Sunday: Eco-Sabbath

Sunday was probably my favorite day of the week.  My biggest issue is my attachment to media, electronics, the internet, my phone, and so forth.  I have to admit I did not do the best that I could have on Sunday.  I forgot that it was the Eco-Sabbath and I ended up turning on Netflix on my computer when I woke up and watched a few episodes of Parks and Rec until I remembered I wasn’t allowed to do so.  I had no problem not using my TV for the rest of the day or checking social media.  It was actually kind of refreshing to not use social media for the day, but when I checked it Monday morning, I had a bunch of notifications and it made me realize that using it is how I keep in touch with people that I don’t see often.  I definitely don’t think giving up social media is something I want to do permanently, but I could easily cut back.

I did need to use the internet for school work and work for my internship, so I was not so successful in that area.  Even though I think I could have done better on this day, it did make me aware to how much people in this generation rely on technology, but I do not think it is something that will change too much.  People like the ease and effectiveness of it which I understand.  We just need to realize that there are times when unplugging and enjoying the moment needs to happen as part of keeping our sanity as well as keeping in touch with our surroundings, nature, and ourselves.

Saturday: Giving Back

Saturday, the day of giving back, made me think a lot.  I had a tough time with this day because I wasn’t in the area to be able to do too much in the West Chester environment.  I had to babysit for most of the day, so I decided to try and think of what I could do to give back.  The people I babysit for have two smaller children, and the 3 year old little boy loves to play outside.  I decided to take them for a stroll around their neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods and pick up trash where I saw it along the way.  I realized that not only is this really great for the assignment today, but it taught me an important lesson.  Even in the times where it seems like you can’t do much to make a difference, you can find some way to do so.  So, even though I was busy the whole day, just by taking a walk and picking up trash where I saw it did help the environment even just a little.  I also liked that the fact that I got the little boy involved because he was enjoying finding things and picking them up to throw them away.  I hoped maybe eventually that will continue into later in his life and he can become an environmentally conscious person.

Friday: Water

Friday was an easier day for me because I tend to be conscious of water usage on the average day.  I didn’t do any laundry and I let the dishes sit for an extra day.  The hardest thing for me is taking shorter showers, because I really enjoy taking long showers, especially in the winter.  On this day, I sucked it up and decided to take a quick shower.  I found myself kind of clueless as to how I can save water other ways so I did a Google search to see what I could find. 

One finding that seems like common sense is to just reuse and re-wear as much as possible.  Luckily, I tend to wear things a few times before washing them because 1. I do not have a washer and dryer at my West Chester house, and 2. I realize that these things are probably not dirty from wearing them one time.  Washers use a TON of water, more than I realized.  So by not using it for small items here and there, you are able to save a lot of water.  I decided to be  even more conscious about the laundry loads I make and try to keep re-wearing clothing until I really need to clean it.

Thursday: Energy

The day of energy was surprisingly easy for me.  I found that this day, I was pretty busy, but I was conscious to not use much energy in my apartment at West Chester. I did not watch TV, did not use the microwave or toaster, and I kept the lights off.  I did however make coffee first thing in the morning because I totally forgot it was energy day.  I also charged my phone once throughout the day to a full charge, so that I wouldn’t have to keep plugging it in over the course of the day.

The biggest struggle came when I had to babysit later.  I babysit a three year old boy and a five month old boy, so as you can imagine, I need energy for some things.  The three year old played on the iPad for a half hour which was the only energy he used, and I kept the TV the whole time.  For the baby, however, certain things were needed to make sure he was comfortable, such as a certain light in his room that needed to stay on as well as a humidifier and a noise machine.  This made me really aware of the energy it takes when you have children because kids love electronics and when you have babies they may need certain things on at all times.  It is easy to cut back on as you get older.

Wednesday: Food

Food day was a bit unsuccessful for me.  It was a very busy day, and I was rushing around a lot so I didn’t really get a chance to go shopping for in-season foods.  I did however have some fruits and vegetables already in my kitchen at home, but I wasn’t sure where they came from.  I also stuck by the rules of only eating when I needed to, and not eating things out of boredom or to try things.  Other than that, this day was a bit of a failure.  It made me realize that it is a little pathetic that I don’t know where my food comes from and that it is this hard to simply buy and eat locally grown in-season food.  It is definitely a habit I would like to change.  In the summer, I do go to farmer’s markets and try to find back road places where I can buy food, and it is a bit easier in the summer because there seems to be more options.  I would like to begin researching where to find this food in the winter months because I really have no idea, and it would have helped me tremendously if I had done the research prior to this day.

Tuesday: Transportation

The day of no transportation I imagine will be the easiest day for me personally throughout this week.  I have class at 4:25pm on Tuesdays, and that is really the only responsibility I have on Tuesdays.  I babysit about 20 minutes away on Thursdays and sometimes weekends, so if no transportation day fell on one of those days, I would have to find public transportation or maybe try to carpool with one of my friends. 

There were a few places I would have liked to go to yesterday, but I refrained and put it off until another day this week.  I wanted to run some errands and go to places like Target or CVS for a few necessities, which then got me to thinking about last Sunday, the day of consumption.  There were definitely things I had on my “to buy” list that I thought about and realized I didn’t need them, so I crossed them off (things like a new “prettier” toothbrush holder, candles, new pencils, etc.).  I started to relate the day of consumption with the day of transportation, and realized that if I stop aimlessly driving around places, I won’t waste money on minuscule things and I also won’t be buying things just to buy them, making my consumption habits just a little bit better.  This day was very successful for me.