It is safe to say that today, I have completely failed in every way to adhere to the guidelines of this assignment. Yesterday went so well! I did not use a single form of transportation aside from my feet and ate only organic and local produce, purchased at the on campus farmers market. Again, I went for a thirty minute run and hung around on the quad -- the weather was beautiful! I was able to cap my use of technology and spend quality time with my friends. Overall, Wednesday was a success.
Today, I did almost everything wrong. Let me break it down for you.
Transportation -
Well, I had planned to walk to the Tenley Metro stop this morning, but due to class conflicts and timing problems I had to take the shuttle to and from the Tenley Metro stop. Another issue that arose this evening was when my mother came to DC to visit for the weekend. She picked me up in a taxi (major faux pas) and then proceeded to try to get me in a taxi from Friendship Heights to AU Campus. Luckily, I put up a big enough stink that she allowed me and my friends to take the metro back to Tenley. We then proceeded to take the shuttle back to campus because it was dark and cold. In total I took the metro and the shuttle three times today, along with one ten minute taxi ride. Serious FAIL.
Food-
Breakfast went well -- I ate an organic apple and locally baked whole grain bread. But then I walked to Chinatown and succumbed to the tasty and delicious sushi place, Wok and Roll. My friends were craving sushi and while I know it is completely against my project, I could not turn down an opportunity to eat raw tuna (my favorite). Then for dinner I went to Maggianno's Italian Restaurant with my mother and ordered calamari and chicken marsala. So basically all food rules went out the window, making my day a complete failure in that area.
Consumerism -
While I have not bought anything in stores or online in the past few days, I have been contributing to the growth of chain restaurants. My trash has only had to be emptied once and I have been taking shorter showers, about eight minutes instead of twelve to fifteen. I still have not purchased any bottled products or gone to Starbucks in the past four days - I call that extreme success.
Technology -
Today I was very busy so my technology use was limited. I only went on facebook twice to check on a group project and of course checked my twitter account a few times. I have replaced my use of technology with books and hanging with friends, a much more productive way to spend my time.
Positive Impact -
I have been spending so much quality time with my friends and realizing that they are some of the most important people in my life. I am so grateful for this week because I have started to hangout in the floor lounge more and am beginning to form stronger bonds with more residents of the hall. This has contributed greatly to my overall happiness.
For the rest of the week I will be more conscious of my input and output into the environment. So far I have learned that I can completely cut out plastic bottles just by carrying a nalgene around with me and am not feeling the desire to go to Starbucks or Rite Aid for frivolous purchases. Those parts of the experiment really are not that hard to follow.
You didn't completely fail! You still made some improvements. These things take awhile and a lot of practice - you can do it!
ReplyDeleteWell written . Enjoyed learning about your day. Less really is more!
ReplyDeleteThis post was great as it was relatable to me; throughout the whole experiment I struggled to walk from campus to Tenleytown. Maybe struggle is not the best word; I never even tried is more like it. My two excuses were time and forgetfulness. Looking back at the experiment, and reading others post as well as yours, has made my mind produce out so many questions. Because you too struggled with taking the bus I was wondering if maybe you had pondered similar questions or if maybe you had answers to my questions. So here is what has been floating around in my brain the last few days.
ReplyDeletePersonally one of the main reasons I never took the bus was due to time. I valued time over the emissions that the bus would produce. But how screwed up is that! But I don’t think it is just me who values time over the environment. I think our American culture in general is wrapped up in the idea that the faster the better. We are always trying to fit everything in, to make time, or to gain more time. However, this is ironic. Because, while we are trying to gain more time to do things by rushing from one thing to another we are actually lowering the time planet Earth will be around. So technically we are losing time for future generations. Or am I wrong about this; is it not ironic and just life? All I know is that I feel sorry for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. How will they live?
I suppose this is also a question about culture too. How can we get our culture to stop running from one activity to the next? Constantly we are trying to get somewhere and once we are there we try to get somewhere else. We focus on the timing of our life events but not the time we have in them. This is sad!
I realize I just asked so man questions but I am hopeful you have answers or can at least relate to my questions. It is scary to think that so much of my life has been focused on timing and not enjoying the time I actually had. Has this happened to you too? If so how can we make it stop? Because I feel we are culture obsessed!
Monica - I currently struggle with these questions, too. I am beyond afraid of how my grandchildren will live in the future and what changes will be necessary for them to keep living. But, after thinking about this I realize that in order our future children and grandchildren to live lives similar to ours, we must change our own lifestyle. Yes, our culture is fast-paced but in order for our future offspring to live comfortably the people of the 21st century need to sacrifice time over efficiency and speed. I agree with you that we are all over-scheduled, we should take a few hours a week to ourselves. "Me time" is key in order to live a happy life.
DeleteHey Meredith,
ReplyDeleteThis post is great! I find it funny that we were in the same situation this week and both had to resort to using the metro...especially because it was on the same day that we both cheated horribly in the "food" aspect of our experiment. However, I think these mistakes are what keep us from making huge mistakes in our experiments, as it is easier to change these aspects of our livelihood gradually rather than all at once. This is what most people say though, isn't it? That if we make little changes every once in a while they will, in the end, be more productive than trying to make large scale changes?
Great work on your blog!
-Lauren