Showing posts with label Karen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karen. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Karen's Low Impact Goals, Day 9
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.
On the last day of the challenge, I have just escaped from the bug ridden tomato bed. It might be cool and drizzling, but the insects are still swarming. I planted four tomato plants today, trying to spread them out with enough space between them and all the other plants. I have found through this challenge that I enjoy working out in the garden, especially when I have something particularly productive to do, like planting tomatoes, or cucumbers, or beans. I sort of hope that even though the challenge is over I will continue to help out in the garden a little. I really need these kinds of challenges every day, not just for a specific project, because being out in nature helps me to de-stress. Because of this, gardening a little every day, so as to eventually eat less processed foods and become more sustainable without use of the supermarket, was my favorite challenge. I think that there is really a link between peace and working sustainably with the earth. The act of educating children with nature, for example, so as to help motivate them and balance them throughout life, is in itself a way that humans are acting as the earth's tenders. What gives us joy is helpful for the earth, because it reduces the amount of fossil fuels emitted from packaging and transporting store bought food, and also because it is nurturing the land. This is part of what I discovered by trying to garden a little every day, which is not something that I previously had thought of myself doing.
My other challenges, to reduce my paper use, not print out as much, and use my paper recycle more effectively, were also slightly eye opening. It was not that I discovered anything particularly new, but just that I realized how much paper I use and how much I already have. I rarely ever use a full sheet of paper, and I will disgard a piece of paper, both sides, when it has just one line written on it. In this challenge reusing paper was difficult, because I was using the backs of papers from everywhere throughout my binders. However, I believe that I can actually gain organization out of this, by keeping all my notes for the day on only one page, as long as there is not previous writing on it. Today I did have a difficult time finding paper to take notes on, and I had a hard time finding my math notes later because they were not in order. The only paper with some space used and some space clean was in an obscure location. Yesterday I made sure not to print out my spanish project, and sent it by E-mail instead to Ms. Beardslee, which I usually never do. Despite this, I definitely look forward to clean sheets of paper to use, even if I do continue to write as much as possible on one page.
I think that goals like the paper recycling goal help people to become more aware of their own consumption, and that this is significant in helping to lower our environmental impact. I also believe, however, that an environmentalist should not be defined as a person who participates in these kinds of challenges regularly, maybe someone who runs their house on solar power, and who only uses recycled paper. We have to go beyond this to find our role with nature again. It is something that cannot be found only by eliminating impact, but by finding an impact that we can make, a sustainable way to work with the earth.
I felt that the challenge of turning off my computer was very simple. All I had to really do was change the computer settings and it did the work on its own. I would like to continue doing this, letting the monitor shut off when I am not using it, but I do not think that it is a particularly meaningful challenge. It is sort of like buying organic food at the grocery store and then feeling better about what we eat; it is just another easy way to stave off the guilt of not being healthy. Real change comes from lifestyle change, even though habits like recycling paper certainly help lead up to this. We need more gardeners! We need more people who see themselves as the earth's tenders, and make a way to live from this goal.
I learned from each challenge, but what I felt the most was being outside. I want to use less paper and shut off my computer, but the feeling I will take with me is of my hands plopping a plant into a hole, patting the soil around it, and the way my yard looks like a green forest jungle with light filtering in sideways sometimes. And how I wish I could be out there all the time. It is definitely important to get us to think of our consumption and the impact we have as members of a complex society, but in the end what is most important is not using the computer more to save paper. It is getting off the computer and experiencing what you are actually trying to help-and then living it.
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.
On the last day of the challenge, I have just escaped from the bug ridden tomato bed. It might be cool and drizzling, but the insects are still swarming. I planted four tomato plants today, trying to spread them out with enough space between them and all the other plants. I have found through this challenge that I enjoy working out in the garden, especially when I have something particularly productive to do, like planting tomatoes, or cucumbers, or beans. I sort of hope that even though the challenge is over I will continue to help out in the garden a little. I really need these kinds of challenges every day, not just for a specific project, because being out in nature helps me to de-stress. Because of this, gardening a little every day, so as to eventually eat less processed foods and become more sustainable without use of the supermarket, was my favorite challenge. I think that there is really a link between peace and working sustainably with the earth. The act of educating children with nature, for example, so as to help motivate them and balance them throughout life, is in itself a way that humans are acting as the earth's tenders. What gives us joy is helpful for the earth, because it reduces the amount of fossil fuels emitted from packaging and transporting store bought food, and also because it is nurturing the land. This is part of what I discovered by trying to garden a little every day, which is not something that I previously had thought of myself doing.
My other challenges, to reduce my paper use, not print out as much, and use my paper recycle more effectively, were also slightly eye opening. It was not that I discovered anything particularly new, but just that I realized how much paper I use and how much I already have. I rarely ever use a full sheet of paper, and I will disgard a piece of paper, both sides, when it has just one line written on it. In this challenge reusing paper was difficult, because I was using the backs of papers from everywhere throughout my binders. However, I believe that I can actually gain organization out of this, by keeping all my notes for the day on only one page, as long as there is not previous writing on it. Today I did have a difficult time finding paper to take notes on, and I had a hard time finding my math notes later because they were not in order. The only paper with some space used and some space clean was in an obscure location. Yesterday I made sure not to print out my spanish project, and sent it by E-mail instead to Ms. Beardslee, which I usually never do. Despite this, I definitely look forward to clean sheets of paper to use, even if I do continue to write as much as possible on one page.
I think that goals like the paper recycling goal help people to become more aware of their own consumption, and that this is significant in helping to lower our environmental impact. I also believe, however, that an environmentalist should not be defined as a person who participates in these kinds of challenges regularly, maybe someone who runs their house on solar power, and who only uses recycled paper. We have to go beyond this to find our role with nature again. It is something that cannot be found only by eliminating impact, but by finding an impact that we can make, a sustainable way to work with the earth.
I felt that the challenge of turning off my computer was very simple. All I had to really do was change the computer settings and it did the work on its own. I would like to continue doing this, letting the monitor shut off when I am not using it, but I do not think that it is a particularly meaningful challenge. It is sort of like buying organic food at the grocery store and then feeling better about what we eat; it is just another easy way to stave off the guilt of not being healthy. Real change comes from lifestyle change, even though habits like recycling paper certainly help lead up to this. We need more gardeners! We need more people who see themselves as the earth's tenders, and make a way to live from this goal.
I learned from each challenge, but what I felt the most was being outside. I want to use less paper and shut off my computer, but the feeling I will take with me is of my hands plopping a plant into a hole, patting the soil around it, and the way my yard looks like a green forest jungle with light filtering in sideways sometimes. And how I wish I could be out there all the time. It is definitely important to get us to think of our consumption and the impact we have as members of a complex society, but in the end what is most important is not using the computer more to save paper. It is getting off the computer and experiencing what you are actually trying to help-and then living it.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Karen's Low Impact Goals Day 8
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.
My challenges have not been very active for the last couple of days. I think that my computer is shut off most of the time when I am not using it, although I will try to get into this habit more consciously later on. It has been hard to really think about the challenge at all, because I do not get home until around 4:30 P.M and then I have much homework to do. It is worse when I am not even at my house in the evening, like last night, and like tommorrow night. I have still been surviving off much less paper than before the challenge, but I sort of wish that I had started with new paper instead of having to find empty pages throughout my binders. My social studies project was completed in a very environmentally friendly way, all our scripts are on school recycled paper or recycled paper at my house. I also tried to only use a few sheets for notes, both of which already had notes on them before. It does seem that even though I am trying to cut down on paper use I might still use more than most people, because I like to write everything down. I also never thought about class handouts. In English and Social Studies we don't really have any, and we have not had any in spanish, but in chemistry we had a practice quiz. Does the paper I used for that count as new paper? I also have my lab notebook, and in my lab notebook I never write on the backs of pages, because I assume that this is the norm. My work in it was not really completed during the challenge, but I handed it in during the challenge period.
Today I planted basil in the garden. I did not have much time so that was all I did. I love working in the garden, but it is time consuming, which is different from my other challenges. Last night I had homemade apple pie for snack, and this morning for breakfast, so eating less processed foods was fairly easy for me. Today, though, I ate crackers for snack, and I cannot decide if that is breaking my challenge. Mostly, however, I am finding that these challenges are difficult to focus on, and I wish that I had chosen ones that required more of my attention, so that I could feel like I am doing more to reduce my energy use.
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.
My challenges have not been very active for the last couple of days. I think that my computer is shut off most of the time when I am not using it, although I will try to get into this habit more consciously later on. It has been hard to really think about the challenge at all, because I do not get home until around 4:30 P.M and then I have much homework to do. It is worse when I am not even at my house in the evening, like last night, and like tommorrow night. I have still been surviving off much less paper than before the challenge, but I sort of wish that I had started with new paper instead of having to find empty pages throughout my binders. My social studies project was completed in a very environmentally friendly way, all our scripts are on school recycled paper or recycled paper at my house. I also tried to only use a few sheets for notes, both of which already had notes on them before. It does seem that even though I am trying to cut down on paper use I might still use more than most people, because I like to write everything down. I also never thought about class handouts. In English and Social Studies we don't really have any, and we have not had any in spanish, but in chemistry we had a practice quiz. Does the paper I used for that count as new paper? I also have my lab notebook, and in my lab notebook I never write on the backs of pages, because I assume that this is the norm. My work in it was not really completed during the challenge, but I handed it in during the challenge period.
Today I planted basil in the garden. I did not have much time so that was all I did. I love working in the garden, but it is time consuming, which is different from my other challenges. Last night I had homemade apple pie for snack, and this morning for breakfast, so eating less processed foods was fairly easy for me. Today, though, I ate crackers for snack, and I cannot decide if that is breaking my challenge. Mostly, however, I am finding that these challenges are difficult to focus on, and I wish that I had chosen ones that required more of my attention, so that I could feel like I am doing more to reduce my energy use.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Karen's Low Impact Goals, Day 7
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.
Today I had very little time to plant anything, since I just got home from college visiting. I simply weeded rapidly for a few seconds, and then went in, because it was raining and I still have to do homework. Hopefully tommorrow I will be able to spend a little more time. I recycled a few papers yesterday, if I remember correctly, that had something on both the front and back sides. However, my paper recycling idea has not been going particularly well because I haven't been taking the time to find paper to put in it. What I have really been good at is keeping old paper and using less pages. I have really tried never to use a new page, even if that just means erasing what is already on an old page. Yesterday I also deliberately did not print out my spanish project again, even though I had made changes. It just was not entirely necessary. Yesterday as well I ran out of time to prepare myself a snack, and had to just eat bread and butter again. I only just turned on my computer to do this blog, so I guess I have been saving energy just by being out of the house. There has not been much else that I can do for my low impact goals since I have not been at home. I wonder if there is a specific way to reduce environmental impact while traveling? Overall, I have been keeping up with my no new paper goal, not really participating at all in the sleep mode computer goal, and slightly lagging on the gardening and less processed snacks goal.
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.
Today I had very little time to plant anything, since I just got home from college visiting. I simply weeded rapidly for a few seconds, and then went in, because it was raining and I still have to do homework. Hopefully tommorrow I will be able to spend a little more time. I recycled a few papers yesterday, if I remember correctly, that had something on both the front and back sides. However, my paper recycling idea has not been going particularly well because I haven't been taking the time to find paper to put in it. What I have really been good at is keeping old paper and using less pages. I have really tried never to use a new page, even if that just means erasing what is already on an old page. Yesterday I also deliberately did not print out my spanish project again, even though I had made changes. It just was not entirely necessary. Yesterday as well I ran out of time to prepare myself a snack, and had to just eat bread and butter again. I only just turned on my computer to do this blog, so I guess I have been saving energy just by being out of the house. There has not been much else that I can do for my low impact goals since I have not been at home. I wonder if there is a specific way to reduce environmental impact while traveling? Overall, I have been keeping up with my no new paper goal, not really participating at all in the sleep mode computer goal, and slightly lagging on the gardening and less processed snacks goal.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Karen's Low Impact Goals, Day 6
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.
Today I have not needed to use printed paper for anything yet, so I have not used my reused printer paper pile. I have tried to reduce the amount of pages I need to take notes, but have come across a few difficulties. In Math class, since I am trying to use only sheets of paper I have already taken notes on, my new notes are not in the same place, and are rather separated and confusing. My one major error in all of my challenges today was using a new piece of paper for my math take home quiz. I am not sure how I would have gotten around that since I was using graph paper from Mr. Hornick. My notes are also in very bad shape in spanish, and because of the disparate papers are very disorganized and not cohesive. I did make the choice not to print out a new draft of my spanish story the other night, and instead to save the story to my thumb drive. Normally I print out a new draft of work every night.
The computer goal has been successful except that I do not really know how much energy my computer is saving, since it refuses to go into standby. Another way to approach the goal is to use the computer less, but since I usually blog around fifteen minutes after I get home, I cannot keep the computer off until I really need it. It only saves energy to turn my computer off if I am going to do it for awhile, which might work sometime later tonight.
As far as eating leftovers, last night I ate white bread that we had in the fridge, with butter, instead of Cheezits or fishy crackers. However, even though this is a leftover, it is probably equally bad for me as any of these snacks. My garden goal moves towards something better, which is to eat healthier by practicing sustainability and helping the earth. Today I planted beans around the marigolds in the marigold beds, and planted a parsley plant in the herb bed. I am really enjoying the garden more and more, except for the bugs!
I have been trying to turn off all the lights, but I only do this when I remember, so sometimes lights get left on. There are also lights I do not notice, like the light which is constantly kept on in my sisters room. Even more dissappointingly, I realized that I do not unplug the nightlights I use at night all day, so I am wondering if I am actually wasting more energy than I am saving.
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.
Today I have not needed to use printed paper for anything yet, so I have not used my reused printer paper pile. I have tried to reduce the amount of pages I need to take notes, but have come across a few difficulties. In Math class, since I am trying to use only sheets of paper I have already taken notes on, my new notes are not in the same place, and are rather separated and confusing. My one major error in all of my challenges today was using a new piece of paper for my math take home quiz. I am not sure how I would have gotten around that since I was using graph paper from Mr. Hornick. My notes are also in very bad shape in spanish, and because of the disparate papers are very disorganized and not cohesive. I did make the choice not to print out a new draft of my spanish story the other night, and instead to save the story to my thumb drive. Normally I print out a new draft of work every night.
The computer goal has been successful except that I do not really know how much energy my computer is saving, since it refuses to go into standby. Another way to approach the goal is to use the computer less, but since I usually blog around fifteen minutes after I get home, I cannot keep the computer off until I really need it. It only saves energy to turn my computer off if I am going to do it for awhile, which might work sometime later tonight.
As far as eating leftovers, last night I ate white bread that we had in the fridge, with butter, instead of Cheezits or fishy crackers. However, even though this is a leftover, it is probably equally bad for me as any of these snacks. My garden goal moves towards something better, which is to eat healthier by practicing sustainability and helping the earth. Today I planted beans around the marigolds in the marigold beds, and planted a parsley plant in the herb bed. I am really enjoying the garden more and more, except for the bugs!
I have been trying to turn off all the lights, but I only do this when I remember, so sometimes lights get left on. There are also lights I do not notice, like the light which is constantly kept on in my sisters room. Even more dissappointingly, I realized that I do not unplug the nightlights I use at night all day, so I am wondering if I am actually wasting more energy than I am saving.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Karen's Low Impact Goals, Day 5
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.
This weekend I realized that my first two goals have basically changed into one goal, which is not to use any new paper at all, for writing, at least. It is amazing how much paper I already have, like the other sides of all the pages I have taken notes on, and pages of handouts for Spanish that I printed out and never used. I am trying to use much less paper by reusing paper, so that I take all my math notes on the same page as my math homework, or I only do chemistry work on a page that I have already written on. I realized that I often move to a new page after just writing one bullet on one side of a page, but if I just erase the bullet, I can use the whole page! I now have an established old paper pile which I try to use for homework. I am not really using the paper recycle as I expected, because I never know what paper I should put in it. I've decided that paper should only be recycled if there is text on both sides, or else I can put it in my reusable paper pile. My goal to print less went a little wrong this weekend. I printed out several pages on non-recycleable paper, because my printer got a paper jam from the bent edges of the recycleable paper. In the end, I had to put my bedtime goal over my using recycleable paper goal, and just print the documents out with regular, white, unused paper.
The sleep mode goal with the computer seems to be going fine, although I am worried about how uninvolved I am in it. All I did was set my computer to go to a black screensaver after 5 minutes. I did do one other thing with the computer this weekend, though. On Sunday, I completed almost all my work on my parents computer. Their computer is usually kept on all day, and it is a problem if I turn it off. Therefore, I saved energy by not having two computers on that day (at least for the most part.)
I am very excited about my garden goal. Over the weekend I weeded the herb bed and planted cucumber seeds and marigolds. My mom told me that marigolds keep the pests out of the garden, so I am still working towards sustainability. Today, I planted rosemary in the herb garden, which my mom bought for me. I have also still been trying to eat leftovers for my night time snack. I have dropped the no-processed foods goal entirely, but this weekend I ate leftover pasta and nachos for snacks-all foods that had been made previously. This is a very effective goal, because I think it is stopping me from eating certain unhealthy foods as well as encouraging me to be less of a consumer of things that must be produced and then bought in supermarkets. Overall, the project is successful, and I think that some of the things I am doing now I could develop as long term habits.
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.
This weekend I realized that my first two goals have basically changed into one goal, which is not to use any new paper at all, for writing, at least. It is amazing how much paper I already have, like the other sides of all the pages I have taken notes on, and pages of handouts for Spanish that I printed out and never used. I am trying to use much less paper by reusing paper, so that I take all my math notes on the same page as my math homework, or I only do chemistry work on a page that I have already written on. I realized that I often move to a new page after just writing one bullet on one side of a page, but if I just erase the bullet, I can use the whole page! I now have an established old paper pile which I try to use for homework. I am not really using the paper recycle as I expected, because I never know what paper I should put in it. I've decided that paper should only be recycled if there is text on both sides, or else I can put it in my reusable paper pile. My goal to print less went a little wrong this weekend. I printed out several pages on non-recycleable paper, because my printer got a paper jam from the bent edges of the recycleable paper. In the end, I had to put my bedtime goal over my using recycleable paper goal, and just print the documents out with regular, white, unused paper.
The sleep mode goal with the computer seems to be going fine, although I am worried about how uninvolved I am in it. All I did was set my computer to go to a black screensaver after 5 minutes. I did do one other thing with the computer this weekend, though. On Sunday, I completed almost all my work on my parents computer. Their computer is usually kept on all day, and it is a problem if I turn it off. Therefore, I saved energy by not having two computers on that day (at least for the most part.)
I am very excited about my garden goal. Over the weekend I weeded the herb bed and planted cucumber seeds and marigolds. My mom told me that marigolds keep the pests out of the garden, so I am still working towards sustainability. Today, I planted rosemary in the herb garden, which my mom bought for me. I have also still been trying to eat leftovers for my night time snack. I have dropped the no-processed foods goal entirely, but this weekend I ate leftover pasta and nachos for snacks-all foods that had been made previously. This is a very effective goal, because I think it is stopping me from eating certain unhealthy foods as well as encouraging me to be less of a consumer of things that must be produced and then bought in supermarkets. Overall, the project is successful, and I think that some of the things I am doing now I could develop as long term habits.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Low Impact Goals, Day 4, and Food, Transportation, and Consumerism
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.
Yesterday I believe that I finally got my computer to use less energy, by having the monitor shut off after only five minutes. It took a while to figure out, and I think my computer will still not hibernate or go into standby. I still also may try to turn my computer off for the night sooner, when I have made sure to complete everything I need to do on it. I am so far achieving my goals of reducing my printing pages and using recycled paper, as yesterday I made sure only to take notes on a page that I had already printed something on, and printed only with this same kind of paper. It turned out to be a kind of a problem because the text printed out over the original text, and so I had to flip the paper over and try again. I have been continuing to use only a minimal amount of paper to take notes in my classes. Today I intend to work briefly in the garden again, continuing the weeding and watering. Last night I also made a real effort to create my own snack, using ham, cheese, and tortilla, rather than eat Cheezits. I am not sure if this is any healthier, but at least I am making something and not using something that is pre-made and packaged in a box. However, making my own food does take me a lot longer and it puts my evening schedule back so that I eventually go to bed later. There is still nothing much I can do about the more processed food in my lunch or dinner, since it is all I have to eat.
Food, Transportation, Consumerism
One interesting point when we were looking at food was how many different options there are in the grocery store to choose from. I was frustrated because I felt that I really could have done a better job getting healthier food for cheaper. You can choose not to buy processed foods, and only raw ingredients and you can choose organic food over less natural types. All the most unhealthy options are present, but they are completely unnecessary, just cheaper. I want to consider this when I eventually shop for myself so I know that I am making the smartest choices possible. Another interesting thing I learned is how un-local our food network can be. We have to send fish all the way to China to be de-boned, because it is more economically efficient, and through this, we help China to become more dependent on us and our economy. It seems that the U.S finds niches it can work with, rather than sustainable options within the country. One understanding I would take away from that is that it is that we do not just import food because we want so many different types, but because it is more economically efficient, and this is probably something that should be remedied. Another understanding is that buying new really is not necessary at all. We can reuse so many things, through resources like Craigs List. I personally would rather do this by asking around and seeing what people are willing to give away, rather than through the internet, but at least it helps to show that there are many other options out there, if we only look. It seems so direct and obvious just to buy new things when we need them, but there is a better way.
I think that I would share with people the different options we explored, like buying organic, buying cheaper, and buying reused things. Sometimes buying things cheaper can really help the environment, and cheaper is what a lot of families may need. I guess I would also share about the carpool map that we are working on. I think that sometimes we do not realize the proximity of some of our locations, and we do not realize how we can help the environment and make our lives easier by driving less. In this way, we are also creating community. With more carpool comes more connections between grades and between families. It is how I got to know the first person I met at this school, which has definitely been helpful in making the adjustment.
-Karen
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.
Yesterday I believe that I finally got my computer to use less energy, by having the monitor shut off after only five minutes. It took a while to figure out, and I think my computer will still not hibernate or go into standby. I still also may try to turn my computer off for the night sooner, when I have made sure to complete everything I need to do on it. I am so far achieving my goals of reducing my printing pages and using recycled paper, as yesterday I made sure only to take notes on a page that I had already printed something on, and printed only with this same kind of paper. It turned out to be a kind of a problem because the text printed out over the original text, and so I had to flip the paper over and try again. I have been continuing to use only a minimal amount of paper to take notes in my classes. Today I intend to work briefly in the garden again, continuing the weeding and watering. Last night I also made a real effort to create my own snack, using ham, cheese, and tortilla, rather than eat Cheezits. I am not sure if this is any healthier, but at least I am making something and not using something that is pre-made and packaged in a box. However, making my own food does take me a lot longer and it puts my evening schedule back so that I eventually go to bed later. There is still nothing much I can do about the more processed food in my lunch or dinner, since it is all I have to eat.
Food, Transportation, Consumerism
One interesting point when we were looking at food was how many different options there are in the grocery store to choose from. I was frustrated because I felt that I really could have done a better job getting healthier food for cheaper. You can choose not to buy processed foods, and only raw ingredients and you can choose organic food over less natural types. All the most unhealthy options are present, but they are completely unnecessary, just cheaper. I want to consider this when I eventually shop for myself so I know that I am making the smartest choices possible. Another interesting thing I learned is how un-local our food network can be. We have to send fish all the way to China to be de-boned, because it is more economically efficient, and through this, we help China to become more dependent on us and our economy. It seems that the U.S finds niches it can work with, rather than sustainable options within the country. One understanding I would take away from that is that it is that we do not just import food because we want so many different types, but because it is more economically efficient, and this is probably something that should be remedied. Another understanding is that buying new really is not necessary at all. We can reuse so many things, through resources like Craigs List. I personally would rather do this by asking around and seeing what people are willing to give away, rather than through the internet, but at least it helps to show that there are many other options out there, if we only look. It seems so direct and obvious just to buy new things when we need them, but there is a better way.
I think that I would share with people the different options we explored, like buying organic, buying cheaper, and buying reused things. Sometimes buying things cheaper can really help the environment, and cheaper is what a lot of families may need. I guess I would also share about the carpool map that we are working on. I think that sometimes we do not realize the proximity of some of our locations, and we do not realize how we can help the environment and make our lives easier by driving less. In this way, we are also creating community. With more carpool comes more connections between grades and between families. It is how I got to know the first person I met at this school, which has definitely been helpful in making the adjustment.
-Karen
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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
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
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