Reflection

Although my change in lifestyle has made a very tiny difference to lessen the impact on the environment, I believe that many people could easily take part in reducing; the amount of time they watch TV, eliminating plastic water bottles/plastic wrap/plastic bags from their daily lives and no longer using the clothes dryer. Nobody I know, other than my fellow classmates changed their lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly. I feel like my action were not impractical, but my attempt to eliminate hot water from my lifestyle was inefficient because I was unable to stick to my plan, I had to make moderate changes; giving up hot water has proved to be impossible.

My dedication to change has made very little difference to those who know about my project. I found that many students in high school take the planet for granted and don’t realize the consequences of our society’s abuse. Many, even my family thought it was humorous rather than inspiring. I feel as though not very many people care about our environment, I am trying to inform as many people as I can, but what voice does a 17 year old have? I believe I should be trying to make a more effective environmental statement. I wish i could have also have managed to reduce my impact concerning food/agriculture, but I felt like I was already taking on a lot. I often had problems staying dedicated to my plan. I have survived !

To anyone who reads this, don’t be afraid of trying to help out the environment. I am probably not the best influence or role model,
but I am not giving up ! and neither should you !

Go Green. 

Tuesday May 31

Post 10 – This is my last post (tear) but it’s finally a positive one! Yesterday went better than I anticipated and today was good as well. I made it through the day, got home and sat on my couch in the family room working on my homework. My dad walks in turns on the TV, but I realised I am strong enough not to be distracted. My dad leaves home and left the TV on (really dad!?) as I go to find the remote to turn it off SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE COMES ON SCREEN! SYTYCD is my favourite show! If I was capable to resist it, you can too! 

Monday May 30th

Post 9 - Ever had a really terrible night, you couldn’t sleep, and you feel awful?  That was me, last night. I woke up from that sleepless night and felt like a zombie this morning. I turned the TV to the weather network (oh yes, I know you are thinking, that isn’t good). I walked into the bathroom turned the shower on HOT and stood under the burning water for a minute. If I can’t eliminate hot water from my lifestyle, I must try and reduce my use! Hopefully this day won’t be as bad as last night but I am coming to the conclusion that emotions influence my dedication.

Sunday May 29 x2

Post 8 – I NEED to take a shower, this challenge is clearly destroying my hygiene. My muscles are extremely tense from dancing all weekend. Taking a cold shower is out of the question; let’s go try it

Part 2

My attempt was a fail, I didn’t even try. My body HURTS, I needed the warmth! I’m sorry environment, I am failing you but I have decided that if I will use hot water I must reduce my water use. The tap is never left running, and my showers are only 2 minutes which is and extreme IMPROVEMENT from 8 minutes. I just need to rush a little, this is happening! 

Sunday May 29

Post 7 – It is 1:30, I just woke up. It is my one day to do the laundry from this previous week, and there is a lot of laundry 9 days worth to be exact plus all my dance attire. I wish you could see how much there is to do, and without a dryer. We will see how this goes.

Part 2

After 2 large loads I have filled two hanging racks, from top to bottom and 2 dozen hangers plus I have towels hanging outside luckily the weather cleared up. Not using the dryer seems to be an easy task, I believe many people could easily do this, but finding the space for all the wet clothes when the weather is bad is not as easy of a task.

Saturday May 28

Post 6 - I’ve been up since 8:30 this morning, and I am extremely stressed. I have already completed two shows and my last begins at 7:00. I went out to lunch and got a subway, to go, turns out it’s in a plastic bag. I walked over to quickie, this week has been tough and I have gotten very little sleep, I need energy to make it through my final recital, but Powerade and Gatorade both come in bottles. This is a problem. The solution: buy the bottles anyway, I couldn’t think of a better one at the time. Hopefully I will get back on track tomorrow after sleeping in.

Friday May 27

Post 5 - I haven’t blogged since Wednesday, and I know that my last three blogs have all been centered around my habit of cheating on my ‘No impact’ project, but today’s blog is different.  I AM MAKING PROGRESS. Every time I go to grab a Ziploc bag I turn around and take a plastic container instead. I have gotten into the habit of filling my lululemon bottle before school and dance rehearsals and my recital (tonight) and this morning I even made it through a cold shower! It was freezing but its progress! Maybe I will be able to make it to the end without cheating! YAY: D 

Wednesday May 25 x2

Post 4 - I am a bad influence.

BAD BAD BAD! This evening I went to the play, which was surprisingly quite good. I’ve already cheated once today, doing it twice would be awful! So much for that! Sitting in the balcony with Helen Rudnicki, I was quite warm; I felt dehydrated and had not brought a water bottle. It seemed reasonable to share a bottle, I fed the machine money but they had little selection, as I went to press the return button Helen pressed the only option we got both the bottle and the money back, and on top of that I bought another bottle because grape water is not my favourite drink. WORST OF ALL I couldn’t find a recycle bin ANYWHERE! They had all disappeared; I brought my bottle home to recycle. This summative is proving to be hard work.

Wednesday May 25

Post 3 -My day was long, I am tired and frustrated, but i am glad that I haven’t cheated today, till just now! I just got home and looked at the clock, it read 3:59. I thought to myself PERFECT its Oprah Winfrey’s Final show, I must watch (not that I am a huge fan, just found it intriguing). I grabbed the remote turned on the TV, turned to 518... Wow I haven’t watched TV in while, OH CRACKER! No impact! Must record and Turn off (and yes this run-on sentence was my exact thought process). Now the question is did those two minutes have a negative impact on the environment? Either way I must resist for another week.

Tuesday May 24

Post 2  - This morning I woke up early and COULD NOT DO IT! I told myself “No shower for me today” (sorry students in my warm and stuffy environment class! )  I was running late and made toast for the road. Left it in the toaster as I put my bag together, I come back to the kitchen and my mom has put it my toast in a Ziploc bag, “NOOOOOO! MOM HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ME TALK ABOUT MY ENVIRONMENT PROJECT”, apparently she has memory loss.  I never knew the use of a Ziploc bag could start a bad day; I should have tried this sooner.

Monday May 23

Post 1 - After posting my statement of intent, early in the morning, I decided it was time to take my first cold shower. I was in the shower for half a second before I ran out! AM I CRAZY! Cold showers, how can anyone manage that? After a minute I decided that this shower was over, it is much too hard, my muscles are tense, my hands blue, my teeth are chattering. When people looked at me shocked, wondering if “I had lost my mind” for wanting to take cold showers for 3 weeks, I was hurt that they didn’t believe I could do it. Now I don’t even believe in myself.

Statement of Intent.. Here We GO!

Could you do it? In the next 3 weeks I am going to test myself like never before by changing my current lifestyle, to be much more eco-friendly. I am giving up; the dryer to dry my clothes after I wash them, the television, and warm water including: showers and baths; and 3 reusable plastic items: plastic wrap, plastic bags and plastic water bottles. I have chosen to give up these 4 luxuries for many reasons.

You may wonder why I am choosing to cut out 4 luxuries; well each item has a different reason. I am giving up clothes dryers, because although dryers are around 17 % more efficient today than they were 21 years ago they are still the appliance which consumes the most energy per average home. Weekly I use this appliance for two loads of laundry, this mean my dryer is been used 104 times a year by 1 person in a household of five. It easy to take wet clothes and throw them into the dryer, but hanging your clothes reduces energy consumption.

In my home the television is on for 3-4 hours every night. My family over-uses our televisions, i believe we waste energy. Every year billions of dollars are spent on research to find energy sources with less impact, and more energy efficient appliances. I have decided to simply turn off my television and clothes dryer.

Plastic bags, plastic wrap, and water bottles are filling our already bursting landfills. It is time that I begin to use reusable containers and bottles. I can reduce waste. Another thing I can reduce are my very long, very hot showers. Taking cold showers will also help me take shorter showers and in turn reduce water consumption. Only 3% of the water in the world is freshwater yet our populations of 7 billion rely on fresh water for produce, drinking water, hygiene etc.

My actions are not measurable compared to the entire world, but I believe in the saying “it all starts somewhere”. I will be giving up 4 luxuries for the next three weeks and if possible to sustain I shall continue my challenge.

There is only one rule for the upcoming 3 weeks. It’s simple: No. I am not allowed to use any of these items, and there are no exceptions. If another member is using the dryer I cannot add an item whether it is an emergency or not. If the television is being used by my family I can’t watch not even if I’m in the same room. I cannot take a warm shower or bath, and my pool will not be heated so that I may swim in it. I can’t drink out of a plastic bottle, with the exception (I know there are no exceptions) to Gatorade on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday for life purpose.

I believe I will find every aspect of this environmental lifestyle change difficult because I use all of these luxuries on a regular basis.  Not using the dryer will require more time, effort and hangers, but I believe it is possible. Sacrificing TV privileges for 3 weeks will be difficult because So You think You Can Dance season 8 begins this week, and my family is always around the TV therefore I will have to avoid the kitchen and family room. During the next three weeks I must take the time to pack a lunch and fill a bottle instead of rushing out with food in plastic bags and a plastic water bottle. No warm water will be the most challenging change because this week I will be sore and exhausted and a warm shower will be extremely tempting.

Wish me luck!