Well, as you may or may not know, I am leaving for Alaska for an internship with Pangaea Adventures in Valdez on May 8th. And no, I don't know how many days I have until my departure, due to the pure fact that I don't want to know. At this point it's too close to count. With school winding down, or more so winding up, everything is a blurr. Trying to finish up assignments/projects, finding someone to live in my room for the summer/pack up, and getting all the things I need for Alaska... my life has been chaos. To make it even more exciting, this week I am participating in the No Impact Experiment. For a week, I am to monitor and change my behavior and habits in order to better the Earth. Yea, yea... save the Earth, you've heard it all before. But this experiment is actually really cool and really simple. Each day is a step to learning about yourself and bettering the way you live. I'm going to post my journal entries on here so you all can see what I'm going through this week. No it's not all really easy, especially considering my current circumstances but it can be done.
Sunday, 4/18: The first day was all about not consuming. Not purchasing new things and trying to find second hand products instead. Wow. This was probably the hardest thing I'm having to do this week. First off, I'm leaving for Alaska in however many days and I am still trying to get everything I need. From jackets to wool baselayers to books. I was however able to find a pair of Xtratuf boots on Ebay (huge heavy-duty rubber boots for loading/unloading kayaks) for a lot cheaper than retail by about $60. They have a tiny little blemish on them so the company couldn't sell them. Come on... it's a blemish. It's funny how the world works. Just because this pair of work boots has a SCUFF on them, they cannot be sold. They are for working... aren't they are supposed to get dirty? Long story short, I was able to at least purchase one of the things I needed for Alaska in a more... I wouldn't say sustainable, but a more conscious way. The books I'm able to find on Amazon used which is always really nice. I really enjoy purchasing books on amazon, you can normally find them used and cheap. It is not the best way to shop, obviously, but sometimes when you're a college student and you're on a budget. Cheap is the way to be, green is not always practical. I am pretty good at not purchasing things I don't need. Back in the day, a different story. Nowadays I live a pretty minimalistic lifestyle. I recently gave all my clothes to a thrift store in Fort Collins, because realistically... how long is that shirt/pair of pants/dress going to hang in your closet while you try to convince yourself you're going to wear it? Get rid of it. It feels good to help people out and it feels good to be free of clutter. (I'm sure my parents all have their jaws dropped to the ground right about now). It was funny actually, when I went home over spring break to take my Wilderness First Responder course, my step-mom Sarah said to me, "Wow! This isn't the Liz I know!" in reference to the backpack I had on my back with the few things I needed, packed and ready to go. It's funny how time, people and an environment can change you. I used to be unorganized with more clothes than I knew what to do with. Now I have a few things and packing my things up for Alaska won't be all that hard...
Monday, 4/19: So Monday, after collecting all our trash on Sunday and consuming less, was about producing NO TRASH. We "Put together a no-trash travel kit for the week with a reusable drinking receptacle for hot and cold liquids, a handkerchief/old t-shirt, Tupperware®, utensils, and reusable produce bags" in order to better handle creating no trash. I started off the day by going to the local coffee shop. While biking there, I though to myself... no trash. Well crap, I don't have my mug. Wait a second, where is that mug I've been using recently? So I quickly veered off my travel path to start my search in Old Town Fort Collins for my lost coffee mug. I ended up finding it at my work. The boss man had found it and figured it was mine. (Maybe it's because I lose things? No, couldn't be.) As I reached my intended destination, I filled up my mug and even got a discount for bringing my own! Definitely worth the search. I ate a bagel made here in Fort Collins and was really proud of myself! No napkin needed! That's what your tongue is for! Before I headed to campus, my taste buds craved something succulent and sweet, so I caved in and went for the coconut almond butter cookie. Yea, who wouldn't. I asked for the cookie, plain and simple. No baggie. No wrapping paper. Just the cookie. As I reached for my cool "no-trash travel kit", I realized I had left that at home. Naturally. I couldn't make my life simple even if I tried. So here I am, cookie in hand with nothing to put it in, except, AH! What's this? A Ziploc baggie of trash I had been carrying around! Old wasabi peas and a granola bar wrapper/crunchies leftover. A perfect storage spot for a delicious fresh cookie. I proceeded to hop on my bike, full coffee in hand and wasabi coconut cookie in bag, the perfect start to a no-impact day. I went through my day, choosing food and items accordingly. Packaging? No thanks. I chose something else instead. As simple as that. Sure it may be convenient to get this granola bar to snack on, but it's just as easy to pick up an apple or something of the sort instead. I went out to La Luz for dinner with my friend Chris, he's leaving for New Zealand for a year this summer but he's awesome and taking Cameron (my pup) back to Atlanta for me a few days after I leave so that she can stay with my wonderful mom. But enough about that... I ended up using a napkin because I spilt salsa on the table.(insert another naturally here). I ended my day by falling asleep to "No Impact Man" the movie. Check it out!
Tuesday, 4/20: What a holiday. Earth Day. Smoke day. Everyone was celebrating! Tuesday was Transportation day. Our day to "burn calories, not fossil fuel". This wasn't very hard because I ride my bike everywhere now, especially now that Colorado State Police Department called me a few weeks ago telling me they found my bike! Someone had cut my lock on campus back in February and ran away with my love. Never did I think I would see that beautiful blue bike again. But the call came, and we were reunited. Ever since, we've not left each others side. It's like a second chance. And we're living it up. I biked to and from campus like normal, but the weather was looking a bit iffy. I tried to convince some of the gang to hop on their bikes with me, but instead we chose to carpool. Turned out to be a beautiful day but at least we all rode together. Less impact there. I went to my neighbor Hank and Meekin's house to celebrate Hank's birthday by the fire and told them about my project. I even gave them the No Impact Man movie to borrow for the night. The more people exposed the better. I ended up carpooling and biking everywhere that day. I always love biking. It makes you feel so good when you get the places you're going. Revived almost. I wish everyone in Georgia biked as much as we do out here. It would make everyone a lot happier :) Today was a pretty easy day for me in terms of no impact. I applied everything I've been learning as well to my day. Making sure I chose things that created less trash. Even used brown sugar in my coffee instead of Splenda. I feel my tummy getting rounder, but at least the world isn't feeling the packets. ;) But I still haven't dipped out on the coffee...
Wednesday, 4/21: Wednesday = FOOD. Psh. I think I can tackle this one. I LOVE food! And oh my! What's this?! It's "NR Days" for our college! FREE FOOD! I started off eating locally made pancakes? Does this count? Fellow natural resource children cooked them for me... Mrs. Butterworth lives down the street from me on aisle 8 @ Beaver's Market so that's definitely local. ;) Ok, Ok... So I let that one slip by... For lunch I snacked a bit at my house on an avocado left over from the week before (New Zealand). I'm not doing very good at this whole eat local thing. But in class either Monday or this morning our professor Jes shared with us a gnocchi recipe. My friend Becky and I were stoked to try it so we got some friends together and went on a bike ride to Whole Foods to pick up some ingredients. Our sweet potatoes were from California, so we decided to go on a California binge. We got some crackers and cheese and then we went next door to Wilbur's the beer/wine store. We got some red wine from a winery in Berthoud I think, which is pretty darn local, but I didn't enjoy it very much. We then proceeded to make the "local" gnocchi. Terrible. I don't think I've had anything quite as weird. We didn't really read the directions.. duhhh, and didn't realize the balls were supposed to be little, not dunkin donut sized balls. Long story short, we had to fry them and dip them in syrup to taste good. Sorry Jes, this one just didn't fly. It was a good day, it felt good using local and I almost felt a sense of pride. That's what I've been noticing recently throughout this experience. It brings you close to the local community, whether you are riding your bike, eating local food, etc. It makes you feel like you belong and it helps you to really learn what your "cool" town has to offer.. making it an "epicly cool" town.
Thursday, 4/22: ENERGY: Replace kilowatts with ingenuity - explore no-energy alternatives to accomplish your daily tasks. Easy enough right? Well to start off, I feel like I do pretty good conserving energy.. I do one load of laundry every other week? I have all of my electronics in my room unplugged unless in use and if I see a light on in a room with no one in it I go turn it off. My potential areas of improvement: I could turn off my computer more often, instead of running the battery all day. I could also take shorter, colder showers.. but I'm moving to Alaska.. I'm soaking it up while I can. ;) Another bigger challenge that exists is converting, well not so much converting, rather influencing my roommates to do the same. I think it is easier for kids in my program (Natural Resources) to understand the impacts because it is beaten into my brain all day everyday. I try my best to be a good role model. On days when it is beautiful outside, I turn off the heat (which is sometimes on...) and open the windows and blinds to let the air cool down the house and brighten up the place so we don't have to use any electricity. Some days are worse than others on our consumption of energy as a household as a whole, but I think we are improving. Hopefully I'm making a little difference.
Friday, 4/23: WATER: Soak up the personal benefits of using less water! Well as a kayaker, I feel as though I do my best to help conserve water. I've done more debates and papers on Save the Poudre/Glade Reservoir than I can count. Water is a really important issue to me, but maybe I don't do my best at conserving it... I've heard that running the dish washer actually conserves more water than washing the dishes by hand does. I'm trying to wash less and pack in the dishwasher more. My shower habits have gotten alot better, my dad would be proud. The "Only flush if you must" rule doesn't go over so well with the roomies. My grandparents told me I won't even know what a toilet is when I get back from Alaska. Maybe that will be a good thing, I'll never have to flush again!!!
Saturday, 4/24: Giving Back. Well I feel pretty good about sticking to the rules on this one. For one of my classes, Parks and Protected Area Management, we did a service-learning project at the CSU: Environmental Learning Center. We were to find a managerial problem, write a proposal, and fix it. Problem: A bridge over nothing that is deteriorating and taking away from the naturalness of the area. We were in charge of about 12-15 volunteers who helped us deconstruct the bridge and create a natural surface trail in place. It went really well and everyone was really proud of the work they did. Visitors to the trail during the day were really proud of our work. We demo'd most of the day, which most everyone loved. I mean who doesn't like working with power tools and hammers, slamming the poo out of wood.
A picture of the bridge we were to remove:
The trail after it was all said and done. :)
Since I was in charge of this activity, I wasn't able to go and pick a community service project of my choice. But, I think that this was a really cool project. It's not just about the big projects though.. It's about the random acts of kindness. Do it more often, karma is a bitch.
Sunday, 4/25: Eco-Sabbath. This was the day to do nothing. Be completely free of obligations, energy and stress. Be one with yourself and spend time with the people you care about -- without "using". Leave the cell phones at home, keep the laptops turned off, go on a bike ride. My day consisted of working... I did get to read a bit, which was nice and then I got to go kayaking. Both things that relieve stress, but both things involve using energy. I think this day was more of a day of reflection than completely lack of impact. I'm sure that this Sunday in comparison to last Sunday was especially less "impactful" thanks to all the activities I participated in this week. It is amazing to think of all the things you do which consumes energy, produces waste, damages the planet unnecessarily...
Hopefully some of you will get inspired to complete an experiment like this at some point. Sooner rather than later.. This blog entry isn't supposed to be preachy by any means. It's just a blurb of my life this week. But I encourage you to go out and do something different. Ride your bike. I promise you, you don't look weird. In fact, I think you'd look awesome. Just be careful if you're riding in ATL... I know what those drivers are like. :P
Love to yall. Next time you hear from me. I'll be in the motherland. Hallelujah!!
--LIZ
