Hey I had some problems posting on Monday.

Week of November 2-5

The categories that I selected to work on were garbage, electricity and water, and my own project of attempting to convince the people that I work with to stop using Styrofoam and get recycling bins in and around registers. So, with the first two days of the project completed I must say, the garbage conservation/elimination category has proven to be more difficult than I originally assumed it would be. I already try as hard as I can to conserve electricity and water by minimizing my dependence upon artificial lighting, air-conditioning, showering, and wasteful water use, so that will not be as challenging. But I must admit, I throw a lot away, and not just my own trash! Over the years I have developed the habit of picking up other peoples’ garbage that they deem necessary to throw on the ground. People poke-fun at me for doing it, some even seem offended that I should touch other peoples discarded napkins or tissues, but hey, no one else is going to pick it up, so I might as well! Starting out on Thursday morning I woke up and got dressed, using the least amount of light and water as I saw possible, and rode my bike to the commons for breakfast. Breakfast was a delicious egg, cheese, and potato burrito that I had to wrap up in four napkins so that I might transport it more easily to my Sustainability class in my bicycle basket. Every time I do this I pray that the burrito will hold tight and not fall apart all over my books, and miraculously, every time I have done this so far, it has not. Regardless, after class I texted a fellow SEAK member to see if I could compost napkins, but with much time and no response, I grew impatient and simply chucked the napkins in the compost. It turns out they are not compostable because of the bleach in them. Oops, my bad. Moving on. Any inclination I have of re-using disposable resources has been passed down unintentionally by my grandpa. My Grandpa Jim reuses things for 50+ years until they fall apart and he is forced to buy something new. This, however, is not because he gives a crap about the environment, rather, that he is just really cheap. I always used to tease him about being so set in his old ways and refusing to retire equipment or clothes, but after thinking about, grandpa is probably the most environmentally friendly person in the whole family. He certainly would cringe if he heard me say that. I have him to thank for the conservationalist household I was brought up in. But back to the trash. As I had previously mentioned, I pick up trash every time I see it on the ground. It took every fiber of my being to not bend down and pick up every piece of trash that I saw on my way about campus. I am almost certain that the grounds got dirtier over my 2-day trash fast. Luckily, I found an outlet. It turns out that a lot of the bottles cast upon the ground are recyclable. So I was able to use that as an outlet for my compulsion. At my job, working as a lab technician for Dr. Burks, I found it a little more difficult to stick to the plan because of the other people I was interacting with. For example, I left only the lights on in the front of the lab to conserve electricity. When Dr. Burks walked in, though it was not wholly necessary, she turned on all of the lights. I also had a head of lettuce that I had set aside on the counter to compost that must have found its way into the trash can by Dr. Burks’ hand. To elaborate upon my electricity/water conservation project, thus far I have utilized the minimal amount of both. I take only five minute showers, have the lights on only when necessary and even try to convince others to do the same, though this part is the most difficult. The appliance that I found most challenging, in respect to minimizing usage, is my computer. I didn’t realize the gross dependence that I have upon my laptop until I had to record it for this project. Over Thursday and Friday I had my computer plugged into the wall for approximately 15 hours! 15 hours! Its simply terrible to fathom how much electricity this must be using up! Yikes! Next week I need to reduce my dependence upon the computer and guarantee that the food I eat is not prepackaged or wrapped in anything that I might have to throw away. Peace out for now!

-Allyson Plantz