Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day 8: Eco-Sabbath
Looking back at this week, I think that the hardest things for me to accomplished were eating no meat, trying to save energy, and worst of all, reducing my use of water. A good thing about weekends in general, specifically this last Sunday, is that I always wake up between 2:oo to 4:00 p.m. I know it is not a very productive thing to do, but I always try to rest the most I can on weekends. This last Sunday, I woke up and turned on my laptop to do homework. So, for the rest of the day I stayed at my room doing homework on my laptop, which means that on Sundays I just use energy to charge my laptop and go to eat at the school's cafeteria. I really enjoy doing this experiment, but honestly, I think I failed on most of it. From the No Impact experiment's guide, I definitely would to permanently adopt the walking as my transportation method, trying to consumpt less, reducing the amount of trash I produce, and the giving back, especially as both a citizen by taking care of my community, and as a college student by being respectful and helpful to other students.
Day 8: Eco-Sabbath
Looking back on this entire week I would say that limiting my trash was the hardest thing to do and it wasn't until I started monitoring it that I realized how much I produce. I don't see myself being able to keep all my trash and return it to the environment and whatnot like Colin Beavan did. Energy was also difficult for me in that my life is so electronically oriented these days. All in all it was a good experiment and hopefully I will be able to keep some of the changes that I implemented this week.
Day 7: Giving Back
I didn't have the opportunity to really give back today, however I think it's a great idea. I think more people would be inclined to limit their environmental impact if they had a greater sense of community and cared about the people and places around them. This step would have been rather easy if I had found the time because it doesn't require you to change any of your habits but rather just allocates your time to something meaningful and productive.
The Last Few Days..
ENERGY- Cutting out my use of electricity was not too hard. Other than lighting in my dorm room and the use of my laptop, all other energy sources were shut off.. I opened the window in my room instead of using the air conditioner, and I unplugged the T.V. and gaming system that my roommates use. (They were not too happy about that at first.) Saving energy where its possible and practical is an important step to living sustainably.
WATER- I do not control my dishes because I eat in the cafeteria, so I could not try to conserve water by soaking. I did, however, only shower once that day instead of twice, and utilized my refillable water bottle instead of using plastic water bottles. That is pretty much all the water I use since I do not have a house or anything where I would run the sprinklers...
GIVING BACK- This was a fun challenge for me. I enjoyed going about my day and trying to help people in ways that I could. Although I dont have the means the donate money at this point in time, I tried to contribute to my sense of community by talking to people and doing favors.
ECO-SABBATH- On this last day, I went for a bike ride and did homeork all day long. I worked hard to get up what I had been doing all week as well. I emptied by trash and noticed that it wernt down considerably from the week before. This was a very challenging, but interesting experience. Living sustainably is manageable, but it ill definitely take effort, cooperation, and a drive to create this planet a sustainable world.
WATER- I do not control my dishes because I eat in the cafeteria, so I could not try to conserve water by soaking. I did, however, only shower once that day instead of twice, and utilized my refillable water bottle instead of using plastic water bottles. That is pretty much all the water I use since I do not have a house or anything where I would run the sprinklers...
GIVING BACK- This was a fun challenge for me. I enjoyed going about my day and trying to help people in ways that I could. Although I dont have the means the donate money at this point in time, I tried to contribute to my sense of community by talking to people and doing favors.
ECO-SABBATH- On this last day, I went for a bike ride and did homeork all day long. I worked hard to get up what I had been doing all week as well. I emptied by trash and noticed that it wernt down considerably from the week before. This was a very challenging, but interesting experience. Living sustainably is manageable, but it ill definitely take effort, cooperation, and a drive to create this planet a sustainable world.
Day 6: Water
Today was water conservation day and it was relatively easy to make some small changes. I didn't let the faucet run and I attempted to take a shorter shower than usual. I already abhor doing laundry so I do excessively large loads at a time, which is actually good for the environment. The world is facing a steady decline in water supply so if we are able to use less water doing things that arn't necessities then maybe that water saved can be someone else's drinking water.
Day 7: Giving Back
I think that as a college student, I am too busy to do volunteer work, even though I'll love too, but at the same time to form Chapman's community, it offers lots of opportunities to do volunteer for different causes, not just environmental. Although I've done several volunteer work back at home at my high school and community, I haven't sign up to volunteer while at Chapman. I think one of the best ways to give back to the Chapman students' community is to be kind and respecful to one another. To treat each other equally. But most importantly, to be open to help and aid others in whatever they need. One of my future plans is to help the people most in need not just in my community, but globally. I would like to form organizations to both help worldwide the communities who are most in need, and to protect and save the environment. To accomplish all that, I will study and work hard to become an influential person and hopefully make an positive impact in the world.
Day 5: Energy
I really tried to minimize the amount of energy I used today. I normally don't watch TV especially here at school, so that was a non-issue. I didn't turn the lights on in my room all day and I unplugged all electronic devices that were plugged into outlets when I wasn't using them. I unfortunately can't cut out all energy use in todays society where we rely so much on computers and cellular devices and I don't think we need to. We just need to change where we get our energy from and how we move it.
Day 4: Food
Being a college student on a meal plan, this part of the project wasn't very feasible. I try to eat healthy as much as I can under the constrains of me current situation, however for me, at this junction in my life eating locally is very difficult. I have no idea where the school cafeteria gets its food from and as much as I hope that it is all local and organic, I know that I hope in vain. Maybe when I'm at a different stage in my life where I'm purchasing all my own food I will eat purely locally, but right now it is just impossible. I do think changing eating habits is a great step though because it sparks a chain reaction that can be felt in the local economy, in our general health, and in the environment.
Day 6: Water
I totally failed Friday's activity on water. This activity is definitely the hardest thing for me to do since I always spend at least 20 minutes showering, if not, more :( Although, I've tried several times to take shorter showers, I can't. I always fail. I can't shower fast! On Friday, I tried to bath as quickly as possible to use the least amount of water possible. I lasted 10 minutes showering. Although I did some improvement, I don't think it is enough. And worst of all, I tried to maintain the same amount of time while showering during the weekend, but instead and I went back to my old routine. That's my only problem with taking care of water. In everything else, I always do my best to take good care of my water usage.
Monday, November 8, 2010
DAY 8: Sunday: Eco-Sabbath
Sunday: Eco-Sabbath
Today was actually a really fun challenge. I am currently at my house and there is a park one mile away, My friends and I walked there and noticed the beautiful scenery. We noticed the beautiful plants, weather, and sun that we all take for granted. I realized after taking time out of my day to see these things I appreciate them a lot more and I am really happy with this week that I have become more environmentally friendly. In conclusion, this whole week has taught me that I waste a lot and I need to be more sustainable and I plan to. From here on out, I am going to waste less and make this world a better place.
The Effects Of Our Current Environmental State on Public Health
By: Michaela Pickett and Allison Burke
Greenhouse Gases: Impact on Health
Alongside an increase in the amount of Greenhouse Gases being emitted into the atmosphere is a rise in earth’s temperature, and alongside a rise in earth’s temperature are numerous health issues for living beings. For example, climate change causes a lack of clean air and a lack of safe water to drink, to name a couple. One statistic argues, “The global warming that has occurred since the 1970s was causing over 140,000 excess deaths annually by the year 2004” (WHO). Cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and asthma have been directly linked to increasing temperatures of the air. “In the heat wave of summer 2003 in Europe for example, more than 70 000 excess deaths were recorded” (WHO). Ozone levels and other pollutants, as well as pollen and other aeroallergen levels have been seen to increase in severe heat. Rising temperatures can also affect water-borne diseases, as well as diseases passed on by snails, insects, or other animals that are cold-blooded. While all populations are likely to be affected negatively by climate change, some are more at risk than others. Specifically, those living in “small island developing states and other coastal regions, megacities, and mountainous and polar regions are particularly vulnerable” (WHO). Children are also particularly vulnerable to health risks caused by climate change, especially those living in poorer regions of the world. Health risks due to climate change are also seen heavily in elderly people, especially those who are already ill.
Work Cited
"WHO | Climate Change and Health." World Health Organization. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.
Power Plant Environmental Risks:
These toxic plants also have detrimental affects on our environment. The emissions contribute to our growing global warming problem. An immense amount of heat is exuded from these power plants that not only raises the temperature of the area, but also causes growth deficiencies in surrounding wildlife.
Power Plant Health Risks:
Power plants release radiation into the air, which is extremely detrimental to the surrounding resident’s health. This radioactive radiation can cause cancer because of the emission of radioactive iodine.
In order to see more on Chicago’s quest to get rid of power plants, go to www.howgreenischicago.com
Days 5-8
Day 5
Today was no energy day. Although I do not really use much that uses power I found that there were certain necessities that required mt to use electricity. For instance, there is a no candle policy in the dorms so I had to use the electric lights. Also things like my phone and computer needed to be charged. In order to do this assignment I needed to use electricity; i had to use electricity to access this blog... slightly counterproductive in my opinion. This day has taught me that although there are many conveniences in modern technology, like blogging, they require energy to exist.
Day 6
Today, water day was definitely difficult. First off, I use the rest room and I hate when people dont flush and likewise i always flush due to sanitation and cleanliness issues. Secondly I showered, like a normal one not a sponge bath. I believe this to be important for hygiene and I get very sweaty during the day due to dance and that today was a very hot day. So overall I failed today. Although I though about using less water, i could not find anywhere that I felt comfortable cutting it out.
Day 7
Unfortunately today's day coincided with my chores day. Saturdays are the day that I need to do things for myself like wash laundry, clean my room, vacuum, and run errands. I did not give anything back to the community more than I normally do. I held doors open for strangers today, although this is a common courtesy practice that I always do. I did call my mother, but again that is not something that I wouldn't have already done. Although today I did not change my normal activities, i guess I did naturally give back.
Day 8
Today i woke up and my foot was in dire pain. I had to go to urgent care and get my ankle checked out. So i guess today did not start as an "eco-sabbath". Throughout the remainder of the day I did however just relax, sit in an a cafe and do homework. As much as I would have like to "drop everything" I did nave school work to do. I did not have the liberty to just take the day off.
Today was no energy day. Although I do not really use much that uses power I found that there were certain necessities that required mt to use electricity. For instance, there is a no candle policy in the dorms so I had to use the electric lights. Also things like my phone and computer needed to be charged. In order to do this assignment I needed to use electricity; i had to use electricity to access this blog... slightly counterproductive in my opinion. This day has taught me that although there are many conveniences in modern technology, like blogging, they require energy to exist.
Day 6
Today, water day was definitely difficult. First off, I use the rest room and I hate when people dont flush and likewise i always flush due to sanitation and cleanliness issues. Secondly I showered, like a normal one not a sponge bath. I believe this to be important for hygiene and I get very sweaty during the day due to dance and that today was a very hot day. So overall I failed today. Although I though about using less water, i could not find anywhere that I felt comfortable cutting it out.
Day 7
Unfortunately today's day coincided with my chores day. Saturdays are the day that I need to do things for myself like wash laundry, clean my room, vacuum, and run errands. I did not give anything back to the community more than I normally do. I held doors open for strangers today, although this is a common courtesy practice that I always do. I did call my mother, but again that is not something that I wouldn't have already done. Although today I did not change my normal activities, i guess I did naturally give back.
Day 8
Today i woke up and my foot was in dire pain. I had to go to urgent care and get my ankle checked out. So i guess today did not start as an "eco-sabbath". Throughout the remainder of the day I did however just relax, sit in an a cafe and do homework. As much as I would have like to "drop everything" I did nave school work to do. I did not have the liberty to just take the day off.
Day 7 Day 8
Day 7
Today i spent the day at home and my mom thought it would be the perfect opportunity to help her give to the good will. So she gave me a black trash bag and told me to fill it with old clothes and toys. The majority of the stuff was easy to give away because it didnt fit anymore but some stuff was hard because of the centimental value to it. We drove the stuff to a truck on katella near the in n out and gave it away. It felt good knowing that my junk is someone elses treasure.
Day8
Today was a day of reflection on the past week. I noticed how cutting down is possible yet not that easy. It really takes a conscience effort sometimes to live sustainably because of the pattern we have gotten used to on a daily basis. I want to continue to try and cut down my consumption and focus on the things that i need rather than want and will dispose.
Today i spent the day at home and my mom thought it would be the perfect opportunity to help her give to the good will. So she gave me a black trash bag and told me to fill it with old clothes and toys. The majority of the stuff was easy to give away because it didnt fit anymore but some stuff was hard because of the centimental value to it. We drove the stuff to a truck on katella near the in n out and gave it away. It felt good knowing that my junk is someone elses treasure.
Day8
Today was a day of reflection on the past week. I noticed how cutting down is possible yet not that easy. It really takes a conscience effort sometimes to live sustainably because of the pattern we have gotten used to on a daily basis. I want to continue to try and cut down my consumption and focus on the things that i need rather than want and will dispose.
Putting Denver on the Map: Bike Sharing
Here's a great way to reduce CO2 emissions, get some good exercise, and participate in a visionary plan to get green now.
Here's what the producers of this video Eve Marson and Max Joseph say about this system:
Our planet is a fragile ecosystem. To keep it in balance, we must figure out how to improve our urban transportation. B-Cycle in Denver, Colorado offers a unique and sustainable solution for how we can move through our cities. This European-style bike sharing system enables residents of Denver to access bicycles conveniently at various stations throughout the city. By replacing short car rides with environment-friendly biking, B-Cycle helps to keep our air clean, our bodies healthy, and our spirits high.
For more information, just go to Good Magazine at http://awesome.good.is/ecosystem
Here's what the producers of this video Eve Marson and Max Joseph say about this system:
Our planet is a fragile ecosystem. To keep it in balance, we must figure out how to improve our urban transportation. B-Cycle in Denver, Colorado offers a unique and sustainable solution for how we can move through our cities. This European-style bike sharing system enables residents of Denver to access bicycles conveniently at various stations throughout the city. By replacing short car rides with environment-friendly biking, B-Cycle helps to keep our air clean, our bodies healthy, and our spirits high.
For more information, just go to Good Magazine at http://awesome.good.is/ecosystem
No Impact Man Experiment- Sunday, Day 8
Yesterday was the perfect day to reflect upon this challenging and rewarding week. Transportation, consumption, giving back, and water are a few of the things I know I can continue to eliminate or significantly cut back on. Being in college, I know food, and trash are going to be rather difficult, but this experiment has made me more aware of every decision. This experiment has taught me so much and I want to continue to grow as an environmentalist by using what I have learned.
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 8
Sunday: Eco-Sabbath
-Michaela Pickett
Days 5, 6, 7 and 8
Day 5 - As a student, using less electricity is difficult. Everyday I use my computer to do school work and I need to keep the lights on because it gets dark and I have no other light source in my room. Reducing my energy usage was probably the hardest day of the assignment. It was nearly impossible to do but I opted out of watching tv for the evening. There was no other way I could have completed this task.
Day 6 - I am already careful about my water usage. This is just something I was raised to watch. I take pretty quick showers and always turn off my water when I'm not using it. I did not have to change any of my habits in order to complete today's task.
Day 7 - I placed in the middle of the pyramid. Back home I used to volunteer on a weekly basis with a tutoring program. It was always my way of giving back. I really enjoyed it because it was extremely hands on. I think when you volunteer and it's hands on you get a much more fulfilling feeling.
Day 8 - Today I spent the majority of my day relaxing in my room. I spent time with friends and used very few electronics. I was able to enjoy just letting go for a little while. After watching my environmental footprint all week, it was nice being able to just let go. I spent a large amount of my week stressing and today allowed me to fully release.
Day 6 - I am already careful about my water usage. This is just something I was raised to watch. I take pretty quick showers and always turn off my water when I'm not using it. I did not have to change any of my habits in order to complete today's task.
Day 7 - I placed in the middle of the pyramid. Back home I used to volunteer on a weekly basis with a tutoring program. It was always my way of giving back. I really enjoyed it because it was extremely hands on. I think when you volunteer and it's hands on you get a much more fulfilling feeling.
Day 8 - Today I spent the majority of my day relaxing in my room. I spent time with friends and used very few electronics. I was able to enjoy just letting go for a little while. After watching my environmental footprint all week, it was nice being able to just let go. I spent a large amount of my week stressing and today allowed me to fully release.
Eco-Sabbath Reflection
Today turned out to be the day that I instantly dropped the project. I'm done! Didnt have to worry about my personal trash bag, or thinking about making it to the farmer's market. I slept in and went to a concert with my brother. I'll admit, i wasn't thrilled about taking on this project, and right from the beginning i knew there would be aspects of it that I would choose not to do. But i think the most important thing to learn from this is to always just do what you can. We can't all be extreme as the no impact man, but we can still do a small part. For me, the water conservation and giving back days were the easiest to accomplish, while the transportation and the electricity are just not in the cards for me. As I stated in a previous entry, maybe when im living on my own ill be able to make more changes to how eco friendly my life is, but living in a house with 6 people and trying to find a balance that works for everyone isnt the best place to try and change your daily life
Sunday Day 8: Eco-Sabbath
I have to say out of all the activities I have completed for this no impact experiment, today's challenge has truly been the hardest. This is mostly due to the fact that I am pretty much addicted to electronics, even as I am writing this blog entry, I am using the internet on my laptop to do so. Although it is nearly impossible for me to go 100% without electronics for the day, I did however, cut back on how much I would normally use. Today I did not watch the TV once, nor did I listen to the radio or my ipod. I also made sure that no lights were turned on during the day and at night time I double checked that when I left the room the lights were to be turned off as well. This is a large improvement for me because I am used to always being forgetful and having my life centered around electricity. Although I do not believe that I will ever live a life of truly no impact, I feel as though this experiment has been eye opening. This has opportunity to participate in this experience has allowed me to realize that my small changes are the ones that matter in life and if I just continue on this path great things could truly be the result.
Day 7: Giving Back
I took this day as average day, as i find myself helping people at all times, that I didnt feel the urge to make a list and rush out to help people. Monday I stayed home during my break to watch my siblings, Tuesday I did volunteer work at a local school that gives free art classes to city kids. Wednesday I stayed home to watch our puppy so my mom didnt have to haul her around. Thursday I gave a free concert ticket to a friend who didnt manage to get one before it sold out. Friday I brought my Dad and Grandmother dinner. So i feel that i do my part at all times when it is presented to me. Volunteering is important, and If i ever find a cause that im truly interested in, im happy to donate my time.
Day 8: Eco-Sabbath
I already consider Sundays family days so I made sure I spent some quality time with my family. I woke up today and intentionally did not check my phone. It was pleasant waking up an hour earlier than I usually get up. I love daylight savings. I heard my phone buzz and I couldn't restrain myself from checking it. I usually have my phone in my hand at all times, but today I made sure it was away from me. That was a start. I also tried refraining from using my computer, but I had projects I had to do so I wasn't able to stay away from the internet. We all ate the dinner table together and it was nice. Reducing my trash by eliminating water bottles from my life is something I'm considering and something I want my family to do as well.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Day 7
Day 7: Giving Back
I found it a lot easier to give back to my community before I came to college. Now that we're living the dorm life, I find it more difficult to volunteer on a regular basis. Before, I used to do community service by volunteering at my studio and teaching classes, donated to Goodwill regularly, and babysat or took care of dogs around my neighborhood as a favor. One of the only ways I feel I am contributing to being more eco-friendly is making sure my roommates and I distinguish between regular trash and recyclables. I have participated in a community service event at the OC Rescue Mission once since coming to college, but it's still a significant decrease from before. However, I have never been financially able to donate to programs; all I can offer are my own efforts. Specifically, I've always taken a special interest in organizations like animal shelters. I've made it my goal that in the future, when I have the money to do so, I will donate a good amount to building animal shelters in areas where animals aren't treated as well as house pets in neighborhoods around here. To further increase my volunteer efforts, I signed up to help at a Holiday Outreach event in early December and plan on making donations to the numerous holiday organizations.
I found it a lot easier to give back to my community before I came to college. Now that we're living the dorm life, I find it more difficult to volunteer on a regular basis. Before, I used to do community service by volunteering at my studio and teaching classes, donated to Goodwill regularly, and babysat or took care of dogs around my neighborhood as a favor. One of the only ways I feel I am contributing to being more eco-friendly is making sure my roommates and I distinguish between regular trash and recyclables. I have participated in a community service event at the OC Rescue Mission once since coming to college, but it's still a significant decrease from before. However, I have never been financially able to donate to programs; all I can offer are my own efforts. Specifically, I've always taken a special interest in organizations like animal shelters. I've made it my goal that in the future, when I have the money to do so, I will donate a good amount to building animal shelters in areas where animals aren't treated as well as house pets in neighborhoods around here. To further increase my volunteer efforts, I signed up to help at a Holiday Outreach event in early December and plan on making donations to the numerous holiday organizations.
day 7
I feel like I continuously contribute to the community in a number of ways. One of the examples listed on the blog is holding the door open for people, which I always make sure to do for others. Another thing I do for the community is I always make sure to donate my time by volunteering at a day camp and watch children there free of charge. I spent a lot of time today going out of my way to help strangers whether it was helping others take their groceries to their car, buying lunch for a homeless man, as well as just giving my extra change as a tip at Starbucks. The hardest thing I went through today was trying to put others before myself. For example, when I was at the market, I just wanted to go home after having a long day of classes. Instead, I took the time out to help someone bring their groceries to their car. While it did take me some extra time, it was well worth it to help out others since it left me feeling like I really did something for someone and made their day a little brighter and easier.
day 6
This is definitely something I struggle with at home. My parents always need to remind me to shut off the water when I'm brushing my teeth and to not take 20 minute showers, which I admittedly do quite often. I made sure to shut off the water and not keep it running whenever possible and not keep the water running for longer than necessary when I take a shower. I think those were the two times I truly wasted a lot of water so by cutting down on these two things, I think I truly contributed to helping save a lot of water and definitely cut down on the amount of water I usually use and waste.
day 5
I take back what I said yesterday since today was definitely the hardest day. I am completely aware of how reliant I am on energy consumption since my electricity went out in my house about a month ago and there were not a lot of things I could do. I couldn't use the refrigerator or the stove, as well as the lights were all out. I couldn't charge my dying phone or laptop and was bored to tears. While none of it was essential, I couldn't even turn my lights on or see without using a flashlight. Today, for the challenge, I took out all the plugs of things I wasn't currently using i.e. my phone charger, my ipod charger, my tv, my lights, etc. None of that was necessary to be charged since I wasn't using them at that time. But at night time, all my lights were on in my room until I remembered to shut them off and I forgot to unplug my camera (I wasn't using it). From now on, I'm going to start unplugging my chargers when I'm not using them since it's a waste of energy, as well as money.
Sunday:Eco-Sabbath
This week was really challenging for me. It began really easy with lowering consumption and then collecting trash, altering transportation, food, energy, water and then giving back. It was easy to lower my consumption since I'm not much of a big spender and lowering the amount of trash was simple but as each day progressed I realized I would make more trash. For instance, the first day I made no trash, then the next day 1 piece and then the second day 2 pieces and each day varied with the most amount of trash being four pieces. Aside from this, for the list of the things I've been grateful for, I've actually been happy for the little slots of time I have had to spend with my family. I was also grateful for doing well in my classes and was not grateful for any consumption goods because they aren't going to make me happy. However I learned a lot from this experiment and will keep some of the lessons that I learned.
Day 5-8
Energy
I made sure to unplug all my chargers and switch off my extension cords when I wasn't using them. I also made sure to only use my lights when necessary, otherwise I just opened my window/blinds for natural sunlight. It's kind of hard not using that much electricity since our society heavily relies on electronics, so I didn't really like it because it made me feel like a caveman sort of. I'm so used to not really taking recognition of it though, so I do feel bad that I don't care as much as I should. I just have to get used to unplugging everything when I'm not using it and turning on the lights only when needed. Since I'm dorming it's not like I can really change the light bulbs though, so we're still using the inefficient kind.
Water
I had to take really quick showers...Dorms don't have bathtubs so it's not like we can take sponge baths (which I wouldn't usually do at home either) but I did try to think about water usage and cutting back. I usually don't take that long anyways since I have short hair, which doesn't take as long to wash but still it's all about maintaining the mindset of conserving. I always turn off the faucet when I'm not using it so that was already easy enough for me. Overall I think for my own consumption I'm pretty good about water conservation.
Giving Back
I had to say today was probably the worst...I had to work Saturday, but I work in Westminster which is very far from my house and so I probably used up a lot of gas. I didn't really have time to do anything that's probably considered "giving back." I mean I kept to the other tasks about conserving (besides transportation) so that was good but I mean it's hard not driving places. There's no unified public transportation system and SCHOOL HAS NO OPEN ON-CAMPUS JOBS for me right now. Thus I have to travel to work in a car. At least it's a hybrid car that we own (= ???
Eco-sabbath
IMPOSSIBLE. I go to church on Sundays so it's kind of easy in the sense that I'm not at home, but at the same time we need to drive to church, we need to use a lot of electricity to power the amps and mics for praise, the light bulbs probably aren't that efficient in the church, and my mom uses appliances to make dinner, and I have to use the computer to type this so, it's really hard to not do anything that impacts the environment. I just could not do this one to my full capability.
Day 7: Saturday
Yesterday, I spent some of the day writing letters to friends and family. I felt that I needed to to keep in touch with the people who helped me get this far in life. It felt really good to be able to give back to the people who gave so much to me. This day was the easiest for me to achieve and it felt the most rewarding.
day 4
This was probably my hardest "challenge" so far. While the idea really appeals to me and I occasionally go to farmer's markets, I tend to buy most of my food and ingredients from the market since it is sometimes closer and easier. There were three things I ate yesterday that were grown locally. One was an apple and the other two were a cucumber and a tomato that were in a salad I made. I decided to set my limits to food grown within 100 miles because that seems very doable. I was a vegetarian for two weeks about a year ago and got very sick because I wasn't getting enough protein so I didn't want to try that out again, especially when my immune system is very low right now since I just got over cold. There were really no hard food aspects since everything was very easy to obtain through my local farmer's market but at first it was a challenge since I didn't realize how much of my food was bought from the market but I know realize that everything is very easy to buy locally.
day 3
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you looked at it), today's challenge was very easy and not even much of a 'challenge'. I did not need to go anywhere except to classes and I always walk there anyways, so I did not need to find any other mode of transportation. At first, I was supposed to babysit and I had planned on taking a bus to the street a few blocks from the house and then walking the last two blocks, but the babysitting fell through. I went through my normal day walking as I normally did. At about 8 in the evening, my roommate wanted to go to her big's house with me and we were going to drive, but I told her about this experiment so we decided to walk instead. As I reflected on my day, I realized that it was incredibly easy and that by walking to the house instead of driving, we were able to experience the beautiful weather and appreciate the beautiful Christmas lights that were already illuminating people's houses.
day 2
Yesterday, I had a lot more trash then I thought I would. Yesterday, I guess I absentmindedly put things in the trash because I poured everything out on the floor and there were a lot of things. I started to separate my things into two piles: the things I used for over 10 minutes and the things I used for under 10 minutes. I hate to admit this, but my pile with things used for less than ten minutes was at least four or five times larger than the less than 10 minutes pile. In the first pile, there were multiple empty diet coke cans and gum wrappers, as well as two water bottles. In my second pile, there was a sandwich wrapper, a lightbulb container and a mascara bottle. It really startled me how much unnecessary things were in my less than ten minutes pile- I went through four diet cokes which is obviously very clearly unnecessary! It wasn't impossible to not make trash because there are many things that we don't need to use or throw out and while I had a lot more things in my 'over 10 mins pile', I'm confident I'd be able to greatly reduce the amount of things in there if I was more conscious of my actions.
Day 5: Energy
As one of the many college students living on-campus, we are encouraged by Chapman University to have the minimum electronic devices, and to use and waste the less electricity possible. Personally, the only energy I use daily is when I charged my laptop and cellphones, and when I turn on the lights at my dorm. Although energy is a big necessity for a person's life, I always try to take care of it and do not waste it. One of the things that my roommates and I did this week to save energy was to leave the AC off all week. Instead, we opened our window to let the air cool off the room. Also, it is rare for us to have the head lights on from our dorm. We always use our lamps or open the window to let the sunlight iluminate the dorm. I also made sure that all the electronic devices that I have in my room and I didn't use, were unplug.
Day 1
Day 1 was really easy but at the same time, it definitely did shock me. I feel like I don't really tend to over consume but once I took a hard look at everything, I guess that I do. I stopped myself from buying a water bottle, a packet of gum, a sandwich, and a drink from Starbucks. This happened throughout the day so I saw how many times I actually spend money on things that I don't need and that are very wasteful. I thought day 1 was easy enough as I didn't really need any of those things and it saved me money, as well.
Day 6: Water
Today we tackle water conservation. The first small task i wanted to tack was using the same cup while at home, and a reusable water bottle while I'm out. I'm not down with the idea of a spongebath, so I took a shower anyways. Again, I'm not really in charge of the dishes or laundry departments at home, but I imagine my parent's use of the appliances are conservative as can be, motivated to lower their bills. The reusable bottle was a pretty cool change to make and I found myself drinking more water throughout the day instead of buying a coke or another beverage. I found myself with a few extra bucks and feeling pretty positive about this aspect of the project.
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 7
Saturday: Giving Back
Yesterday was quite a lovely day, and I believe the concept of giving back definitely played a role in its greatness. This may appear petty, but the first thing I did upon waking up and seeing my roommate awake was say “Good morning!” Usually, we check our phones for missed calls or text messages and use the restroom without even acknowledging each other. But it made waking up a bit sweeter to happily acknowledge the presence of a friend by saying “Good morning.” Then, a bit later in the day I walked along the beach with another friend and we talked with each other about aspects of our lives that are making us happy and aspects that are making us sad. I have not necessarily been in my happiest state of mind lately, but it felt nice to listen to somebody else rather than just talk and complain about my own issues. Moreover, I called my parents back! Often they call and I do not answer because I am preoccupied with things at school, but it felt so nice to talk with them as I know they very much appreciate my phone calls.
-Michaela Pickett
Day 5: What A Coincidence
My family recieved a notice in the mail that our power would be shut off from 8PM wednesday to around 4PM thursday. I did not look this far ahead on the No Impact calendar, but what a coincidence. The first thing that frustrated me was that I couldnt check my news sites or email in the morning, followed by a lack of coffee. When I finished my first class, I came home to no power still, and I spent my break reading. I really experienced no major inconveniences with the power off, just small things, like not being able to open the garage door to go get a coke, or having to eat cereal instead of something else. That being said, I know i would have been way more frustrating had this lasted into the night, but i attended a concert so I wasn't really home long enough for the lack of power to affect me.
Day 4: Food
Looking ahead to this day, i knew it would be the one I really could not carry out. Living in a family of 6, with 2 parents who work and 3 kids under the age of 16, I really don't have much say in the food that gets purchased around the house. I also work four nights a week, and eat my dinner at my family's restaurant after my shift ends. I know the lettuce and vegetables come from a produce shop up the street, but I have no idea where it is grown. This is definitely an aspect of my life that is out of my hands while still living at home, but i'll be free to make these changes when i move out
Another interesting thing that relates to the project, but not this day, is that my power was shut off at 8PM on this night, and would be off until around 5PM tomorrow. It should be interesting to say the least
Another interesting thing that relates to the project, but not this day, is that my power was shut off at 8PM on this night, and would be off until around 5PM tomorrow. It should be interesting to say the least
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 6
Friday: Water
When I washed my face and brushed my teeth on Friday morning, I made sure to only turn the sink faucet on when necessary. That was not difficult for me, as I generally keep water conservation in mind when using the sink. However, practicing water conservationism while flushing the toilet was undeniably a more difficult task. It is shocking to think how much water each of us uses on a daily basis to flush the toilet! Perhaps Brown’s idea of more widespread use of the composting toilet really is a good idea, as these toilets are virtually waterless and odorless! Furthermore, I took a quicker shower on Friday than I usually do and I am most certainly going to try to continue on that path even after this experiment is over!
-Michaela Pickett
Day 3: Transportation
Truth be told, I don't live that far away from school. Its about a fifteen minute drive, so riding a bike would not be that difficult. I did have to be somewhere for volunteer work though right at 5:30, and I work an additional 15 mintes away from work every other night, and have no desire to ride in the dark. Like we talked about in class, there are not enough safe routes to travel by bike in most cities. I myself have been hit by a car while riding my bike, and I feel this could happen again if were forced to travel very busy roads to make it to school on time. Many of the texts we've read in class state the cities need to be made for people, not cars, and now I really see why.
No Impact Man Experiment- Saturday, Day 7
Today was a day about giving back and finding a way to do something beneficial for our community. Over summer I went through my closet and drawers to get rid of everything I didn't need. This weekend I finally gave it to my neighbors and younger dance friends who are in need of clothes that fit them. I have not bought anything new within the last few months, and I have been way more conservative with using my resources.
DAY 7: Saturday: Giving Back
Saturday: Giving Back
Today was actually a pretty easy day. It was giving back to your community and environment. I usually do that all the time as it is. Today, I am back at my house and I helped my neighbors take out the trash, I delivered them their newspaper that was outside there house and just asked if they needed help with anything else. As for trash, again I barely had any today and the trash I did have was a water bottle in which I recycled. This is pretty much the beginning of giving back, I plan on helping out with charities and just more stuff along that line. Today giving back, I felt like I am a better person helping others and giving back to the environment. This whole process is making me a better person and I love it. Tomorrow is the last day and I cannot wait to see what I am going to be doing!
Day 7: Giving Back
I went back home for the weekend. When I woke up around noon, I gathered clothes I haven't worn in a year or so. I asked my mom, sister, and cousin if they had any clothes they wanted to give away. I ended up with 3 garbage bags full of clothing. My sister and I donated the clothing at a local Lutheran thrift shop. It felt great giving back! Now the clothes that have just been gathering dust in our closets will be put to good use. I was able to "recycle" my clothing. Today was a good day.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Saturday Day 7: Giving Back
Giving back to my community is a very important aspect in my life. From seventh grade up until my senior year of high school, I was apart of a charity league which promoted community service on a daily basis. I was actively involved in this organization and my weekends were comprised of various beach clean-ups, library craft days, volunteering at local dental clinics and at Families Forward. Although I am now in college, giving back to my community is still very important to me. In my sorority that I have recently joined, I also have become actively involved in our philanthropy that we sponsor. I have also joined SIFE which is a business club on campus and recently the main goal of our meetings have been centered around ways in which we could give back to the community of Orange since they have done so much for our club. Although I am already helping to give back to my community, I feel that I could do a lot more than what I am doing right now. My main goal for this semester is to volunteer at least once a week with either my sorority, SIFE or another club on campus. I feel that this is a very easy goal to accomplish and if i make it a part of my weekly routine, I will then be able to make sure this goal becomes a reality. I believe that if everyone gives back to their community a little bit more than they are doing now, our planet will truly be a better place.
Saturday:Giving Back
I love volunteering. I have been volunteering ever since I was little however I have many locations that I still want to volunteer at. I have always been interested in helping out with environmental groups such as Greenpeace. I also want to volunteer with peta. For more local volunteering I want to help out at this location called Casa Theresa which helps out women that are over 18 and are pregnant and have no where to go. My biggest goal of all is to join the Peace Corps and volunteer in another country. The reason why I have been unable to help with the organizations I named above was because I lack the time to go to this locations since most of their locations are near the beach. For the Peace Corps, I hope to join after I finish college. However for now I will keep volunteering with the current club I am in, Circle K, so that I can be active in the community.
Day 6 and 7- Water and Giving Back
This is was probably the most difficult thing I had to do, not flush the toilet the entire day. Although I remember learning in the past that every time you flush the toilet, about 50 gallons of water is utilized in helping your feces and waste make it to the other side (waste facility). So I took the advice from the no impact experiment guide, and this is kind of gross I apologize, but quoting what it said in the guide, if it was "yellow [I] let it mellow". This didn't work so well with my little sister who screamed "oh my god! someone didn't flush". Remembering the article on consumerism, we are taught at a young age to waste and consume effortlessly, we are taught to flush every time, to use disposable objects, such as diapers, cups, napkins, etc., to throw anything we feel we don't need anymore away, so it was not difficult to understand why my sister found this inconvenient. Then for taking a shower, I decided to time myself for 20 minutes, cutting the time I usually use to take a shower in half. Surprisingly, I found it to be a work out. Well, not really, but it did get my adrenaline going because I didn't want the timer to go off when I still had soap in my hair. I discovered it was something I could adapt to. On Saturday, today, there was not much opportunity to give back. The things I did do, like hold a door open for someone, letting someone borrow a quarter, putting trash that I found on the floor in a trashcan, I did not classify as alturism. I think that that is just something we should all do because its the right thing to do. If someone needs help, you help them, it doesn't necessarily mean you're this wonderful person if you do. But I admit I do always feel better for doing so rather than just letting things wander aimlessly if I know I can provide my help. If everyone did this, then we could live happier because no one would be completely suffering, what I mean is that everyone would at least have the basics, food, water, shelter, health care; There would be a greater sense of equality. It would NOT make the wealthy lose their incentive to work because their act of giving back will be repaid with the happiness they acquire from the good feeling that they did something good for others. If we all share, we will consume less and we will become a more balanced society.
Day 6
Its impossible to not use water throughout your day because its key to our survival. There are ways of limiting are water use. This is what i did. Okay so today instead of opening up a water bottle i drank from the tap. I made sure to not let the water run while brushing my teeth. Finally i took a quick shower.
Day 6: Friday
Yesterday was a little easier. When brushing my teeth I make sure that I turned the faucet off instead of letting it run the whole time. I also took a seven minute shower rather than taking a 15 minute shower. Last year, in my environmental science class, I learned how much carbon dioxide one can save by taking shorter showers. I will keep trying to cut back on the length of my showers. Also, at home, on all my faucets, I have a water conserving nozzle that helps save some of the water.
No Impact Man Experiment- Friday, Day 6
Water is vitally important for so much of what we need to survive. I use water everyday, but I am Aware of the ways in which I can cut back. I took a short shower, and turned off the water while brushing my teeth and washing my face. I am still drinking a lot of water, but I have continued to use my reusable bottle. Also, I will only do laundry when I have a full load to I can avoid wasting water.
Day 6 Water
I always use a cup when brushing my teeth so I won't have to leave the faucet running. I skipped washing my hair today so I wouldn't waste a lot of water and I also took a sponge bath which was pretty fun. I was going to do my laundry today, but I didn't have enough clothing for a full load so I decided that it could wait for another few days. Learning about the waterfoot print of the foods I eat was shocking. I never really thought of how water is indirectly used in the foods I eat. Learning about all of these facts about how harmful meat is to the environment has made me consider vegetarianism. If only I had enough that kind of self-control. I love food too much. I'll try to eat less meat.
DAY 6: Friday: Water
Friday: Water
Today was a pretty tough day as well. I realized that I do waste a lot of water. I usually take 15-20 minute showers wasting a lot of water but today I only showered for exactly 6 minutes which saved a lot of water. Also, while I was washing my hands instead of letting the faucet run I put some water in a small bucket which saved a lot more water than I usually use. I did the same thing brushing my teeth. After focusing on not wasting water, I do realize that I waste a lot and if I just focus on not wasting water it will be better for this world. So from here on out I plan to not waste as much water as I normally would. This whole experiment is changing me and making me think how to become more sustainable. Tomorrow is the second to last day I cannot wait to see what we are doing tomorrow!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Friday Day 6: Water
When I first started to truly think about this challenge, I began to realize how wasteful I actually am when it comes to water consumption. I am the type of person that spaces off when brushing my teeth and will sometimes let the water run for five minutes straight without even knowing it. I also love to take a shower at the end of my day and just stand there letting the hot water run. These habits of mine are extremely wasteful and I now know that I must change this in order to truly help to my part in water conservation. When I first woke up today and started brushing my teeth, I immediately remembered to turn off the water when I was not using it. Also when I took my shower tonight, I made sure that I took it in a reasonable time so that I would not be just standing there wasting water like I was normally used to doing. Also at my house in Irvine my family does not have real grass in front of my house, my dad a few years ago decided to put in fake grass so that he would no longer have to mow the lawn. Not only is he saving time mowing the lawn, he is also saving tons of water that would normally be spent watering the grass. This decrease in the amount of water my family uses also helps to decrease how much our water bill costs as well.
Day 6
Day 6: Water
What surprised me the most about today's aspect of the experiment was how much water I used indirectly. I always make sure to turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth, never throw away a water bottle (or any bottle for that matter) that still has water in it, and turn off the shower when I'm washing my hair. However, after looking at the amount of water it takes to eat a lot of the food I ate today, I'm now aware of how greatly we can increase the amount of water available if we all could eat lower on the food chain. Of course, this also relates to the discussion we had in class about changing the way a certain society functions, and one of the biggest cultural differences is food and diet. This was the one thing that worried me the most about how much water it takes to keep up the lifestyles we are used to; no matter how hard we try to conserve water in ways like turning off the faucet or soaking dishes, water is still incorporated into all the food we eat. Another thing I really noticed was that I could reduce the amount of time I take showers. While yes, it feels good to take a hot shower, it uses up gallons and gallons of water, so I need to stop thinking about showers as a time to relax, but more as a quick chore to clean up and get out. For instance, in places like Costa Rica, a lot of people have grown up accustomed to taking cold showers, saving water, energy, and time. Many other countries, except for the U.S., take environmentally-friendly ways and incorporate them into their lifestyles. It saddens me to think that there might just have to be a "Pearl Harbor" incident, where something really tragic happens with our water supply, for more people to start acknowledging the importance of this resource.
What surprised me the most about today's aspect of the experiment was how much water I used indirectly. I always make sure to turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth, never throw away a water bottle (or any bottle for that matter) that still has water in it, and turn off the shower when I'm washing my hair. However, after looking at the amount of water it takes to eat a lot of the food I ate today, I'm now aware of how greatly we can increase the amount of water available if we all could eat lower on the food chain. Of course, this also relates to the discussion we had in class about changing the way a certain society functions, and one of the biggest cultural differences is food and diet. This was the one thing that worried me the most about how much water it takes to keep up the lifestyles we are used to; no matter how hard we try to conserve water in ways like turning off the faucet or soaking dishes, water is still incorporated into all the food we eat. Another thing I really noticed was that I could reduce the amount of time I take showers. While yes, it feels good to take a hot shower, it uses up gallons and gallons of water, so I need to stop thinking about showers as a time to relax, but more as a quick chore to clean up and get out. For instance, in places like Costa Rica, a lot of people have grown up accustomed to taking cold showers, saving water, energy, and time. Many other countries, except for the U.S., take environmentally-friendly ways and incorporate them into their lifestyles. It saddens me to think that there might just have to be a "Pearl Harbor" incident, where something really tragic happens with our water supply, for more people to start acknowledging the importance of this resource.
Friday: Water
After calculating my water footprint, I realized that it was 308. The water I used was through through washing my dishes, a bath, and the food which I consumed. What I learned today was that food was a large part of water consumption and I always seem to forget that since most of the time, water consumption is washing the dishes or taking a shower. The hardest part of today was that I can't reduce the amount of water I use to wash my hands although I can minimize the amount of time I take in the shower.Overall, today I attempted to minimize my water usage.
Thursday Day 5
Yesterday was a little bit easier than the other days. I have become conscientious of the amount of energy I use. My dad would drill it in my head to turn off my bedroom lights when I am not in the room. Since he said this to me over and over again, it has become a habit that whenever I leave a room I always turn off the lights. I have been drilling this into my roommates' heads and we all have been really good about turning of the bathroom and dorm room lights when they are not needed. We have been using the outside window light as much as possible so we don't have to use electricity. One thing that I am ashamed of is that I leave my chargers plugged in all the time. This is a terrible bad habit. Yesterday, since we were conserving energy, I was paying attention to my electronics that were plugged in. I have a power strip that I plug all my electronics in to. This made it much easier to unplug all my electronics because all I had to was unplug one cord and I was conserving energy. Since I realized how easy this was to do, I am going to try my hardest to continue unplugging my electronics and I am going to educate people how easy this task is to do and how much energy one can conserve.
No Impact Man Experiment- Thursday, Day 5
Conserving energy, in my opinion is the most important change we need make in our society. We waste so much electricity every single day, and it is detrimental to our health and the future of this world. It is hard to not use energy as a college student living in the dorms, we have to use lights because candles are not allowed in our rooms. I would be okay not using air conditioning for a week and see how that goes, but i have two roommates that would also have to deal with the heat. I also have a fridge and microwave in my room, but I can't get rid of this because my roommates use it.
Day 4+5
Day Four: Food
Truthfully, I found it extremely difficult to eat food that is locally grown. Being limited to cafeteria without a means of transportation adds on to the obstacles of eating organic or unprocessed food. However, I have been starting to watch what I eat in the cafeteria for the past couple of weeks due to my sudden realization of how the delicious food can affect one’s body. The pizza, grilled cheeses, soda, and desserts that are so readily available to us really take a toll on one’s weight and overall health. For the past two weeks (three including this week), I haven’t been drinking soda, I’ve avoided junk food, and I’ve either made my own sandwiches or eaten a vegan meal. I will admit to cheating and eating a piece of pizza today at lunch, but I have greatly reduced my intake of junk food, and it’s made a significant different from when I first started off at Chapman. I didn’t find this day of the experiment to be too difficult, since I realized the need to make this change before we started it a couple weeks ago.
Day Five: Energy
I am very conscientious of my energy use due to my mother drilling the notion of being energy-efficient ever since I was a toddler. For example, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people leave their cell phone chargers plugged when their actual cell phone isn’t charging. Ever since a few years ago, I have always taken the extra time to unplug my charger when I leave my room, since it conserves a huge amount of energy. If you leave the cell phone charger plugged in, even if it’s not attached to your cell phone, it’s still burning fossil fuels. One of the things I did notice, however, is how my roommates and I don’t notice that we leave the light in our closet on even when we’re not in the room. Most of the time, it’s also on when we’re in the room and not using it. Today, I turned off the closet light four times when I noticed it was on unnecessarily turned on. Today’s experiment made me realize the inefficient use of energy that goes on in my own dorm room, like leaving my laptop on all day when I’m out taking class, and leaving the air conditioning when nobody is in the room. Thus, I actually shut off my computer when I left for class, turned off the AC, and only kept the fan on.
Truthfully, I found it extremely difficult to eat food that is locally grown. Being limited to cafeteria without a means of transportation adds on to the obstacles of eating organic or unprocessed food. However, I have been starting to watch what I eat in the cafeteria for the past couple of weeks due to my sudden realization of how the delicious food can affect one’s body. The pizza, grilled cheeses, soda, and desserts that are so readily available to us really take a toll on one’s weight and overall health. For the past two weeks (three including this week), I haven’t been drinking soda, I’ve avoided junk food, and I’ve either made my own sandwiches or eaten a vegan meal. I will admit to cheating and eating a piece of pizza today at lunch, but I have greatly reduced my intake of junk food, and it’s made a significant different from when I first started off at Chapman. I didn’t find this day of the experiment to be too difficult, since I realized the need to make this change before we started it a couple weeks ago.
Day Five: Energy
I am very conscientious of my energy use due to my mother drilling the notion of being energy-efficient ever since I was a toddler. For example, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people leave their cell phone chargers plugged when their actual cell phone isn’t charging. Ever since a few years ago, I have always taken the extra time to unplug my charger when I leave my room, since it conserves a huge amount of energy. If you leave the cell phone charger plugged in, even if it’s not attached to your cell phone, it’s still burning fossil fuels. One of the things I did notice, however, is how my roommates and I don’t notice that we leave the light in our closet on even when we’re not in the room. Most of the time, it’s also on when we’re in the room and not using it. Today, I turned off the closet light four times when I noticed it was on unnecessarily turned on. Today’s experiment made me realize the inefficient use of energy that goes on in my own dorm room, like leaving my laptop on all day when I’m out taking class, and leaving the air conditioning when nobody is in the room. Thus, I actually shut off my computer when I left for class, turned off the AC, and only kept the fan on.
Day 5 Energy
yesterday was the day to conserve energy, and i found this easy in some ways and difficult in others. On sunday, I looked ahead at everyday of the no impact experiment and since I anticipated this day I bought candles on sunday so that I could conserve energy but still have light. Candlelight was not so bad, a little dim but actually a relaxing light to use while doing your homework, maybe a little too relaxing because I ended up getting sleepy and going to bed earlier than I usually do. It was easy to not use T.V or do anything else that required electricity use because I had homework to do, however, if this experiment was done during the summer where I had nothing else to do, I think I would be really disappointed that I could use neither my computer nor my T.V. and if it was to dark to go out and go for a stroll. I did feel tempted to go on my computer and go on facebook, but I decided that it wouldn't be a real emergency. The only time I used my computer was when I had to check my school email for some important stuff that I was expecting. OH, additionally, I watched on Disney Channel that your chargers still consume energy even when they're not plugged into your phone, so I disconnected all the chargers from their outlets, including the charger for my computer. I feel like I could have done more to conserve energy on this day, but that would require that I bought a solar panel, which I cannot afford. Furthermore, I felt good about this day, but I'm not so sure I could keep up living in candlelight and not watching T.V. for the rest of my life.
- Christine B.
- Christine B.
NO IMPACT EXPERIMENT
So my Blog account finally works.
Here are the Vlogs I've been recording this week for this experiment.
DAY 2 : I cant get it to upload correctly...
Day 5: Energy
I didn't want to rely on the a/c today and I just wanted to leave the windows open, but it was a hot day and I don't live by myself. I'm living with two other girls in a dorm and they really didn't like my idea. I also turned the lights off each time I left the bathroom. I went to my classes today and the a/c was running in all of them and the lights were on too. I also unplugged my lamp and chargers when they were not in use. I don't watch TV so that saved some energy too. I had to turn the lights on in my dorm when it became dark, but I made sure that only one or two lights were on. Well, I should turn off this light now and go to bed.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Thursday Day 5: Energy
Since I live in the dorm rooms, this was a very hard challenge to follow. Unfortunately after looking around I found that most of the lights in the building are regular light bulbs which tend to use a lot of energy. I however, did not use any lights during the morning and afternoon and in the evening when I was no longer in my room I made sure to turn off the lights. I also normally never turn off my computer even when I do not use it, so today I made an effort in reminding myself to turn it off the second I am done using it. Also after making a list of everything in my room using electricity, I found that I do not even use the majority of the items that are plugged in. After realizing that I could eliminate these items I immediately unplugged them which will help to reduce the amount of energy I use. I feel that if I was still living at home this challenge would have been much easier because my all of the light bulbs in my house are already switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
DAY 5: Thursday: Energy
Thursday: Energy
Today was a pretty easy day to reduce energy. In my room during the day, I kept all the lights off and just studied and did homework like that. At night, I only had one light on instead of my normal four. I did not use the washer and dryer today which was also good. I tried to take this very seriously and my trash surprisingly is pretty empty the only bad thing I did with trash today was have unnecessary candy and I threw those wrappers in my trash can. Our air condition in our room as well was turned off the whole day. Also, I did take a shower a night and I had to use light because it would have been too dark and I would not have been able to see while showering. Today, overall was a super easy day to consume less energy but I realized on a normal basis, I consume a large amount of energy and from here on out I plan on using much less. I cannot wait to see what I have in store for tomorrow!
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 5
Thursday: Energy
Without a doubt, today’s challenge has been the most difficult of all thus far to adhere to. Immediately upon waking up this morning, I walked to the bathroom and turned on the lights, only to realize I had to turn them off again. This was when I thought to myself, “This is going to be rough.” So after using the restroom in the dark, I opened the window in my dorm room and proceeded to get ready for my dance classes. The fact that I had two dance classes this morning made it relatively easy to avoid using energy for the first half of my day; however, the lights were on in the studio for both classes. I walked back to my room after these two classes and got ready for my FFC class! It was quite bright out this afternoon so I had no problem avoiding the use of artificial light in my dorm room. Energy was used in the classroom, but that was not necessarily under my control. I am using my laptop currently to write this blog post and am also going to use it to write an introductory paragraph for another class. I am also going to need to use a printer to print out the introductory paragraph; however, after that I am going to avoid energy use for the rest of the day! Although it was difficult to avoid the use of energy today, I do think it could have been worse. We’ll see how the next four days go!
-Michaela Pickett
Thursday: Energy
This was by far the hardest challenge. Being a college student, I depend on my energy sucking computer. Therefore it was completely impossible for me not to use so much energy because all my work is on my computer. Not only that, but I use the computer everyday at my job, I am on the computer nonstop. So therefore I believe the experiment for today, in the modern society is simply very difficult to do because everything relies on electricity. Even in the movie, No Impact Man, the family was having a hard time with no electricity. What I am trying to get to is after looking at all the electricity machines that I use, I need all of them and therefore it made today an unsuccessful day.
Day 3: Transportation
This is by far the easiest step for me because I don't have a car on campus and I primarily walk or longboard everywhere. So far the trash step is the only really difficult part of this experiment for me. I was reading some of the other blogs and Adam brought up a great point about chewing gum being trash. I didn't consider gum when trying to minimize my trash output but it really is awful for the environment in that it takes so long to decompose.
No Impact Man Experiment- Wednesday, Day 4
Food is where the difficulty starts. Because I am a college student, I eat on campus in the cafeteria. I can't afford to go shopping at local markets and I have no car to get there. Also, I have no way to store the food i would buy. Over Thanksgiving and Christmas break I will do my best to leave no impact on the environment in the food genre.
Day 4
Day 4 did not go so well for me. Like most of the students in our class, I live on campus and do not have the money or time to make a trip to a farmer's market to buy local foods. I made an effort, however, in the Caf to cut out meat and just eat fruits, vegetables, and pasta. I do not know for sure where the food on campus comes from, but I assume it is not from anywhere close. Not to mention, most of it is probably processed and very unhealthy. I will do what I can for the rest of the week, but this step is the most difficult to follow.
Day 1 through day 4
Day 1
Today was hard for me because of halloween. Halloween night i ate a bunch of candy and did not focus a lot on the project. Although i did do a lot of walking instead of taking a car which was good. I did end up spending the early part of my day with my parents which means more consuming. We whent grocery shopping and had a sit down lunch which is not very sustainable.
Day 2
Since i live in the dorms i walked to class. After class i ended up eating at the calfeteria which im asuming is not the wisest choice when trying to cut down on processed foods. When i got to my room that night i decided to use a reading light instead of using the lights provided for in the room.
Day 3
Today i took out the trash. In my room we seperate trash from recycling and throw them away in the appropriate bin. I rode my roomates skateboard too class. Instead of eating in the calfeteria i made myself a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwhich before practice.
Day 4
Today i made sure all the lights were off. I have this bad habbit of leaving the lights on after leaving a room. Today i made sure the lights were off after i used the bathroom and left my dorm room. I also made sure that my air conditioning was turned off
Today was hard for me because of halloween. Halloween night i ate a bunch of candy and did not focus a lot on the project. Although i did do a lot of walking instead of taking a car which was good. I did end up spending the early part of my day with my parents which means more consuming. We whent grocery shopping and had a sit down lunch which is not very sustainable.
Day 2
Since i live in the dorms i walked to class. After class i ended up eating at the calfeteria which im asuming is not the wisest choice when trying to cut down on processed foods. When i got to my room that night i decided to use a reading light instead of using the lights provided for in the room.
Day 3
Today i took out the trash. In my room we seperate trash from recycling and throw them away in the appropriate bin. I rode my roomates skateboard too class. Instead of eating in the calfeteria i made myself a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwhich before practice.
Day 4
Today i made sure all the lights were off. I have this bad habbit of leaving the lights on after leaving a room. Today i made sure the lights were off after i used the bathroom and left my dorm room. I also made sure that my air conditioning was turned off
Day 3 & 4
Transportation is usually easy for me since I don't have a car dorming here, and I always walk everywhere anyways. Usually if I do get around my friends drive me, and so I encouraged us all to carpool instead of everyone taking their cars. For food, it's kind of hard to know how healthy I'm eating, cause I feel like everything in the cafeteria has a lot of sodium and articially processed foods so I tried to stick to salads and fruit because even the lunch meat is probably not fresh or healthy. It's kind of hard being a vegetarian, and I know it's best to eat organically, but it's hard to do so when living in the dorms. I also went out for pho for lunch though, and I thought it was okay because they use real vegetables and ingredients in Little Saigon, it's not the packaged americanized kind that you would usually find in other places. I realize this year in general that it's better to walk everywhere, except when it's extremely hot. Then, I'm just frustrated at the heat. For food, like I said it's hard to find organic food here, but I know it could be better changed here at school because back at home my family and I would always visit farmer's markets, it's more so meat that's a problem for not getting processed.
The Nissan Leaf
Tyler Mattos, Nick Echeverry
The Nissan Leaf is not a hybrid or any other type of gas-powered car. It is 100% electric and burns no gas which means it produces zero emissions. Off the line, Nissan LEAF performs like a V6 and has room for five passengers. The Leaf comes into production in California this year 2010, but will be mass produced by the year 2012.
Interesting facts about the Nissan Leaf:
-Most importantly the car produces zero tailpipe emissions, meaning a very green vehicle.
-The car, unlike similar Hybrids, is 100% electric and runs off two different types of battery chargers; one for long distance charging, and one for quick charge short distances
-No gas is required ever
-Can reach speeds of up to 90 MPH
-One of only two fully electric cars in production
-goes about 100 miles with every full charge, but can vary depending on certain factors
According to Jerry Garrett of the New York Times,
Although driving the vehicle was very pleasant, he said that there are a few factors that hurt the Leafs probability to be mass produced. The main factor is that because the Leaf requires electric charging, there are very few places that allow an inductive type of charging, which is what the Leaf needs. Besides that, though, the leaf has more pros than cons.
It had a system of regenerating itself whenever the brake is used, similar to the flex-fuel cars that have been in production for a while. When Garrett drove the car he started off with 97 indicated miles, and when he returned from his test drive he had 98 indicated miles, which is just a sign off how convenient having this car would really be.
The car also has an "eco-friendly" mode that allows for 10% more range added on to the car. Although Jerry says the car seems a little more "sluggish", it is still tolerable and he expects that it will be what most people using the car will use.
The car only will cost an average of about 3 dollars per fill up, making it an extremely affordable car. It also makes the 25,000 to 30,000 price repay itself very quickly if you were to match it up with what someone would pay every time they fill up their car with gas.
Day 4: Food
Yesterday, was one of the harder challenges for me. I eat all of my meals in the cafeteria and I don't know where the food comes from. Since the cafeteria has to feed a mass number of people I assume that the food comes from hundreds of miles away all in packaging. When eating my meals in the cafeteria I tried to eat mostly fruits and veggies hoping that these products came closer to our school and had less packaging on them. I think that if I wasn't eating only cafeteria food I could complete this experiment better and travel to different farmers markets to get my food.
Day 4: Food
Yesterday was another difficult day. I don't drive so I could not go to a farmer's market to buy local food. I did try to eat less though. I ate one meal at the cafeteria which really was not local food, but it was all that I could eat. I did eat the apples they serve there which are locally grown. I tried to eat less meat too. I examined the food list I made the day before and I realized that most of the foods I ate came in wrapper or packages. Yesterday, I tried my best to not eat packaged goods. I was able to cut it down, but I did not eliminate it completely. Living in a dorm, all the food I have is packaged.
Wednesday: Day 4
To be honest, I totally failed today's activity on food. I was not able to eat organic and seasonal food that is grown within 250 miles away from Chapman, and I don't think I will be able to do it for the next weeks. Probably not until Thanksgiving break. The only thing I was able to accomplished for today's activity was to cut off meat from my meals and eat vegetarian food such as cereal and fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch, and pasta, with no meat of course, for dinner. I think I will be able to follow with this 'diet' for the following weeks, and just allowing myself to eat meat once a week. Since I was little, my mom forced our family to eat organically and healthy as possible. So, I'm not very used to eating processed food or packaged food. Personally, I love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. But besides all these, I'll honestly have to confess that adapting to a new way of eating with no meat or animal produced food include, will be extremely hard for me, since I love meat and milk.
DAY 4: Wednesday: Food
Wednesday: Food
Today was my toughest day so far. I could not eat healthy organic food or anything like that because as a college student we have all the food out here for us. The good thing about today is that I did not drive, to go get food. I would eat organic food but in order for me to do that I had to drive which I could not do. I would have to bicycle to the nearest farmer’s market but unfortunately I do not have a bicycle on campus. If it counts for anything, I did eat really healthy today by just having grilled chicken and fruit. Overall, this day was so tough for me and it is just going to get tougher to do this the rest of the week and go on with the future obstacles.
Days 2, 3 and 4
Day 2: Today I went through my trash and found that it was all food wrappers or tissues. We are now starting to use our new recycling bin to separate the different goods. I have begun to throw less away and use more sustainable products.
Day 3: Yesterday I only walked besides one 5 minute drive where I took people to a restaurant. I rarely use my car unless it's to get necessities.
Day 4: Today I cut beef out of my diet but I am not completely sure that all my produce was grown locally. I am already a pretty healthy food eater and today I took a trip to Sprout's to add more healthy items to my food stash. So far this no impact assignment is going well because a lot of these things I already included in my daily habits.
Day 3: Yesterday I only walked besides one 5 minute drive where I took people to a restaurant. I rarely use my car unless it's to get necessities.
Day 4: Today I cut beef out of my diet but I am not completely sure that all my produce was grown locally. I am already a pretty healthy food eater and today I took a trip to Sprout's to add more healthy items to my food stash. So far this no impact assignment is going well because a lot of these things I already included in my daily habits.
No Impact Days 1-4
Day 1
Today's day was consumption, and this was a very easy thing for me to cut out of my life. I do not often buy new things and I've always been taught to make due with buying the least possible. I made a list of possible things that I might purchase during the week, and there was nothing on that list was a necessity. It appears as if this will be an easy adjustment for me to do this week
Day 2
Cutting out trash from my life is turning out to be difficult. Although I by no means create a lot of waste, there are certain activities that use item that are disposable such as blowing my nose and going number two on the bathroom. To reduce my trash though, I used reusable dishes to make my oatmeal for breakfast. This week i will make an effort to reduce my trash, although cutting it out completely look like an impossibility.
Day 3
Using no transportation that causes waste was exceedingly easy for me. Seeing as i do not have a car and the only thing i have to do is to attend school, I dont really have anywhere. When going to my classes, especially my dance classes which are further away from the main campus, i merely ride my bike or walk. Created no impact in this field will be very easy.
Day 4
This has been the most difficult day for me so far, by far, and i have failed miserably. Making no impact in regards to food is virtually impossible in the current situation in which i live. Living in the dorms, with the Cafeteria as my main source of food, I have no control over where the food comes from that I eat as well as what I actually eat. The alternative of trying to find local markets and buying solely local food is not possible for not only do i not have to money to do such a thing, i do not have to time or means of transportation. Although I will keep this challenge in mind, I know that this will be a fail for me.
Today's day was consumption, and this was a very easy thing for me to cut out of my life. I do not often buy new things and I've always been taught to make due with buying the least possible. I made a list of possible things that I might purchase during the week, and there was nothing on that list was a necessity. It appears as if this will be an easy adjustment for me to do this week
Day 2
Cutting out trash from my life is turning out to be difficult. Although I by no means create a lot of waste, there are certain activities that use item that are disposable such as blowing my nose and going number two on the bathroom. To reduce my trash though, I used reusable dishes to make my oatmeal for breakfast. This week i will make an effort to reduce my trash, although cutting it out completely look like an impossibility.
Day 3
Using no transportation that causes waste was exceedingly easy for me. Seeing as i do not have a car and the only thing i have to do is to attend school, I dont really have anywhere. When going to my classes, especially my dance classes which are further away from the main campus, i merely ride my bike or walk. Created no impact in this field will be very easy.
Day 4
This has been the most difficult day for me so far, by far, and i have failed miserably. Making no impact in regards to food is virtually impossible in the current situation in which i live. Living in the dorms, with the Cafeteria as my main source of food, I have no control over where the food comes from that I eat as well as what I actually eat. The alternative of trying to find local markets and buying solely local food is not possible for not only do i not have to money to do such a thing, i do not have to time or means of transportation. Although I will keep this challenge in mind, I know that this will be a fail for me.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wednesday Day 4: Food
To be completely honest, today I failed greatly while trying to complete this challenge. Although I was able to cut beef out of my diet for today, I was not able to eat organic food that is grown within 250 miles of my school. The reason why I had such a hard time with this challenge is mainly due to the fact that I have a meal plan with Chapman University that restricts me to only eating the food available in the cafeteria. Often times I would imagine the food in there is not locally grown, but rather is mass produced in a factory far away from the school. I can say however, that I did not eat any food that was packaged, but that does not mean that it had not been previously packaged before arriving to Chapman. Also since I do not own a bicycle and I'm trying to not use cars, I was unable to go to a farmers market since it is far away and is not in walking distance. I think that the most challenging aspects of adjusting my food habits is the lack of options I have since I am restricted to only eating in the cafeteria.
Day 4- Food
I actually found this part of the experiment pretty easy because eating organically and locally is something that my mom has forced our family to eat for the past few years for health reasons. Although I occasionally will eat a packaged food item, such as hamburger helper, or eat from a fast food place, regularly I eat organic food items from markets such as Sprouts, Trader Joe's, or Henry's. Although the food there tends to be pricier, remembering what I learned from interviewing the farmers at the farmer's market on our last field trip, we pay extra for better quality food. My mom listens to this one health radio station in Spanish that talks about what to avoid (that will negatively affect health) and how to improve certain health conditions, and from listening to this stations is where she learned that eating organically is the best way to eat. Today for dinner I had mashed potato's made from organic potato's, organic apples, and Rosemary chicken. I do not know if the chicken came from a local farm, I completely forgot to ask and it doesn't say on the packaging, but it was pretty good. As for eating seasonally, I think that will be a difficult task for me, I tend to prefer to eat the same foods all year round, but knowing that its affecting the environment because the food that I want that is not in season here in the U.S. is being transported here with jet fuel and gasoline from distant countries where the food I want is in season is changing my mind a little bit. As organisms one of our abilities acquired through our survival instincts is adaptation. It might be unpleasant to eat foods that we find unpalatable during an entire season but if its for the sustainability of our future and our human civilization I think we can put a little effort into adapting to a new way of eating.
- Christine Brown
- Christine Brown
Wednesday:Food
From the food list for yesterday I consumed: oatmeal, noodles and vegetables, veggie burger, fries, water and oolong tea. After finding my carbon footprint I was sad to realize it was 2,734 which was on the red zone :( . Now I know I need to change my food choice so that I will lower my carbon footprint. I did not eat a lot of dairy products only cheese and I did not buy any packaged foods which is good. I think the hardest thing for me was to give up tofu. When I inputted that into the carbon meter, I saw that it went up by a lot of points. Not good. I think I will give veganism a try for this week, it shouldn't be too hard, hopefully.
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 4
Wednesday: Food
I must say, today was not easy. I have been feeling a bit sick lately, so immediately upon waking up, I wanted to stir up an emergen-c in my re-usable water bottle. I am not positive, but I have a feeling these are not made locally; however, I must admit, I mixed it anyway. And yes, I did have to throw the wrapper in my trash bag. This day was also difficult because I have paid for a meal plan in the cafeteria that provides me with 14 meals per week. That being said, I eat most, if not all, of my meals in Chapman’s cafeteria or cafés. This, I believe, would be the most challenging aspect of my current eating habits to adjust. Both yesterday and today I ate lunch and dinner in the cafeteria; however, I did make positive changes to my meals today. For example, instead of drinking diet coke with my meals today, I drank water and instead of eating two cookies after dinner tonight, I ate an apple. I believe I struggled today mainly because I did not have many alternative options to turn to or the ability to use my car to obtain more alternative options. However, instead of going to standard grocery stores over the weekend to stock up on food in my dorm, I think I am going to begin going to farmers markets!
No Impact Man Experiment: Day 3
Tuesday: Transportation
I would say Tuesday was quite a success for me regarding no impact transportation! Because all of my classes are more or less walking/biking distance, I did not need to use a car. It is nice to know that my general mode of transportation during the school week is not making an impact on the environment. I do have my car with me at school, but often it sits in the parking lot until I decide to drive home for a weekend. And although the Partridge Dance Center is quite a distance to walk from my residence hall, the walk is relatively enjoyable, and as Danielle mentioned in her most recent blog post, it is an opportunity to be alone. This is one of the challenges given to us in the No Impact Man Experiment that I will definitely continue to integrate into my life after this week is over; however, I must admit that there are certain destinations I need to get to where driving my car is a much more feasible mode of transportation.
Tuesday Day 3: Transportation
Although I have lived in Southern California my whole life, I have never once had my own car, and even to this day I still do not have a car. This means that if I have to go somewhere I either have to carpool with someone else or just walk to the place where I need to go. Today, like all other days, I walked to my pilates class in the dance studio which is about a twenty or so minute walk. I actually enjoy walking to the dance studio twice a week because I feel that it is the only time that I am truly am alone which allows me to actually reflect upon the upcoming day. Also, since I do not own a bike or a scooter, I walk to class every single day. Although this means I might have to leave a few minutes earlier than others it is actually not hard to do at all. Since this routine of walking is not anything new to me it was not difficult at all for me to do. With the large amounts of walking I have been doing I have been feeling much more healthier than I did before school started and I feel as though I am more awake in my classes since I wake up while walking to them. I could easily improve my experience by bringing my ipod or walking with a friend to keep me company while I walk to the dance studio and to my classes.
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