Ayla: Learning Things

So, this week I learned some things that surprised me a lot, and some things that only surprised me a little, and some things that didn't surprise me at all. I learned that FedEx transports 120,000 food packages per business day, which was only mildly surprising, and that they shipped over Pandas from China, which was very surprising. I also learned that there are more free kittens on craigslist than puppies, and I've been trying to figure out why... Is it because puppies are cuter somehow? Or because kittens are more likely to tear apart your curtains and attack your feet when your'e sleeping? Is it the price of cat food vs. the price of dog food? Or is it some weird difference between the number of dogs reproducing and the number of cats reproducing? ... I am awash in a sea of confusion...

Anyway, now I'm supposed to talk about things I'm going to take away from this project. Honestly, I'm trying to come up with something... And can't. I think it's because this challenge isn't challenging enough for me. I need it to really impact (pun intended) my life and change the way I think about things. Right? That's the whole idea... Right? So I've been thinking about ways I could make this more difficult for myself, and honestly, I'm too chicken to do any of them. I suck. So I guess what I'll take away is that it's harder than I thought to give up the pieces of your life that are usually so dependably there-- like toilet paper. It's difficult, of course, but it's important, too. And I've realized how much I waste in an average day and that's pretty freakin' creepy.

I think the above stuff I talked about is what I would share with people. Talk to them about necessity versus want, and all the stupid ways that people hurt the world (every day) without even realizing it.

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This is now my low impact challenge report now...

Sigh... Paper waste. Yep, I'm changing the intensity of the project. I'm gonna go cold turkey on paper waste after today. Except toilet paper. Toilet paper really is required. Yuck. And on everything else, I've been doing really well, and I've been able to conserve and actually notice that I've been conserving, and it's a very nice feeling. SO! That's how that's going... Preeeetty good.

Lights are still making me a little nuts (or, more precisely, my parents are) due to the fact that whenever I turn one off, ten minutes later it's back on again. Oh dear. Whatever will I do about my wasteful family? Possibly just cut the electrical wires...