Reflections: Weeks 9-12

• Over the past few weeks in class we have covered a lot of different information. We watched a video in class that gave us a better understanding of how fast Americans are consuming and going through things, how most people feel they have to keep buying new things to have value in this society and contribute to the "golden arrow" as well as information on recycling and other facts and tips on how to try and save our environment. This video was rather eye opening and did a great job showing us the "whole picture."  I found this video so interesting to me so when I went home for Thanksgiving break I actually showed it to my mom and sister to try and spread the word. 

• Something else we did was a project called the photo essay.  Not only did I enjoy doing this on my own and telling a little story through pictures, but I liked how we got to share our photos in class so we were able to get to see what everyone else did and listen to them give an explanation.  There were a lot of unique and interesting photo essays to learn about.

• One day we had the opportunity to look at junk items and try and think of different things we could do with these instead of just throwing them away or buying something bran new.  It was neat to me to hear all of the different ideas that everyone had and made me realize that next time I am about to throw something away that I should think outside of the box and see if I can somehow put it to a different use!

These were a few of the things that I enjoyed doing over the past few weeks along with some of the new information that I learned. I am looking forward to going to Goodwill on Monday!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

-SMART GOAL: to drink 12 oz. of water a day out of the facet or a drinking fountain and to not drink out of a plastic bottle.
-Success- I did it! I drank 12oz of water everyday and did not drink our of any plastic water bottles. Me and a girl were studying in the library one day and she bright a snack and some plastic water bottles for each of us. I thanked her and told her how I am not drinking my water out of a plastic bottle and explained why. She understood and said she is going to try and cut back on her consumption of water out of a plastic bottle, so that was good.
I did not really face any challenges this week with my goal so I was rather pleased.
-This week I felt really good because it was the first week that I fully met my goal. I felt successful and happy about doing so!
-I learned that I can set reasonable goals and meet them when I put forth my best effort and really make a conscious effort about meeting my goal.
-For the upcoming week I am going to up my water intake. I am going to try to drink 16oz of water each day and make sure not to drink out of any plastic bottles. I am also going to try to put some money aside to purchase a camel back water bottle which I hear will contribute to my success with this goal even more! :)

Picture of camel back water bottles

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain

Share & Voice: Environmental News Network

Hey all! Just want to share a website with you all about good ways to find out environmental information and updates. Some of you may already know about the website, and for those of you that do not feel free to check it out. It shares top stories, environmental advertisements which are rather interesting as well as having the option to sign up for a free newsletter via email. They have a lot of facts and interesting stories so I encourage you to take a quick peak :)
Environmental News Network
(Picture from above is taken from this website as well)

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

My theme has to do with environmental contributions that we do in my apartment to try and contribute to bettering the environment.  I took a few pictures of some things in my apartment that contribute to this and I will explain them all briefly and the benefits that I feel they have.

First of all, we make sure that we have a separate location for our trash and our recycling at our apartment.  Recycling is important and a good way to help the environment.  We place our trash in a garbage under our sink as you can see above.

The items that we recycle we place next to our sink and when the collection grows we place it into a cardboard box and our roommates bring this box down when we empty the garbage and then bring it back up to continue to add more recycling items to it.

Another important thing to us is eating healthy and we try and eat/buy organic fruit and other products as often as possible.

 

Something else we do that contributes to the environment is taking the bus as often as possible.  This is something I try and do as often as I can!  I live at Boulder Ridge so we have a shuttle/bus that goes to and from campus so this is very convenient and a good benefit for the environment as you could conclude.

 

Furthermore, me and my roommates have come to the agreement that we will try and use as little napkins or paper towels as possible. Our goal is to use none so we make an effort to always have towels hanging up to dry our hands or wipe up a spill.

This is another example that contributes to using less paper towels.  We use rags and always have a clean one sitting in the sink so that this is a better option than grabbing a bunch of paper towels, napkins or other wasteful paper products.

We always try and use the dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand because using a dishwasher vs. doing dishes by hand saves a lot of water in the long run.

At the apartment we try and do the majority of our bills and mailing by computer.  This also saves on paper consumption! 

 I make a conscious effort when I drink water to do so out of the faucet.  This is resourceful.

To go along with the contribution above we have a lot of reusable cups so that we do not use plastic water bottles or any other items that contribute to additional and unneeded waste.

--These are some ways that my apartment tries to contribute to the environment and take that extra step!--