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.