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Day 5: Technology Thursday

1. Water: 3 glasses of water, 8 minute shower, brushed my teeth, flushed toilet 5 times

Food: 1 bowl of cereal, 1 buffalo chicken wrap 1 bag of chips 2 cookies 1 granola bars, steak tips mashed potatoes green beans

Electricity: Only used electricity late at night and for homework, watched TV for an hour

Gasoline: ride to and from school

Spent 2.50 on a breakfast in the morning

2. I reduced my technology use, I barely used my phone all day because it was dead so that definitely helped my reduction, and my laptop was also used only for homework that’s it

3. I think that it would be difficult to sustain my technology use, because I think that my cellphone is a necessity, and not using it as much would be a struggle. Maybe not using my laptop as much could work, but I need my cellphone.

4. I think that the classwork recognizing how much we consume yearly opened my eyes again and motivates me to reduce my consumption more now and in the future.

Day 4: Water Wednesday

1. Water: Drank 3 glasses of water, took a 4 minute shower, brushed teeth twice with the faucet, flushed toilet 4 times

Food: Breakfast=1 bowl of corn flakes…Lunch=1 buffalo chicken wrap, 1 bag of pretzels, 1 granola bar, 1 banana, 1 pop tart…Dinner=grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and vegetables

Electricity: Rarely turned lights on, only when necessary, used laptop for homework, watched TV for an hour

Gasoline: a ride to and from school, and a ride to Fields Corner again, very little gas used.

No money spent on anything today, again.

2. Today I reduced water the most this week, taking the shortest shower I’ve taken in a very long time at 4 minutes, and honestly it wasn’t that bad. I also didn’t spend any money again and my electricity use went today. Today I reduced the most all week, and it wasn’t as strenuous as I thought.

3. I think that I could sustain this lifestyle for a long period of time to a certain extent. I think that I could take 4 minute showers for a while if it helped the world around us. Reducing my spending and water usage I think would make a big difference, and it doesn’t have a huge effect on me so I think I could do it.

4. Reading about how much more we consume than countries like Bolivia, and how little money we spend has opened my eyes and made me realize that we should reduce our consumption to make a positive difference in the world, and I’m willing to reduce a significant amount to make a difference if it will help the world around us.

Day 3: Try Harder Tuesday

1. Water: 1 bottle of water, 6-7 minute shower, brief usage of tap water for washing hands, brushing teeth (overall about 5 times used), and flushing the toilet a few times, that’s about it

Food: Breakfast=1 bagel and 1 bowl of cornflakes…Lunch=1 buffalo chicken wrap, 2 homemade chocolate chip cookies, 1 granola bar, 1 bag of baked lays chips, 1 banana…Dinner=grilled chicken with pasta and vegetables, no snacks today

Electricity: Only used the computer to do academic assignments (and to briefly check my fantasy football team, of course), barely used my iPod today and minimal use of my cellphone as well, only for necessary texts/calls. Watched a little college basketball on TV, and that is about it

Gasoline: Car ride to and from school is all the gasoline usage I experienced today, and gas to heat the house of course.

Didn’t spend a dime of money for the second day in a row.

2. My reduction of electricity and money was successful again today, for I used even less electricity today than yesterday, and I didn’t spend any money for another day. These reductions I find easy to make because they don’t affect my lifestyle that much, but can still have a positive effect on the world as a whole.

3. I think that less water usage I am capable of doing, along with electricity and money, like explained earlier, because I think that I can reduce the usage by taking shorter showers and turning the sink off when I’m not using it. As long as I can keep myself clean, keep my hygiene and sanitation intact, I am willing to reduce my water usage a significant amount to help those who need water more than I do in Third World countries.

4. Reading Shoshanna’s article still stuck out to me, but I also noticed that Mr. Gay was looking for a new title for our project here that we are conducting, and I think that an adequate name to suit this project would be: The Ultimate Consumption Reduction

Day 2: Money Monday (sorry for the late post)

Water: 1 bottle of water, 6-7 minute shower, used sink for about a minute to brush my teeth, washed my hands a few times, flushed toilet a few times (not many at all though)

Food: Breakfast=2 bowls of cornflakes…Lunch=peanut butter sandwich, 2 homemade chocolate chip cookies, 2 granola bars, 1 bag of baked lays chips, 1 banana….Dinner=chicken with rice and mushrooms

Electricity: Used laptop for homework-related purposes, watched a little TV, no Xbox

Gasoline: Brief trip to and from Fields Corner (5-6 minute drive there and back), and a ride to and from school, a few gallons of gas used

Money: Not a dime of money spent today

2. Today I reduced my spending money and electricity use, and I feel that I did a good job in reducing these things a significant amount. It was surprisingly easy to not spend money on things I don’t necessarily need, and reducing my electricity usage wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be either. Of course some days I will need electricity more, but today I didn’t feel the need to use it as much, so therefore I didn’t.

3. I think that I could live with spending less money overall in the future. Not not spending a dime at all, I will obviously need some money, but I don’t think I’ll need a lot of money to spend on things that I want, I’ll only buy the things that I need. Same with electricity, for I don’t think I’ll need to use as much electricity if I find other ways around functioning throughout the day without electricity use.

4. I also appreciated Shoshanna and her mother’s post, because it is true that we can’t truly reduce our lives to those of Third World country civilians, it is impossible in this country. But I feel that if we can reduce our consumption significantly enough so that we can still function comfortably, it can still make a difference, a bigger one than we may think.

Day 1: Social Networking Sunday

Consumption: What did you consume today?

Water-7 minute shower, used water few times during the day (washing hands, brushing teeth, flushing toilet)

Food-breakfast=2 bowls of corn flakes, no lunch, dinner=stuffed pasta shells and bagel bites, no junk food during the day

Electricity-Lights were off most of the day, except for the patriots game and to check the weather on the news, etc.

Gasoline-only used to heat the house, kept at a reasonable temp (approximately 69 degrees)

Reduction: In what areas of your current lifestyle did you try to scale back the use of specific resources?

Today I used minimal amounts of my time on Facebook (under and hour the whole day), and I minimized the use of electricity in my house, except for necessary things (looking in the fridge, looking for certain items, etc.)

Sustainability: Are there any changes that you made to your daily routine that you could envision making for the long term? Can you reduce your consumption permanently? Why or why not?

I think that I could cut down on electricity use to a certain extent, because I didn’t struggle navigating through my house too much or using the TV, etc. At some points I would feel the need to use electricity more than other days, but overall I think a slight cut-down in electricity I could get used to. Also, I think that a cutdown on Facebook permanently I could get used to as well, because I wasn’t effected at all by not using Facebook much, if at all. The cutdowns on my daily routine today weren’t as bad as I thought they would be.