Sunday + Monday

Day One: Consumption
After making a list on what I need to buy for the next week, I realized it was pretty easy to cut most of it off the list because as college students, the majority of what we need is already included in our meal plans; Panther bucks, cafeteria food, etc. Everything I do buy that is packaged is from Jazzman's Cafe, so for the next week I won't buy the fruit bowls, parfaits, white chocolate mochas, and sushi that I always buy. Instead, I will only eat at the cafeteria and pack extra food that I need to get me through the day instead of constantly buying from either AF or Jazzman's. This will reduce the majority of things I buy as well as the amount of trash I produce. Additionally, I think this is an efficient way to keep more money for other uses; as Americans we buy so many things on a daily basis without thinking twice, and this experiment makes me realize all the unnecessary things I purchase, such as a coffee from the cafe, when I could very well make the same product myself in my dorm room; just get instant coffee, hazelnut creamer, and hot water instead! =)

Day Two: Trash
My roommates and I greatly decreased the amount of trash we have by taking out all the plastic spoons, forks, and knives we've been using and got metal utensils. Also, we bought more mugs that we can just wash and reuse whenever we need to. To remedy the rather large issue of how many water bottles I go through on a single day, I started bringing a reusable water bottle to all my dance classes and keeping that one constantly refilled. I did not have as much trash as I thought I would; I have a lot of snacks in bulk that aren't individually packaged so that I don't throw away a wrapper every single time I eat some of that snack. The only thing I threw out was my smoothie from AF, and then I realized I wasn't allowed to buy these kinds of things for the week and felt bad on not remembering about my consumption level. However, after switching to reusable cups and utensils, I can already see a significant decrease in how fast our trashcan fills up in our dorm room. What I would like to continue working on, however, is how many water bottles we put in the recycle bin. While yes, we are recyling them, it would be even more beneficial if all three of us could switch to reusable water bottles instead of going through multiple bottles in one day and constantly having to buy more.