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So I’ve been done with the project for a couple weeks now. I haven’t held tightly to all the things I did last month, but I’ve done alright. I haven’t been vegan, but I haven’t eaten meat and I would say I’ve been eating a pretty minimal amount of eggs and dairy. I also have continued to only buy food from the U.S., as far as I know. My shower frequency has stayed down at about three per week, nowhere near as hardcore as one or two though. I haven’t made another attempt at a day of silence. It’s just too impractical in the college lifestyle where basically all school work requires a computer and everyone is connected through phones and the internet. I think doing it causes more stress than it relieves. But maybe after graduation when I have far fewer responsibilities, I’ll give it another shot and hopefully enjoy it. During spring break, I definitely got my fair share of outside time in as we spent most of every day on the beach, and it was great! However, most of it was in a setting very non-conducive to meditating.
Some of it was more naturey though.
Since I’ve been back, I haven’t gotten back into nature meditations, but that’s something that I plan on starting again… tomorrow.
I have a ton of video footage to sort through for this How to be Eco-Tight video, and it will probably take me a couple more weeks, but here’s a little taste of what’s coming.
Other Eco-Tight news:
Earth Day is coming up!! It’s on Sunday April 22, but we’ll be celebrating it the Friday before, 4/20, in Bosco Plaza from roughly 10am to 3pm. There will be some free stuff, lots of cool tables from various clubs, a clothing swap: bring old clothes and/or take some new old clothes, bring-your-own-drinking-container juice stand, parade, etc. It will be fun.
If you’d like to have a table for your club or for whatever, contact me! Any organization is welcome as long as it’s not Earth-Haters of America or something like that. Or if you’d like to be in the parade or donate some clothes to the clothing swap ahead of time, let me know about that too!
Thanks!
Juergen – out.
Here we are, it’s been 30 days! I haven’t posted in a while so I have a LOT to fill you in on, bear with me.
Let me start with last weekend, Fake Patty’s Day!!! It was a really long day. I was up from about 8:30 to 3:30 and spent a solid 10 hours in Aggieville, but not just partying…recycling! For the first time, Students for Environmental Action (of which I’m vice president, let me know if you want to get involved!) took on the challenge of recycling at the bars on Fake Patty’s Day. We had bins in about 21 of the bars that were supposed to be used just for aluminum, glass, and #1 plastic, but of course many of them just filled up with mainly non-recyclable plastic cups or were hardly used at all. Because of this, we spent a lot of time taking recyclables out of the trash cans in bars and putting them into our bins. We collected a lot of green aluminum beer bottles and glass that way, but the real jackpot came from dumpster diving! It was far more time-efficient to avoid the packed bars and just take our bins to dumpsters and sort through the endless supply of cans, bottles, and cardboard. We ended up recycling 278 lbs of Cardboard, 59 lbs of #1 plastic, 1052 lbs of glass, and 579 lbs of aluminum. The aluminum alone brought $318.45 to campus. It was definitely a very successful first time and also really fun since we had so many people helping out!
My last two days of silence haven’t been perfect. I didn’t have too much trouble staying off the computer, which is surprising since I usually spend a ton of time on the internet. I did however use my phone each time, but for semi-necessary reasons. If I would have been really good about making plans the day before I might have been able to avoid it, but I didn’t want to burdensome on others and make them set things in stone the day before when they didn’t know what time they’d be doing things…(I’m just making excuses) Our society isn’t good at planning, but I don’t know if that’s completely a bad thing. I think this exercise has really decreased my dependence on computers. I no longer immediately open up my computer upon arriving home to check my email even though I probably checked it within the past hour, and I think I probably spend less time on Facebook, but not by a lot. I don’t plan on doing regular days of silence anymore, but I really do want to become less attached to electronic devices, as well as all material possessions in general. Maybe I’ll set certain hours when I can’t use a computer, or make a rule that I can only get on a computer if it is to do something “important”.
My nature meditations have been going very well. At first I had to make myself go out and do it, but as I started to get used to it and like it, and the weather has gotten warmer, it’s been easy to go out and experience nature most days, or at least lay in the yard. This has been a great stress-reducer and I plan on continuing it for sure!
In the last two weeks, I’ve taken three showers, two the first week and just one this past week. I can really tell that my body has been adapting to my decreased shower frequency. For example, my skin and hair are less greasy after three days without a shower now than if I went three days without one a month ago. Going three or four days without a shower has become pretty easy for me, but going a full week is a long time! In this last week I’ve started taking sponge-baths: hitting the key areas and washing my hair. This is a great water saving tactic, and will get you basically just as clean as a full on shower at a fraction of the water use. I estimated using three gallons for a sponge-bath compared to 25-50 gallons for a shower. I’m not planning on only showering once a week, but I’ll try to limit my showers to twice a week and supplement my hygiene with sponge-baths as needed.
I did some calculations to figure out how much water I saved this month. By taking 10 showers instead of 30, I saved 500 gallons of water. For about a week, I kept track of how many times I used the bathroom and didn’t flush the toilet. My average was about 8, multiplying that by 3.5 gallons per flush and 30 days, I saved 840 gallons of water just by letting my yellow mellow. That’s a total of 1340 gallons of water saved this month by doing/not doing these two things! This may sound like a lot, and it is, but when you look at how much water it takes to produce various things and foods it doesn’t look like much. You can save the same amount water just by not eating half a pound of beef (2500-5000 gallons of water per pound), as long as you don’t replace it with chocolate (2847 gallons/lb)!
Most people (myself included) don’t realize how much water and energy go into the things we buy. People can save a lot more water and energy by changing their diet and lowering their consumption than by directly cutting water and energy use. In general, it takes far more water and resources to produce animal products than plant foods. Here are some staggering statistics from the book “Diet For A New America” that will make you think twice about eating meat, even if it’s local and organic.
My quest to be vegan and eat more organic and local foods went pretty well overall. The things that tripped me up were things like baked goods that I know are hiding milk and eggs, but since they can’t be seen, it’s easy to ignore that fact. I did a good job at not buying these things, but they’re just everywhere! For example, there was no way I was going to pass up my mom’s pumpkin bread when I went home. That stuff is truly to die for, but somehow I had the strength to resist washing it down with a big glass of milk. Denying myself the satisfaction of milk after sweets is probably the hardest thing I did this month!
I bought way more organic food than I normally would have this month and definitely spent more money. By the end of the month, I stopped buying any food that was not produced in the U.S., but I wouldn’t say even 10% of my food qualified as local. I learned to cook with some new vegetables I’ve never used before and definitely ate healthier than normal. It took my body a couple weeks to adjust to the dietary change, but I’m definitely used to it now and I feel really good!
I plan to continue to minimize my animal product intake and food miles and increase the organitude of my food, but not super-strictly.
I’ve been planning on making some “How to be Eco-Tight” videos for this project, but I keep putting it off. I’m going to South Padre Island for spring break and I plan to do some filming there. Traveling will certainly decrease my eco-friendliness, but I’ll do my best and let you know how it goes!
Thanks for reading and commenting, I really appreciate it!
J
I want to fill you in on some more eco-tight things that I’ve started doing and some that I’ve been doing for a while.
Recycling – pretty standard eco-move. At home in Topeka, we always recycled everything possible: paper, cardboard, aluminum, plastic (all types in Topeka but only #1 and #2 in Manhattan), tin cans, glass, metal, and batteries/electronic waste. When I came to college I was really surprised by how many people didn’t recycle, but I’ve kept recycling everywhere I’ve lived. This has caused some of my roommates to go through some adjustments, but they get used to it. This semester I’ve been working at the recycling center which makes it super convenient to take out the recycling, I just have to bring it to work.
Showering. A couple years ago, at the advice of my mom and sister (who are just full of eco-wisdom), I started turning of the water when soaping and shampooing up. So basically, get in the shower, get wet, turn off the water, apply soap and shampoo, rinse off. I think this probably cuts the amount of water used per shower in half. Last summer, my sister taught me how to make my own shampoo. The recipe is simple: mix one tablespoon of baking soda with one cup of water and massage that throughout your hair/scalp, then rinse that out with water and for a “conditioner”, mix one tablespoon of vinegar with a cup of water and massage that in then rinse with water. You’d think that putting vinegar in your hair is disgusting and smelly, but you actually really can’t smell it at all once your hair is dry. This method is healthier for your hair and makes it look and feel basically the same as normal shampoo. Read more about it here!
It uses less packaging than traditional shampoo if you buy large containers of vinegar and baking soda that will last a long time. Also, it doesn’t involve using crazy chemicals that are known carcinogens and petroleum by-products. If you haven’t seen the Story of Cosmetics, you REALLY need to, especially if you’re a woman! And while you’re on that site, check out all the other Story of Stuff videos, they’re fantastic! Then you can go here to see how toxic your products are, and find some less toxic replacements.
It’s interesting how we’ve learned through our reading that women are most affected by environmental problems in developing nations where they are more connected with forests and agriculture and then they’re also more affected in our society since they typically use more harmful cosmetic products. However, men are probably more likely to work in toxic conditions like a coal mine, or as a road construction worker or welder, so I don’t know who has it worse as far as toxin intake goes…
It turns out showering less often is actually better for your skin. This Cracked.com article will tell you all about it and about some other interesting things. I could seriously spend all day on that website… Anyway, I’ve also been showering with a bar of “natural” soap and using Bert’s Bees natural toothpaste. All the other products I use are pretty “unnatural” though and I’m probably getting cancer as we speak. One of you posted a link to something that talked about using baking soda as deodorant, I think it was Trashy. I tried that the other day and it definitely does work well so I’ll try to switch to that when I’m out of my Axe deodorant.
Whew this is getting long. Okay just a few more things. This month I’ve decided to not use paper towels, so far that’s been pretty easy. I’ve started using heavy duty reusable gloves at work instead of thin disposable ones (thanks Trashy for that idea) and they protect me from broken glass so that’s an added bonus. I’m going to do laundry just once this month and I’m planning on only doing one load of the essentials when in do it in a couple days. I’ve started composting food waste in my apartment and dumping it in a compost box at the ECM. I adjust thermostats and turn off lights in buildings if I’m there after normal hours. I don’t just go around to random buildings to do this, although that would save lots of electricity! I use reusable shopping bags at the grocery store and reuse those thin plastic produce bags. However, I still buy things that have excessive throw-away packaging. Alright I’m cutting this off. Kthxbai
Well it’s been two weeks, I’ve showered 7 times total, haven’t received smell complaints, have been vegan other than some cheese that needed finishing, some cookies, chocolate chips, and brownies, oh and some hot sex. The first week I did half of a “day of silence”, this week I did a half-assed day of silence. I used my phone a couple of times, once to ask my roommate who was at the store to get me some chips (organic) and the other to ask a friend if it was a good time to come over to fill up a pitcher with beer (probably not organic) that was left from a kegger two nights prior. Could I have lived without tortilla chips and beer? Maybe. All I know is that I had some chips and some beer and I’m alive now. I can’t confirm that those things weren’t crucial to my survival. I also got on my computer two hours before my 24 hours was up, but that’s only because I had soooo much to blog about that I just couldn’t hold it in. Next week I’ll try to adhere more closely to the tenets of my day of silence, even if it means risking death by lack of fried, salted corn. Organic corn that is.
The other day I went grocery shopping and just splurged on organic produce. I dropped over a hundred bucks. Some of the highlights of my trip were: kale, spinach, shitake mushrooms, grapefruits, avocados, beets, various beans and nuts, peanut butter, salsa, roasted garlic hummus, various frozen fruits, and brown rice protein powder, along with several more plain-Jane items. I opted for organic with most things, unless the option didn’t exist or the price difference was outrageous. For example, organic apples, oranges, grapefruits, and celery are all comparatively priced to their non-organic counterparts, but an organic green bell pepper cost over five times the price of a non-organic one! ($2.69 vs. $0.50). As far as I know almost everything I bought was a product of the U.S. with the exception of organic Mexican avocados and some frozen fruit from Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica. Apparently they don’t grow mangos and pineapples locally. So I didn’t do extremely well as far as locality goes, but for pretty much the first time ever, I didn’t buy bananas since they are usually from Guatemala or even further south. I also bought honey from Hanover, KS. Honey is a controversial topic among vegans since it’s technically an animal product. Some people who call themselves vegans openly eat honey, which they know full well promotes insect slavery. Others who are “veganer than thou” think this is an atrocity. I am not on that level, nor do I ever hope to bee.
On my day of silence, which was a beautiful day, I wanted to go meditate in nature. However, I was busy from the time I woke up until about 7:30 PM with a performance that lasted half an hour. Since I had missed out on all the daylight, I decided to go to the tightest place to hang out after dark, the cemetery. I biked around there for a while. It was very dark, slightly spooky, and brimming with homeless people and high-schoolers cheesing. Okay I made that last part up. I found a comfortable spot near Roy and Eva Kiser, bless their souls, where I could lay down and see some stars and stayed until my feet were uncomfortably cold. It gave me time to recall, digest, and reflect on all the events of the day and previous couple days. It also gave me time to unwind and just think about nothing while watching the stars or closing my eyes. It was a very peaceful and rejuvenating experience. When I returned home, I found myself in a far greater mood than when I had left. I was transformed from stressed out and tired to upbeat and energetic. I would highly recommend it! I went back the next day to explore the trails at the far end of the cemetery, very cool area. Totally chill.
Ttyl.
Peace
Yo what up blogosphere? I’m Juergen, and this is How to Be Eco-Tight.
You might be wondering about the title of this blog, or why I sound like a tool so far. It’s modified from a hilarious but inappropriate series of videos in which the main character is the epitome of douchbag . (don’t watch if you’re easily offended)
In my month of walking the talk, I will strive to become the epitome of eco-friendly, without being an eco-douch.
My plan is:
- I will not buy any products other than food, beverages, and medicine.
- I will meditate with nature.
- I will partake in a weekly day of silence where I don’t use a computer, cell phone, TV, or music player.
- I will I will try to use the library or engineering building for doing homework since their lights and computers are already on.
- I will decrease my showering.
- I will only flush for number 2s.
- I will buy as much food as I can from the farmer’s market (if it opens during this project).
- I will look at my food to see where it comes from and try to minimize my food miles.
- I will eat more organic whole foods and food with minimal packaging.
- I will only drive when absolutely necessary and try to carpool and/or do several errands at once when I do.
- I’m basically vegetarian right now, but I will completely cut out all dairy and eggs on top of not eating meat (as soon as I use up the milk and cheese in my fridge).
I started the project a couple days ago, but I’m a huge procrastinator so I’m just now getting my first post up. In my first week, I will meditate in nature once, do a half day of silence and take four showers throughout the week. Next week, I’ll meditate in nature twice, do a full day of silence, and only shower three times. In the remaining two weeks, I’ll increase my nature meditations by one each week and decrease my showers by one each week but never do more than one day of silence per week. As I go along I’ll try to think of more ways to be green. Let me know if you have suggestions!
That’s the end of the post, chill.
