Day 1- Consumption
I started off my No Impact Week pretty good. I slept for most of the day therefore i did not have to consume much. Instead of drinking my normal 3 bottles of water everyday I filled up my plastic cup with water from the faucet. My roommate and I went grocery shopping and bought things in bulk rather than individually wrapped.
Day 2- Trash
I failed this task in the morning whenever i grabbed my individually wrapped breakfast bar for a quick on the go breakfast. But i did fill up my reusable water bottle instead of grabbing one and then having trash. I did go to Jones dining hall and get my food in a to-go box, so that made trash :(
Day 3- Transportation
Day 3 was actually an easy successful day for me. I rarely drive my car here as it is but i made sure i didn't drive anywhere and walked all around campus. I did not need to go anywhere in town this day but if I did I would have just taken my bike.
Day 4- Food
I did not do much on Wednesday for food. I did not have time to go to the farmers market but I'm defiantly going to try to go to the one in town sometime soon instead of going to Walmart everyday for food.
Day 5- Energy
All week i have made sure i unplug my phone and computer charger, my straightner and my fan which I normally always keep plugged in. My roommate and I keep the lights off as much as we could and opened our blinds or opened the window. We can not control our own A/C in the dorms but if we could we would have made sure to turn it off whenever we were gone.
Day 6- Water
To be honest i did not accomplish anything today. My showers are always way too long and it takes alot of water to wash all my dishes and clothes. I could definatly try harder on this concept.
Day 7- Give Back
Saturday I made sure i held the door open for others and the elvator whenever I saw people down the hall. I also went through my closet and found alot of clothes that i never wear, there is a store called Platos Closet that Im going to take them to, to donate them.
Day 8- Eco- Sabbath
I slept for most of the day so I did'nt have to do much. My roommate and I kept our lights off all day and night and just kept our window open, it actually made our room feel really good from the air outside but we had to shut it whenever we started to realized bugs were flying in out room.
- Sarah Hyde
Monday, October 4, 2010
No Impact Week
All week I conversed the electricity I use in my dorm. I unplugged my laptop charger and turned it off when I would leave for class. I unplugged my mini fridge when I didn't have any food in it. I unplugged my other chargers when I wasn't using them. And I used the natural lightening from my window instead of using the light in my room. I only turned it on at night. The only electric device that was always on in my room was my alarm clock.
NO IMPACT SEMANA AYYYYY
Alrighty.
SUNDAY! (Consumption)
I bought two gallons of water. I did not use water bottles. I changed the world.
MONDAY! (Trash)
I drank out my reusable Texas State Camelback water bottle :) I love it so, and I feel like I'm being more environmentally friendly every time I drink out of it. However, I love granola bars and they are individually packaged. Hmph.
TUESDAY! (Transportation)
We go to Texas State University, is there any other option other than to walk absolutely everywhere? And next year I plan on taking the bus or carpooling so as to help reduce those pollutions.
WEDNESDAY! (Food)
On Wednesday I went to the Farmers Market in the quad, and bought a large glass jar of peach halves as well as some pecans, which made me happy because I love those foods and I was supporting our community! Wee!
THURSDAY! (Energy)
Okay. Here we go. I love light. I love everywhere I am being bright. So I turned on all the lights in my room and took the elevator. Sorry Fox :(
FRIDAY! (Water)
I took a shorter shower.
SATURDAY! (Give Back)
I smiled at random people and a boy held the door open for me. YAAAAAYYYY I love doing that.
SUNDAY! (Eco-Sabbath)
I only used my laptop for probably like three hours, haha, that's good for me. Such a sabbath! Haha, and I walked around St. Edwards campus. It was pretty and the weather was beautiful. I love the world.
SUNDAY! (Consumption)
I bought two gallons of water. I did not use water bottles. I changed the world.
MONDAY! (Trash)
I drank out my reusable Texas State Camelback water bottle :) I love it so, and I feel like I'm being more environmentally friendly every time I drink out of it. However, I love granola bars and they are individually packaged. Hmph.
TUESDAY! (Transportation)
We go to Texas State University, is there any other option other than to walk absolutely everywhere? And next year I plan on taking the bus or carpooling so as to help reduce those pollutions.
WEDNESDAY! (Food)
On Wednesday I went to the Farmers Market in the quad, and bought a large glass jar of peach halves as well as some pecans, which made me happy because I love those foods and I was supporting our community! Wee!
THURSDAY! (Energy)
Okay. Here we go. I love light. I love everywhere I am being bright. So I turned on all the lights in my room and took the elevator. Sorry Fox :(
FRIDAY! (Water)
I took a shorter shower.
SATURDAY! (Give Back)
I smiled at random people and a boy held the door open for me. YAAAAAYYYY I love doing that.
SUNDAY! (Eco-Sabbath)
I only used my laptop for probably like three hours, haha, that's good for me. Such a sabbath! Haha, and I walked around St. Edwards campus. It was pretty and the weather was beautiful. I love the world.
October 4th
The no impact experience was beneficial. There were some obstacles I had to overcome when the no impact week started. The first obstacle was transportation. I live all the way on the west side of campus, by KA, so traveling to a class that is the furthest building on the opposite side of campus wasn't very fun. The second obstacle was food. The farmers market was very interesting but honestly when am I going to have the time to make my own food. I barley have enough time for all my classes. And the last obstacle I had to overcome was electricity. I live in one of the darkest, smallest rooms in my building. It is literally pitch black in the middle of the day. Theres a huge tree blocking my window so even with it open, not much light gets through. Even with all those obstacles, I at least tried to successfully live a no impact week. To wrap up my blog I'll end with my favorite thing from no impact week. Even though it was one of the obstacles I had to overcome, food was still my favorite day. I love food and it was interesting to learn about all the different foods out there that are local and healthy for you.
no impact week
Ehh, I didn't change my day to day habits at all. I figured that since everyone else is going green and whatnot that I really wouldn't have an impact on the earth. So everyday I threw my trash in the trashcan or if a recycling bin was closer thats where my cans would go. I didn't really drive anywhere except to go to the outlet mall to buy some new shoes. Thats all I have to say about that.
Post No-Impact
So I've come to the conclusion that causing no impact is hard and as dedicated as I am, I will always contribute in one way or another to the world's decay.
Luckily, on Sunday I was able to do absolutely nothing, which in doing so led to a bigger impact.
I created no trash, ate only apples, and used no electricity or motorized transportation.
I gave No Impact Week my all, but fell sort.
(Sorry Planet Earth!)
-- Lauren Piller
No Impact, Weak Experiences
Day 1 - Consumption
I had a really good start to my No Impact week due to the fact that I slept for most of the day, making it difficult to consume. However, whenever I tried to drink water from my dorm room sink instead of opening up a bottle of water I discovered that the water quality is beyond horrible here and went about my normal bottled water drinking habits for the remainder of the week, but at least I tried, right? I also went to Jones dining hall to get some dinner and got my food on a paper plate instead of the little styrofoam to-go containers because I figured that way I'm not consuming as much... which was the my personal goal for the day.
Day 2 - Trash
So I figured the trash day would be pretty difficult, which it was. The overall goal would be to create less trash than I would in an average day. Before class i had to print out 24 pages of notes; not a very good start to the day. I ate a Lunchable for lunch, which is in a little plastic container. I'm not really sure if that's better or worse than eating food from a dining hall in a styrofoam container, but for dinner I had Ramen which I ate from dish ware, however it is individually wrapped. I also drank two bottles of water today so the goal for the day wasn't really reached, however I feel that realizing the excess amount of trash created in a typical day will help me to be more careful in the future.
Day 3 - Transportation
Okay so transportation was the day I was least worried about, seeing as how I mostly walk everywhere on campus. The goal was to not have to cause not to use gas/diesel powered transportation at all today, but I realized that wouldn't be possible when I had to attend a meeting for my sorority in the evening. On the bright side, I did car-pool with two other girls.
Day 4 - FOOD!
I was looking forward to food day, mostly because I love food and having a day dedicated to it really excites me. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit the farmer's market today, which I was actually looking forward to. As far as knowing what's in my food and where it comes from I pretty much failed because I eat at the dining halls for the most part. But for day 4, I think I was more successful that unsuccessful because I don't eat red meat in the first place and also most of the snack food I keep in my dorm is organic, or certified organic anyways...
Day 5 - Energy
So the goal for today was to not use the elevator once, and avoid any other unnecessary energy use. I did pretty good, I didn't take the elevator at all. As far as the rest of my energy use, honestly I didn't put much effort into saving, I took about a 30 minute long, warm shower to start off the my day and kind of forgot about saving energy for the remainder of the day, but looking back on it now this day would definitely prove to be the hardest for me.
Day 6 - Water
Let me just start off by saying that I'm a little sore today from taking the stairs to my fourth floor dorm all day yesterday, which is completely pathetic, motivating me to do away with elevator use all together. But anyways the goal for today was to use less water that I would in a typical day. I definitely didn't abide by the "If it's yellow let it mellow" rule, however I did put a sticky note on my bathroom mirror reminding me to turn the faucet off it didn't absolutely have to be on which helped. I also took a pretty quick shower today.
Day 7 - Give Back
The goal today was simply just to give back in some way. When I sat down to start blogging tonight I was under the impression that I somehow managed to not be successful on the seemingly easiest of the days, but when I thought about it a little harder I realized that I held the door multiple times for one of my good friends who's in a wheelchair. I also held the elevator for a group of people that wouldn't have made it on if it wasn't for me putting my arm into potential danger. I know that I could do a lot more to give back if I actually made a conscious effort, but that just didn't happen today.
I had a really good start to my No Impact week due to the fact that I slept for most of the day, making it difficult to consume. However, whenever I tried to drink water from my dorm room sink instead of opening up a bottle of water I discovered that the water quality is beyond horrible here and went about my normal bottled water drinking habits for the remainder of the week, but at least I tried, right? I also went to Jones dining hall to get some dinner and got my food on a paper plate instead of the little styrofoam to-go containers because I figured that way I'm not consuming as much... which was the my personal goal for the day.
Day 2 - Trash
So I figured the trash day would be pretty difficult, which it was. The overall goal would be to create less trash than I would in an average day. Before class i had to print out 24 pages of notes; not a very good start to the day. I ate a Lunchable for lunch, which is in a little plastic container. I'm not really sure if that's better or worse than eating food from a dining hall in a styrofoam container, but for dinner I had Ramen which I ate from dish ware, however it is individually wrapped. I also drank two bottles of water today so the goal for the day wasn't really reached, however I feel that realizing the excess amount of trash created in a typical day will help me to be more careful in the future.
Day 3 - Transportation
Okay so transportation was the day I was least worried about, seeing as how I mostly walk everywhere on campus. The goal was to not have to cause not to use gas/diesel powered transportation at all today, but I realized that wouldn't be possible when I had to attend a meeting for my sorority in the evening. On the bright side, I did car-pool with two other girls.
Day 4 - FOOD!
I was looking forward to food day, mostly because I love food and having a day dedicated to it really excites me. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit the farmer's market today, which I was actually looking forward to. As far as knowing what's in my food and where it comes from I pretty much failed because I eat at the dining halls for the most part. But for day 4, I think I was more successful that unsuccessful because I don't eat red meat in the first place and also most of the snack food I keep in my dorm is organic, or certified organic anyways...
Day 5 - Energy
So the goal for today was to not use the elevator once, and avoid any other unnecessary energy use. I did pretty good, I didn't take the elevator at all. As far as the rest of my energy use, honestly I didn't put much effort into saving, I took about a 30 minute long, warm shower to start off the my day and kind of forgot about saving energy for the remainder of the day, but looking back on it now this day would definitely prove to be the hardest for me.
Day 6 - Water
Let me just start off by saying that I'm a little sore today from taking the stairs to my fourth floor dorm all day yesterday, which is completely pathetic, motivating me to do away with elevator use all together. But anyways the goal for today was to use less water that I would in a typical day. I definitely didn't abide by the "If it's yellow let it mellow" rule, however I did put a sticky note on my bathroom mirror reminding me to turn the faucet off it didn't absolutely have to be on which helped. I also took a pretty quick shower today.
Day 7 - Give Back
The goal today was simply just to give back in some way. When I sat down to start blogging tonight I was under the impression that I somehow managed to not be successful on the seemingly easiest of the days, but when I thought about it a little harder I realized that I held the door multiple times for one of my good friends who's in a wheelchair. I also held the elevator for a group of people that wouldn't have made it on if it wasn't for me putting my arm into potential danger. I know that I could do a lot more to give back if I actually made a conscious effort, but that just didn't happen today.
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