Karen's Low Impact Goals, Day 3

My four goals are:
1. I want to use my paper recycle more effectively, and keep old paper to use later.
2. I want to reduce the amount of pages that I print and that I use for homework.
3. I will try to put my computer in sleep mode whenever I am not using it.
4. I will try to work a little in the garden daily, and move towards leftovers or unprocessed foods rather than things from a box for snacks.

Goal number four, as described before, is a way to move towards less processed food over time, and to invest myself in something that makes us more sustainable as a family. I will not take extensive time in the garden, but I will spend a little time each day, and also try to eat our leftovers. Yesterday I had very little time to focus on any of the goals, since I did not get home until around 10:00 P.M. However, when I did get home, I made sure only to eat homemade chocolate chip muffins, and a piece of garlic bread that was saved from our last meal at the restaurant. I also did not order a shake on the way home like everyone else, since this is very processed. However, with my new garden goal I am not sure how far I am also going to go into eating less processed snacks, and when over someone else's house, I do not have a choice in what I eat. I worked in the garden for the first time today. My mom assigned me a bed which has thyme, strawberries, and lemon balm. I began weeding. Back to the first goals, I have been trying to use only paper which already has something written on it for assignments, although for my math homework I really could not help but use a new piece of paper. I felt bad about showing my teacher something that did not look ready to hand in. For the most part, though, I have been taking notes on just one already used sheet for class, and trying to take up as little space as possible. I have not really used my paper recycle, since I have not found any paper to recycle, so that goal is a slightly inactive. Shutting off the monitor screen on my computer is something I have yet to try today, since I was not home last night. It is my third way, as described before, to make my computer use more energy efficient. I know I am more motivated towards goals that will allow me to be in nature, than goals that might require me to be on the computer more to conserve paper. This is why I chose to use the computer less, and to work in the garden.

For the all division challenge, last night I found a way to have a light in my room at night without wasting too much energy. My brother set up two energy efficient nightlights, which give us plenty of light, so that we can turn on the light outside my room. It is interesting all the little things that can be done to be slightly more energy efficient with just a small amount of extra time and energy.

-Karen