. And antiseptic spray for my throat?! (I was a little sick this week...) Now I take note of every single seemingly-minute piece of garbage that I throw out--or think about throwing out. I think that the recognition of the amount of garbage we produce is the first step towards permanently changing habits.

Once I made this realization I tried to act in a way to limit the amount of trash I had to come in contact to, more so than last week. I was thoroughly impressed by Starbucks. Although it's not a local company and in many ways is flawed, the ease at which one is able to limit garbage use there is incredible. I brought my own mug and got a piece of coffee cake on a plate, and I didn't use one napkin (so I guess my messiness is improving!). The woman who served me seemed genuinely upset that she didn't have any real silverwear to offer me but I assured her that I would reuse the plastic spoon she gave me. In addition to being so positive and helpful, she told me that anyone who brings their own mug gets ten cents off their beverage! How neat. It stinks that we might need monetary incentives to do things that seem right, but it's also really awesome that some places are able to provide incentives at all. Another example: I wanted to get some yogurt from the grocery store and realized that each little one-serving container of yogurt is garbage! Just buying a larger container that has multiple servings in it made me feel like I was doing my little part, small as it was, to save the world. And maybe I can use the container as a flower pot when all the yogurt's gone!

So this week, not only did I feel like I did a better job with reducing garbage, water and electricity useage, and meat consumption, I also felt that I gained a personal sense of well-being and a sense of accomplishment. I think that in this world where corporate and "big" successes reign, being able to gain some sense of accomplisment from something that seems much smaller and easier and just plain old better--like reducing waste--should put a huge smile on anyone's face.

Lifestyle Project Week Two

Ironically after our discussion on Tuesday about the over packaging of food in our society, I received a package from my mother which was completely full of overly packaged materials. Fortunately, none of them were wrapped in anything that wasn’t a recyclable material except for two twisty ties that I saved incase I lose the one to for my bread. Unfortunately, my mother has a tendency to over package anything she sends to me, so I also had to save the plastic envelope my package was in as well as the sheet of bubble wrap she used. I was able to keep the envelope intact even though she wrapped it in tape, so hopefully if I take the envelope and bubble wrap back to her over Thanksgiving break she will reuse it to send me something else.

second time around...

This past week has been pretty good. I have had a few setbacks, but I have definitely become a lot more aware of my energy and water consumption and waste production.

I went home this weekend for my sister's birthday and I told my family about the lifestyle project. I got a few weird looks from my sister but for the most part my family found the project to be really interesting. My mom even helped me find a way to take my breakfast on the car ride back to Georgetown without wasting a paper towel (she wrapped it in newspaper and then I recycled it when I got back). Because it was one of my no-waste days, I wrapped my sister's gift in reused paper and decorated it with markers. It was actually really fun to make my own wrapping paper and instead of throwing the paper away, my sister kept it because I had drawn pictures on it. I also thought of another neat way to reuse some of my waste. My other sister is an elementary school teacher so she is always collecting things for arts and crafts projects to do with her kids. Instead of throwing things away, I have tried to come up with some creative uses for them. For example, a straw can be cut into pieces, painted, and used as beads. Colored paper can be cut into pieces to make collages and empty plastic containers can be decorated to make banks, jewelry boxes, etc. So, I started a craft supply box so that my sister's class can reuse some of my waste. However, I have had a few issues with not producing waste. I have found that it is difficult to go to restaurants without producing waste (especially fast food). I just need to be a little more prepared by bringing my own cup, bringing Tupperware for leftovers, and bringing a cloth napkin.

I have been doing well in my heat reduction. I'm cold-natured but I have found it pretty easy just to throw on a sweater or sleep with an extra blanket or two.

I have definitely become a lot more conscious of my energy and water consumption. I realized that I usually leave my computer on all day so I have started trying to turn it off at night. I have also been trying to only turn on lights when I absolutely need to. Shortening my showers has been pretty easy and I try to only wash my hair every other day to keep my showers shorter.

Although I have had a few problems, I have learned from them. I think the most important thing is just to plan ahead and be prepared. I have noticed that a lot of my daily waste could be avoided if I had just thought about it a little more beforehand.

Week 2

This week overall has been pretty good. I have not had that much trouble not eating meat or anything and it has been pretty easy. My only problem is that I tend to get way too much food in the commons and never eat it all. I always tell myself that I will eat that much and then I never do. I don't think I ate any meat except once this week so I think i've been doing pretty well on the eating part. All of my showers this week were six minutes or under, but since its been cold outside the past couple days i've been having really hot showers to get me warm. I have been paying attention to how much I use the sink, and have been trying to turn it off while washing my hands and brushing my teeth as much as I can, but sometimes I forget and realize it right when I'm done! ugh. I drove once this week to a friends house but thats all. I have realized that I tend to just keep my laptop on all the time and never turn it off. Next week I will try to turn it off when I'm not using it. I have been using lights less though, and try to go where it is already bright. It is harder now though because it gets dark so early. I noticed that our fridge in our dorm room is on the lowest temperature that it will go and I turned it up so it wouldn't use as much energy. 

2nd Week of Lifestyles Project

This past week I have had a couple troubles regarding the project. First of all, my attempt to be vegetarian had a couple setbacks. One of my days that I had intended to not eat meat happened to be the day before my cross country meet. I was scared to not eat meat because typically the day before a meet I eat some kind of meat for a good source of protein. I was worried that this might affect my performance in some way so I decided to eat meat. Also, for some reason it seems that the days I try to stick to vegetarian ways, I am even more compelled to eat meat than any other day. I don't know why this is, maybe it's because I know I shouldn't be eating meat, so inevitably I want to eat meat even more. However, besides the meat consumption problem, I think that I have been doing pretty well with eating more fruits and vegetables. I have tried to get a vegetable into all my meals and try to also eat more fruit. This has been pretty successful overall.

I think that my water consumption has been pretty good. All my showers have been between 5-7 minutes and I have been making sure to not keep my faucet on for too long. I have noticed myself being much more conscious of my water consumption which I think is very good sign. Whenever I turn the water on, I try really hard to go as quickly as possible and use as least water as possible.

One other problem I had this week was transportation. One job that I have is driving this high school girl home from school and to cheer practice twice a week. Her mom lives quite a way down Williams on a ranch and so it takes more gas to drive her than I would typically use. I can't really see a solution for this problem because even if I were to take my bike, I would not be able to give her a ride. However, one way that I do try to save gas is by going on my errands when I am already driving her so that I do not have to make another trip out. Besides my work situation, I only drove one other time to the store to do grocery shopping with my roommate.

Lifestyle Project Week 2

Week Two of the Lifestyle Project proved to be a lot more challenging than I anticipated it being. First, I established in my first entry that I am extremely cold-natured. Changing the temperature by a mere three degrees was a challenge in itself last week, but this week was complete torture for me. The temperature was set at 68 degrees all week, which was not easy for me. I typically sleep with just one blanket, but this week I was covered up with literally three blankets! To some, this probably seems absurd because 68 degrees really isn’t that cold. But for me, it truly is because I just so happen to be one of the most cold-natured people in existence. Dramatic, I know. Anyway, even my suitemates were uncomfortable with our temperature setting. Last week, there was this tone of “We can do it! No big deal. Character development!” However, morale has seriously gone down. I honestly have my doubts about this upcoming week. It is going to be really hard to not adjust the temperature setting, but I really am going to try to deal with it. I will let you know how it goes next week…
On a more upbeat note, I am pretty impressed at how well I have been able to cut down on my shower time. I showered between six and seven minutes during every shower this week. I usually shower everyday, but in an attempt to conserve more water, I skipped one day this week. I didn’t feel like I had really done anything too strenuous that required that I shower, so it didn’t seem like a big deal to just not shower for one day. Plus, I figured it would be a good idea to not waste water if I really didn’t do much that day. I was pretty pleased with how well I did about showering, so I called my dad to brag about it. Like I said in the first journal, my dad has always given me a hard time about my excessive shower time. As you can imagine, he had a difficult time believing me when I said that I took a six minute shower. He said, “And this coming from the girl who considers 20 minutes a fast shower??” I am not surprised by his reaction because I truly am guilty of taking excessive showers. But strangely enough, I feel a sense of pride about how much I have decreased my shower length. Also, I have always been really good about turning the water off every time that I brush my teeth, so that really hasn’t been much of an adjustment for me. I didn’t wash laundry this week, but I have two loads to do next week…
Electrical conservation is going ok. I decided to unplug my computer at night. I don’t know why I never thought it was important to do that before, but I just realized it probably is a huge waste of electricity to leave it plugged in all night. Instead of relying on the lights so much, I have been opening the windows. I did that a lot last week and enjoyed it, so I kept that up this week. It is kind of nice to do your homework by the window. Distracting, but yet nice. I used the microwave twice this week. My mom sent me some food, so I warmed it up and enjoyed a nice home cooked meal. On to food!
Not eating meat for a few days isn’t easy, but I really am handling it well. I thought I would have a lot more problems last week, but I think I just was craving meat all last week. Really I think I have always eaten a relatively balanced diet, so it isn’t too difficult for me to sacrifice meat a few meals a week. I wish that I had a lot more dramatic information about food. I just really am doing fine. On my no meat days, I just ate salad, fruits, and cereal. I also had a bean taco one of those days. I love eating basically every type of fruit there is, so I feel like I have a lot of options despite the fact that I can’t eat meat.

LifeStyle Project: Week 1

For the lifestyle project I chose to be especially conscious of my usage of heat, food and transportation. For heating, I haven't had my cooling or heating system on in about 2 weeks and I intend to keep it off until the end of the semester. Lately it has been mild outside, so the temp is around 70 to 74 degrees in the apt. on a consistent basis. If it gets warm or stuffy I just open the doors and/or windows to get a nice cross breeze. My goal for food is to cut down my meat consumption. I already eat a small amount of meat but I'm trying to cut my meat consumption even lower, possibly become a peskitarian for a little bit. Also, living with a vegetarian makes eating less dairy/meat and more vegetables, raw fruit, etc. a lot more convenient. The next thing on the list is transportation. Instead of borrowing my roommate’s car to drive to Austin or the store, I'm hitching rides for the remainder of this semester and so far it has been a breeze. Last but certainly not least I would like to get some vegetables planted. Unfortunately, It's getting closer and closer to December and I have less and less time to spend at the garden. I'm not sure if planting vegetables at this time is a sensible plan. I have been thinking and I don't think anyone will be here for winter break to water/watch the plants--so this is still undecided.

Lifestyle Project Week One

The majority of my week consisted of organizing the specifics of my project. I live in the Phi Delta Theta house on campus and I have been aware of the amount of aluminum cans we go through and how we lack the proper recycling amenities that much of the other living residences on campus enjoy. I believe our house is one of two houses that does not have a recycling program. In this project I will be designing a recycling receptacle that will have cut outs that will only accept cans that have been crushed. A can crusher will be attached to the receptacle. Because the cans will have to be crushed will mean that the cans must be emptied minimizing the event of a smelly sticky recycling bin, and maximizing the amount of cans able to fit into the receptacle. On top of that who doesn't like to use a can crusher!
I haven't decided if i will use the facilities on campus (recycle dumpsters) to recycle the cans, or collect the cans and take them to the recycling center and make some money. I think the second would be a great incentive to my fraternity house to recycle more, so that in the process of consumption we are recycling what we were once wasting. Essentially I would much rather try to minimize multiple people's carbon footprint with this project. I may even encourage some people to adopt their own recycling patterns, who knows people might change if their is a reward involved. If we raise enough funds with the recycling program we could invest in more recycling bins and get every residence hall to recycle on a more regular basis, or have a recycling party! That will have to be decided in the near future. I'm excited to create my first prototype of this receptacle for some reason, I feel like it will be a productive and fulfilling project in the end!

Week One

I chose to account for the food I ate for the two days. I promise I eat alot healthier when I'm at home. I never realized the amount of junk calories I consume, but for me and my budget I feel like I can't afford to buy a bunch of groceries. I say this and realize thats just a cover for the fact that I just can't muster the energy to drive my self to the HEB. If I could ride my bike I think it wouldn't be as much of a chore... but how am I gonna carry a bunch of bags ridin' on the road trying to keep up with traffic. Also I looked at my water usage, again surprising I guess I just have to realize how much I actually consume on a regular basis. I took this class for this very purpose and look forward to learning ways I can teach others to have a smaller impact and maintain a homeostatic quality in my life while being aware of my actions to promote the future enjoyment of our resources we have on Earth.

Week One

I chose to work on garbage, electricity and water, and to eat efficiently for my lifestyle project. I spent a few months eating a vegetarian diet over the summer and at the start of this semester, but have since began eating meat again. I think that even just taking a few days each week to consciously not eat meat during this project will be more beneficial to me than the whole 4ish months I spent not eating meat. This sounds strange but I think more than before, now, I have more motivation to not eat meat. I have a reason that goes deeper than trying to be healthy. I'm more conscious about what I eat, even on the days that I am allowed to eat meat and have found myself choosing not to eat meat even when I'm allowed to. I wonder if with the combination of the project and watching peta videos I might just turn into an every-day vegetarian! The electricity and water part has been more difficult for me. I'm on the swim team and on days when we have double practices I take two showers a day. I've been trying to take quicker showers and I think I'm going to start timing them in the locker room...maybe get a little locker room competition going? But more than just thinking about cutting down shower time, I've started to think about water in general. It's almost depressing to me, now, when I walk into practice at 6am and find myself looking at such a large pool of chlorine-contaminated-undrinkable-unuseable water. There have to be better uses for all that water! The garbage part of the project has probably been the most difficult for me. Not only do I have prepackaged food (I live in McCombs so when I want to avoid the commons I'm limited to using a microwave), but I'm a really messy person. I never realized before how many napkins I use in the commons or the cove! Hopefully at the end of this project I'll not only reduce the amount of waste I produce but also gain some dinner manners!

Week one.

I chose energy, water, and waste for my first week of the Life style project. The hardest thing by far for me was trying to keep from having to throw things away to the garbage. Living with my roommate in the dorm room he has attempted to be more aware of what he was doing. He would tell me how long his showers where compared to mine making it almost a competition. Reducing my water usage has been easy just because it is a rather simple concept., but the garbage has imposed a more difficult task for me. My stock of individually packaged items for me to eat in my dorm room all seem to have excess waste. So instead of feasting on these quick snacks I have begun taking fruits from the commons to keep from creating more waste than needed. The energy part of the project was also more of a competition between me and my roommate. First starting with me telling him to turn off the lights when they weren't necessary, then quickly being turned around on me and letting me know that I should turn my computer off in between classes. I think this project has helped me and some of the people around me know what kind of impact we are really making on the environment.

Lifestyle Project Week One

For my Lifestyle project I selected Garbage, electricity and water, and eat efficiently. Thus far i have found it exceedingly difficult but strangely rewarding as well. This project has been difficult because I have found out that I have to remain vigilant at all times so as not to break the conditions of my chosen categories. The project is strangely rewarding every time I notice that I act more sustainable without making the conscious decision. Maybe the fact that I am giving myself cheep thrills by eating salad is characteristic of my inherit lameness but it makes me feel good. For instance earlier today I decided to use an empty can of nuts as a pen holder. In this minuscule act I truly felt as if I were saving the world one can of nuts at a time. At this point in the project I hope that I will continue to feel with each can of nuts I am forging a new era for mankind that will cease to create waste and have creative pen holders for all.

Week One...

For my lifestyle project I choose garbage, electricity, and water for my three categories. First off i would like to mention that this project has been a huge success for me just because I am so much more aware of everything I am doing. I never really stopped to think about the path I leave behind every day. In such a competitive world everything tends to be about whats the easiest, quickest, and most time efficient. In college I have found I have a lot more time to myself, and thus more time to slow down and think a little. In my three categories it has been relatively easy to reduce my output on all three levels. As far as water consumption goes I have found it relatively easy to shower once a day instead of twice or three times(this has been made easier by the ending of the soccer season). I really don't use the sink that much but to rinse my hands once or twice and I have started reusing a plastic bottle to refill out of the water fountain when I get thirsty. Electricity has also been simple and also my favorite part of the project just because I enjoy finding things to turn off...im pretty easily entertained. I have started by only using one of the two AC units in the room and turning the power bar off that controls the computers, copy machine, and microwave when I dont need them. I try to leave the room lights off and instead use my 40 watt lamp when I really need more light, but other than that I have rediscovered the geniousness of blinds that open as well as close. The last category of garbage is the most challenging one for me. I have had trouble remembering to produce less garbage and really it is all about planning, for instince had a remembered that I didnt want to make trash I wouldnt have used the 2 napkins at dinner or bought meals from taco bell, which come with an assortment of plastic and paper trash. I think it will be easy to find a solution to the problems I have faced in the comming weeks as it would be best for my health and for the environment that I dont have a late night 4th meal at taco bell. Also mentioning other things I have not driven but to taco bell and have not purchased any industrial products.

Lifestyle Project Week One

For the lifestyle project I decided to do Water consumption Energy consuption and Food. For Water consuption I cut back my showers from ten minutes to about five minutes and tried to lower the temperature of them a bit. I had a little trouble with this mainly because I have a lot of hair and it takes forever to wash. Also, I had a little trouble turnning the temperature down becuase I love hot showers and the lukewarm shower was not the same. I made sure that I turned off the water while brushing my teeth and washing my hands etc. For energy I did not drive my car at all this week and pretty much just stayed on campus. I tried to turn off the lights as much as possible and opened the windows to get more light in. My roomate sleeps all the time so our room light is pretty much never on and so I just use a desk lamp when I was doing homework or just went to the library where the lights would be on anyways. Food was not that hard for me I decided to go all vegan, becuase I can't have dairy anyways. I caught myself going for a turkey sandwich once but before I actually got it I realized I can't have it and went for the good old peanut butter instead. It really wasnt that difficult for me to not eat meat, but I just had to actually pay attention to what I was putting on my plate. I found myself eating lots of salad and stuff like that in the commons becuase some days all the stuff they had in the main line had either milk or meat in it. 

My Journal Entry, Week 1

I chose electricity, food, and water consumption, respectively:

Day 1 - I woke up around 2:30pm very sick, but slept most of the day, so the lights were mostly off; also, I tried to hang out in places where the lights were on anyways – like my dorm hall – to avoid being in my room where I’d have to inevitably turn my own lights on.
I had nothing but crackers, granola bars, peanut butter and tea all day; nothing heated, cooled, meat-related. Kind of sad, but also kind of convenient...
Since I was really sick, things like not washing my hands as much and taking a cold shower were kind of out of the question, but I tried to be conscious of the water I DID have to use, and cut my shower down to four minutes.

Day 2 – I slept a lot again --- I still felt too sick to do much of anything except venture out for meals and go see the nurse, so the lights were off in my room most of the day. Thankfully, my roommate doesn’t bother a lot with the lights aside from her desk lamp, so if I wanted to keep them off, she didn’t fuss. I felt like I was killing two birds with one stone --- I got to sleep and help save the world at the same time!! Hehe....
I slept through breakfast time...for lunch, I slipped up a little --- I had the chicken noodle soup and the fish because I heard that fish is good for you if you’re sick, but I stayed away from any beef products all day. Dinner was a little better --- still had the chicken noodle soup out of the sick-person excuse, but I had no meat at all otherwise. Aside from that, it was crackers and tea for me.
This day, I cut my shower down to three minutes and still emerged a clean person. Other than the normal hand-washing, teeth-brushing, etc., I didn’t use much water at all.

General Electricity: Since I do a lot of things late at night, I tried to challenge myself to only have one light on at a time (there are four in our room), so if the main light was on, I’d turn off the doorway light. If the doorway light was on, I’d keep my desk light off (unless completely necessary)...you get the picture. And any time I saw that my suitemates left the bathroom lights on, I’d rush over and furiously shut them off. I hope they didn’t think I was crazy.... ;)

General Food: Being ill made for a very temptation-less two days in regards to eating meat, aside from that chicken-noodle soup. I’m curious to see what will happen when I’m NOT sick and they have good meat-involved stuff in the commons...coming from a Filipino family, I’m used to having a lot of meat products in my diet, so being a temporary vegetarian will be quite interesting... Note: aside from the one mug of hot tea I had on Day 1, my tea is the bottled Lipton kind that doesn’t involve me using heated water.

General Water: Any way I could try to conserve water I did; I had to clean a sticky plastic bag with hot water, so instead of running it under the tap, I just filled a cereal bowl with hot water and washed it in that. I was also really happy with cutting down my shower so much while it still being a good shower --- I have a strong fondness for hot showers, and it’s the most water I use at one time per day, so that’s where I felt I made the most difference these past two days.

week/weak one...

It's difficult and sometimes discouraging when you want change to happen yet you find that your habits take a little bit more work to change than your mindset. After the first week of looking more closely at my eating habits and water and electricity usage, I've found that I can be pretty easily tempted into things I shouldn't really be doing. For the most part, my set diet of only eating 3 meals with meat a week (and hopefully trimming down to 0) is going well except for those times when my roommate makes chicken fettuccine for dinner or really craves a bucket from KFC... but I'm working on it and doing pretty well thus far. As for water and electricity, I've definitely already cut down on lights that really don't need to be on, but I still have some work to do with my showering habits. I used to allow myself longer shower times since I didn't shower everyday to begin with, but now trying to gradually cut down the time by a minute or two each time or not turning up the heat just a tad will be pretty hard to keep consistent, especially if it's a shower after a rough day. My third change is focused on heat, but since our weather's been a little shifty in temperature I'll need to give it another week before I can really notice a difference in turning the thermostat down. Once the weather becomes more stable, my heat usage will most likely make me realize that I don't need it that warm in the house, that I will be saving my precious college student's budget in turning it down, and think of all the nice comfortable blankets I can make for the house, my roommate, myself, and our cats too.

week one...

this past week, working on food, energy/water and trying to start a recycling program at work, has been tough. my very first day going vegetarian was a bust. i was doing fine through breakfast and all morning until i went to grab some lunch really fast in the commons. i walk in and ella exclaims "it's chicken fried steak day! yeyah! they kept it a secret, but today's the day!" after this, who isn't excited about chicken fried steak? alas, after finishing 2/3, i cursed (quite loudly) while remembering i was supposed to not eat meat all day. i was pretty crushed because i had convinced myself how easy it would be since i don't eat meat that often anyway. the energy/water went well both days cutting down my shower to 6 minutes (i'm shooting for two by the end of the project, without compromising good hygiene, of course).
the only other frustration i had this past week is trying to track down the office manager to begin discussing the recycling project and its implementation. maybe i'll have better luck this coming week...

Lifestyle Project Week 1

I chose energy consumption, water consumption, and food consumption for my three categories.
In the transportation sector of energy consumption, I tried to cut back on driving as much as possible. I've only driven once since last Wednesday, and that was only out of necessity. I haven't bought any industrial products. In residential energy consumption, I turn off the lights when I leave any room and recently I've been unplugging electronics when I'm not using them, save for the refridgerator and my alarm clock.
As for water consumption, I have decided that I don't have to shower everyday. I shower every other day, and I try to be as quick as possible.
Lastly, regarding food consumption, I've recently become a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat since before fall break. As of late, I've stopped using trays to stop me from getting food that I won't eat and have gotten smaller portions of food.

Lifestyle Project Week 1

After thinking long and hard about what three categories to choose for my Lifestyle Project, I finally decided on garbage, electricity and water, and leaving the car at home. I chose these mostly because I believe they'll be the most challenging, and I figured this would be rewarding in itself. With that being said, and without going too much into detail, here are what my first two days looked like:

Day 1- Let's just say, I failed miserably at not producing garbage. Not only did I grab a to-go-box from the commons, but I also drank water from a bottle, and even worse I threw away a banana peel in the trash! It was really frustrating too because I felt the choice was between not making trash and not eating or drinking at all. I must admit though what happened was mostly just bad planning on my part, but I saw it as a lesson learned for day 2. However, I feel I did much better with consuming less electricity and water. I don't know what it is about the rooms in Kurth but they have at least five different lights that you can use? Anyway, during the day I kept them all off and opened up my window (which I've done before but not often enough). At night, I kept only my energy efficient lamp on while I was in the room and made sure to turn it off and unplug it if I left. This was a big step up for me considering I usually have every single light turned on in my room. As for my shower, it usually lasts for 20 minutes on average, and I've managed to cut it down to 15 minutes. And finally, instead of driving to H-E-B, I took your advice and walked. I'll have you know though this is a big feat for me because I hate walking long distances and love my car.

Day 2- I did everything the same from Day 1, except this time I didn't produce waste. It was still hard becaues I found myself not using a napkin, eating all of my food, and drinking tap water (which by the way isn't that bad). In addition to this, my electricity usage decreased further because I actually turned off my computer at night (something I hadn't thought of for the first day). And although my shower stayed about the same, I did try to take a cooler shower than usual. I think that's going to take some getting used to though. As for my car, on this particular day I forced myself to stay away from it, even when I really needed to go to the store.

As you can probably tell, I'm pretty much set in my ways. I like for my room to be well lit, I enjoy nice long, hot showers, I like driving if it means not walking, and I like being able to bring my lunch back to my room. It's what I do. But I believe change will come progressively the more further along I get into this project, and I'm excited to see what that exactly will come about because of it.

Week One

My three categories were electricity/water, garbage, and food.

So on the morning of the first day, I remembered tohave a bowl of cereal and organic milk for breakfast instead of a breakfast bar so that I wouldn't have to throw away the wrapper. I made sure to turn off the faucet when I was washing my face, and I didn't turn any extra lights on. I thought "You know, this isn't so hard." As I was putting facial toner on a cotton ball, I started to think "All right, I'm doing pretty goo-"
*pause*
"Wait."
I looked in my hand.
And there was the used cotton ball that I was just about to toss into the trash can.

A couple of those instances happened during two days of this first week. Also, when I was trying to compost some items instead of throwing them away, I didn't have time to take it to the garden the first day, and the cleaning lady threw it away the next morning while I was in class! I was sad. :( And one time I made hot chocolate from a packet, so I decided to use the packet as a small piece of scrap paper before throwing it away.

I had some trouble not using napkins at meals, and I really wish I hadn't chosen certain food items from the commons, because I had to eat all of it, even if I didn't like it (although I figured it was forgiveable to throw away a rotting tomato). I also had some trouble with not turning on the lights one day because it was cloudy, so the window didn't give me much light.

The major changes I made were: unplugging the microwave and TV, not using trays or napkins at mealtimes, eating all my food or composting the extra, running on the track instead of using the machines in the gym, and not leaving the shower on to let it heat up. In the end, I wound up throwing away 2 cotton balls, 1 Q-tip, a piece of tape, the sticker from an apple, the compost that the houscleaner took, and a rotten tomato.

lifestyle project week 1

I chose energy, food, and waste as my three categories. I went home to Brownsville this weekend with 4 other friends who are also from there. Instead of all of us taking two cars and going comfortably we all smooshed in one careven though it was a very uncomfortable. I love to eat but at the same time I am a very picky eater - if I don't like something I won't finsh it. This week at the common I only got food I knew I would like so I would be able to finish it all. I find not wasting the most difficult task. I drink alot of water (bottled water) and everytime I am done drinking one bottle I throw it away.

Lifestyle Project week 1

Well, after keeping track of the baseline data from last week has helped me even more with remembering small things. Since my roommate saw what I was doing, she has become much more conscious about turning off lights and adding food to our compost. We don't eat meat ever so that helps. My bike has been stolen so that does not help. The plastic water bottles that are brought to our apartment are now being used to cool water in the refrigerator so we can poor it in cups and drink it and then we should recycle them soon. I am really conscious of how long my showers are, because I used to take really long ones. If I eat in the commons I don't use a tray and it makes me feel really good because I am saving a gallon and a half of water and wasting 30% less food (I try not to waste any). That is so much reduction by just carrying your plate in your hand! This Thursday I will not be in class because our Theater for Social Justice group is performing our Enviro-Play for Cooper Elementary's entire fourth grade class. We have edited the script for them and left time to break up into small groups and have discussions afterwards. We are also going to make flyers for them to take home to put on their refrigerator with information and reminders about food consumption, energy consumption and compostable items and the Georgetown Farmer's Market. They should have a lot of fun. For my activist project, I have a meeting set up next week to talk with some of the men at the physical plant about the sprinkler system and how it works. I am really going to try to work with them to find a way to make our campus sprinkler system more efficient so that gallons of water are not wasted on the sidewalk. So we will see how this goes...

Lifestyle Project Week 1

The three topics I chose to focus on for my project were electricity, food, and water. 

On my first day of the lifestyles project I did not drive nor did I purchase anything. Although I could have purchased food, I just went to the commons for food and ate what I had available. However, for my hot water consumption, I probably could have done better. My shower was 8 minutes, I used the sink for 3 minutes and I had to do my laundry, which took 20 minutes. With the shower and sink, I used 49 gallons of hot water water and my laundry took 200 gallons of hot water. Since I had to wash my laundry, I used a lot more energy and electricity than I do on a normal day which influenced my results. However, during the day when I was doing homework in my room, I opened up the windows and turned off the lights so I was using natural light instead of using electricity for the lights. For my food intake, I had a pop-tart, cheese pizza, reeses, lollipop, kit-kat, popcorn, chicken soup, cereal with milk, banana, ice cream with a cone, water, and red bull. I think that I probably ate more processed food than I should have and I tried to not eat meat but there were very limited options in the commons so I didn't have many other options. My main challenges for today were trying not to eat meat and using a lot of electricity because of my laundry.

On the second day, I also did not drive or buy anything. I had pretty much the same water usage with my shower and running of the sink. I realized today, though, that I use a lot more electricity than I wish I did. I always have my computer on, just as my fridge and clock are constantly plugged in and running. This is hard to avoid because it is necessary to keep these things plugged in so they will stay charged or keep my food in good health. I, again, had a hard time with the food consumption. For breakfast, I was not thinking and I ate some sausage before I could realize that I wasn't supposed to eat meat and then for lunch I accidently ate chicken again. It is really hard for me to be constantly conscious of what I eat because I have never really had to do that before. So once again, my biggest challenge was trying not to eat meat and trying to not eat so many processed foods. This next week I am going to work really hard on not eating meat and eating more fruits and veggies!

week one...

This project is a little more challenging than I expected, but I have really enjoyed the challenge. I have had a few difficulties but I was also surprised at how easy it is to make a few adjustments in my life to make the way a live a bit more sustainable.

I chose Waste, Energy/Water, and Heat for my three categories. The first day went alright. Reducing my energy and water use hasn't been too difficult. I did realize that I tend to leave lights on when I don't really need them (like I'll leave my bedroom light on while I'm in the bathroom). I have tried to get myself into the habit of only turning on a light when I absolutely need one. I have gotten used to opening my blinds during the day and studying by the window instead of turning on the lights. I have also managed to decrease my shower time from 10 minutes to 4 minutes which I think is pretty good.

Because we are in Texas and it still isn't cold...we have yet to turn the heat on in our apartment. So instead, I have been turning the air conditioning up 3 degrees (making in warmer in my room). This hasn't been too difficult because I have been opening all of the windows in my apartment and the coolness outside is just enough to keep my apartment at a good temperature.

I think producing no waste is the hardest part for me, especially because my roommate and I have a bucket of Halloween candy sitting in our living room. On my first waste-free day...lets just say I had a difficult time resisting the skittles...but I did it. I did not realize how many things that I throw away in a day. I also forgot to bring a cloth napkin to the Commons so I had to eat without one. I started using a compost bin in my apartment which has helped me cut down on a lot of food waste. I was a bit disappointed on my second waste-free day because a group of my friends decided to go eat at Chili's. I went along and I usually try to bring Tupperware whenever I go to a restaurant so I don't waste food or have to use a Styrofoam to-go box. However, I forgot my Tupperware and the salad that I did not finish went to waste. I was really disappointed in myself but it just made me want to try harder during week 2. I'm pretty excited to see how this week turns out.

Lifestyle Project Week 1

The three categories I chose for my Lifestyle Project was heat, electricity and water, and to eat efficiently. Oddly enough, I’d say the biggest challenge I faced was in the heating category.
Typically, the heat setting in my room is usually set at 73 degrees. I tend to be a very cold natured person. My parents often credit it to the fact that I was born prematurely. They said that for the first 24 hours that I was alive, the nurses in the hospital had to microwave blankets every thirty minutes to keep me at a normal temperature. I know that seems like a random fact, but I believe I have been cold natured since birth. With that being said, lowering the temperature was a challenge. It is hard to believe that something so simple as lowering one’s thermostat by three degrees can make such a huge difference, but it made a huge difference because I did not really have any restful nights as a result of the temperature change. In other words, I was pretty uncomfortable at night. My suitemates were also uncomfortable by the temperature change, but we all agreed it would only “strengthen our characters” to keep pressing forward. I am actually dreading the prospect of lowering the temperature this week because of how uncomfortable I already feel, but I think it will be worth it in the end to see how serious I am about incorporating sustainable practices into my life.
I would estimate that my average shower is about 15 minutes. My dad often jokes that my shower are about “10 minutes too long,” and I suppose he has a rather legit point. The first time that I attempted to cut my shower time in half was difficult. My shower length, when it was all said and done, was about 8.5 minutes. Though I acknowledge that is still a rather lengthy shower, I think it is important to note that I really really tried to cut down on my time. I even cut my leg with my razor in my pursuit to be time efficient! However, I decided that I would find a way to cut down significantly on my time for my second shower of the week. This time I was extremely pleased with my result. I took a 6 minute shower, which is amazing if you knew me. Anyway, I also found other ways to conserve electricity during the week as well. Instead of relying on lights as much as I tend to do, I decided to open up my windows and move my desk to the window so that I could use sunlight as a source of light. This was easy for me. Also, instead of using the dryer, I let my clothes dry naturally. I actually didn’t find that to be too much of a challenge either. Basically, I’d say that my water consumption and electrical use was pretty good for the two days that I did it. However, I am sure as time goes by, it will be more difficult when I have to perform these practices more than twice a week.
I fear that eating efficiently will be one of my biggest challenges. I love meat so much. Sorry, but I just do! Anyway, the first day that I ate like a vegetarian was interesting because I honestly forced myself to not take notice of the meat. I literally had to convince myself that a salad and an apple were the only foods offered in order to “enjoy” the meal. I am not saying that I do not eat vegetables or fruit because I do, but I tend to eat meat too. I also have incorporated a lot more grain into my diet, which hasn’t been that bad of a change. I guess I don’t feel like I have too much to say about the food aspect of my project because it is going well right now. I am sure next week will be a different story though!